Rain rain...

Go way, enough is enough! although we all enJoyed a rainy walk wih the cousins this yesterday evening. We were soaked, but they all laughed and played uncontrollably!

Ive started working in the antenatal clinic today, it's so interesting and the day flew by. Teenage mumssubstance workers and substance misuse mums came for antenatal care ad ongoing spport. I managed to successfully take at least 4 lots of bloods, and feel confident in this skill now! Hopefully I'll be able to get everything sighpner off. The midwives working there with the consultants are all lovely and I home to leard lots.

L had a friend home after school. They played on the trampoline and in the tent.


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School water day

The rain held off and the sun even shone at times! A great day was had by everyone, A who is nearly seven, really enjoyed himself. Being with other children is great for him at the moment as he does not start school until September and is too old for kindy now. he was on the lake all day, kayaking and peddling! He flourished with the independence given, and came home wanting more. The girls enjoyed themselves too, as did cal who managed to cause a laugh in the parents v's upper school double canoe race, his team veered off to the side of the lake with no control and lost spectacularly!

We will defiantly go again, it's a lovely farm and there is even a camping field !

A hearty tea was needed, so we all devoured sausages, mash and veg with home made gravy, followed by strawberries and cream, yum! cal is working tonight so it's dairy milk and an early night for me. Lots of crafty things on the boil, I'll post a list of my to finish/start soon. May get me back on track. I love knitting but need to get faster if it's ever going to be as enjoyable as sewing.

Busting bosoms but it's over.

My last shift on scbu is now completed, everything signed off and done. I have enjoyed today, even though it was a long 13 hours I feel much more comfortable handling neonates and giving feeds, taking obs etc.mi know my way around and who is who so that will help in my practice too.
Kal has made a lovely shepherds pie too, he can cope when he tries! The kids all seem to have had a good day and by doing the extra hours I have tomorrow off. Baby is going to nannies while we don our wet suites, not sure mine will fit me yet, and head off to a water park with school for fun and wet frolics! Rafting and kayaking I think, I hope it's sunny.

Baby c is so pleased to have her boobs back, she has drunk me dry and fallen asleep. Now I'm having a lovely drunken sleepy cuddle. I've missed her today, and hearing her sob from outside when I got home makes me sad.

Three days off, love it, I'm no worker really!

Ok so a bit more about being a student midwife.

Maybe a day on delivery suit. an average day.

During the three year programme 40 personal deliveries must be obtained, as well as a load of other competencies such as care postnatally and antenatally, high and low risk etc. I have around 25 deliveries now. Mostly from within a main unit, a few birth unit, one home birth and of course catching my own last daughter at home in our bedroom in a pool on a sunny morning.

Her birth was just magical, and so worth taking a year out of my study for as I learned so much about choices and had the support of great midwives myself.

On delivery suit it is different. For the majority of out lessons focus on low risk, holistic and hands off midwifery. This is not usually the practice in hospitals. So the gap between theory and practice can be large, and it's easy to get scared and Forget midwifery is a skill and just become a doctors assistant.

The training is comprehensive though, and I am mostly enjoying it. I wish we could have more inspirational speakers at uni though, women who advocate home birth and spiritual midwifery.

I want to be a crunchy lentil eating sort of midwife, but that is a while off and for now it's obstetrics I have to understand.

We work with designated mentors for each placement of around 3 months. Sometimes there are study days in-between hospital shifts, other times it's blocks of study. But most midwives now do 12 hour days, which is hard with a baby who loves boob and cuddles and being carried about on your back all day! But we manage. Kal needs a manory gland!

We have handover and take over the care of a woman. Usually only one. As I have got more experienced I am able to work independently some of the time, taking obs, monitoring fettle
heart etc, which is nice. I get to talk to the women lots, they seem to really open up to students and I notice much more chatter when the midwife is not present.

I can now attempt to interpret vaginal dilatation and assess position of the baby. This took some learning! Note taking is a vital skill that I hope to develop further this year.

