The Labor & Delivery "Office"

I was talking to an obviously not very smart person about my job the other day, and I was very astonished when she compared being a labor and delivery nurse with working a in a boring office job. So, because I am a kind individual, I am going to give this clueless person a sneak peak and a very small description about what me and my fabulous coworkers do in the labor & delivery office.

The labor & delivery office is never boring; there is always something going on. I admit that at our office we have a leakage problem, which includes lots of poop, pee, blood and vomit in addition to other mysterious body substances. But at our office we get to play with blood products and needles, and sometimes we play wheelchair dodgeball with the birthing balls. We get to run down the hallways and be involved in life and death situations and get to say the word "STAT." At our office, we don't have to wear stuffy suits and pantyhose. We get to parade around in blue scrubs and sport awesome accessories like stylish headwear, glasses, and footwear. The bathrooms at our office are spotless from lack of use. And it's never necessary to ask your coworker where their hands have been or if their hands are clean. At our office, we get to work in the trenches and there is always someone who needs us desperately. We literally hold new life in our hands and get to be a part of someones miracle everyday. At our office, we hold the hands of those who are suffering and cry with them. We get to know people and get to bond with them on a very intimate level.

I just finished a 3 graveyard marathon this weekend, and business is definitely booming in the baby delivery office. It was totally crazy with tons of moms and babies, emergencies and body substances galore. I love most of these moments and most of all I love caring for my patients and making a positive difference in their lives.

That's what I call a typical boring day at our cushy office.

Blogging Blues

I know it's been awhile since I have blogged. I've had some things that have happened in my life that have given me the blogging blues. Things, mostly work politics, have put me in a blah mood and I have had no desire to write about anything. If I was as good a writer as my cute friend, Sandie, she has also been in a blah mood with blogging for the exact same reasons and describes it much more eloquently in her blog. So... ditto Sandie's blog about feeling blah about blogging. There. Done.

However difficult things at work have become, I am determined not to let them get me down permanently. Therefore I have decided to enter the blogging world once again. Much more cautiously and slowly this time, but surely nonetheless. No cute pictures to add or anything really clever to say, just me.

As I am pulling myself out of this funk, I am so thankful to be surrounded by a few wonderful people; those who have stood by me when I have been at my weakest, for holding me up when I could not even hold myself up and for refusing to believe the worst about me, even when I believed it. Most of you don't even realize that you have helped me, and what examples of strength and hope you have been to me.

"In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit." Albert Schweitzer.

Everything and everyone has flaws and cracks in it, but that's where our inner light shines through. Don't expect any huge or earth-shattering entries as I slowly re-enter the blogging world, but I hope that a little of my inner light will be able to shine through my imperfections into the cracks of this thing called life.