Gosh, it's bedtime here and nobodies ready, big girl is clanging on the piano, the boy is chasing the baby with a Lego boat and as usual she wants boob! Will add to this later maybe.
The tumble dryer is beeping, and I have a new issue of Juno to read too. And a long day shift tomorrow.

Just remembered I got a parking ticket today to, bloody £30! could do without that.

some people...

Just can't be nice! Having worked with a terrible mentor last week who completely destroyed what little confidence I had gained on this very short placement, by constantly testing me and intimidating me I was distraught today to once again be put with her.

I know I should say something, call the people at the placement office and explain but I don't have the strenghth to argue. It will ultimately bite me on the ass in the future if I complain so as it's for a short time only I'll carry on and say nothing.

This unit is very different from delivery suit and the wards. I HATE the place with a passion anyway and have never been so bored and unfulfilled. She makes it even worse. Expecting me to remember how to use equipment having never been shown, how to handle and monitor babies when she glares at me in anticipation of a wrong move. Most mentors are up for a bit of a laugh, make you feel relaxed enough to ask questions etc. She makes me want to cry for gods sake.

Anyway, a shift tomorrow and that's it, back to caring for women and well babes as I prefer. I don't care that she'll not sign paperwork for me, I can get it done elsewhere I'm sure...biatch!!

Baby has been good today and has slept enough for me to enjoy a peaceful, bath after work, with a cuppa!
Easy tea tonight, chicken kievs with mash and veg, then brownies for the big girl. She moves to guides soon and can't wait for the summer camp. We watched the older children at her school
In a midsummer nights dream, it was fantastic! We were both amazed and L can't wait to be old enough to join in. The difference in her is incredible, she loves school so much now.

Money well spent in my book.....and it keeps me on the program too and an extra wage would certainly help pay for it all

Sunshine, rain, campfires, pimms, bell and bunting

Our lovely friends visited this weekend with their two children. School friend and best man of cal's, our children have grown up together, all be it not close by but regular visitors.

Saturday was gorgeous, so a morning at the farmers market with burgers and cupcakes was a real treat. The buskers were out galore and lots of tasty things to buy too. Our friends love to go there when they're here so a sunny day made it even more enjoyable.

after lunch we packed up some beers and blankets and walked across the village playing field and beyond in to a lovely field, full of wild life and flowers. So close to home but it feels a million miles away. We made a campfire and the kids all collected wood. Then toasted marshmallows and devoured them squashed between chocolate digestives....lush!!

The kids were amazed to find a nest of tiny voles under a piece of old tin, cute enough to make your ovaries twitch!! Too much beer and pimms later we headed home. Cal lit the fire pit ad we sat out till midnight under the stars. It was a really nice day.





Sunday was a different day and it pissed down all day! I made a beef hot pot then we went to the pub for an hour, and made the mistake of giving the kids coke....madness for the following hour!! What an effect it had on all of them, they turned ferral! So we headed home for tea before saying goodbye.

back at work on early tomorrow so an early night needed I think..

Half term fun..

Most of the school holidays at the childrens new school are out of sync with main school hols,this is proving to be fantastic as we can enjoy visiting places that are not swapmed with other kids! And hopefully benefit from cheaper hols too in the future.
After a very stressful shift yesterday, with a different mentor, today was a much deserved family day. We decided to head off to legoland Windsor. Bogof vouchers on the side of kellogs reduced the cost for our family to £81...WTF? I think theme parks have massively raised their admission costs, the vouchers don't make enough difference. It's to bloody expensive to have a day out like this often.

We bought sandwiches from the local bakery to take, a treats and still cheaper than buying food in there. Some cakes and bottled water and we were ready. Cal, who has always suffered with knee problems/pain, once again managed to bang said problem knee on his own tow bar . barely able to drive yet alone walk he staggered in to pay for fuel. It may not sound funny but as he manages to injure himself so frequently we have to laugh at him.

Drugged up on panadol and ibuprofen he struggled on. The rain came and went, but the park was very quiet so we were able to go on most of the rides, several times and the kids had a great day.
Dream feeding little c now, she is such a cute and funny baby, with the determination of a teen.