35 weeks

Thirty five weeks and thirty five days to go. I am going to make it. I know I can do it. Every other woman can do it right? I can do this. I will just keep telling myself that. My appointment went well today. I was hoping that I was going to get away without having a vag exam since I wasn't actually supposed to start those until next week. I did shave my legs just in case. Since I had one last week they wanted to do one this week as well. So much for one more week! They did my beta strep test too this week since Jake is so big and I am contracting so much. Although that has been so much better. But, I haven't been at work for four days! I will say, I prefer the NP's much smaller hands than my OB's. Yikes! No change there from last week.

I had a huge weight gain since my visit 3 weeks ago. Six pounds!!! That brings to one pound below my weight at my first visit. However, I really had to pee when I was weighed and I sadly constipated from our trip out of town. We will see what next week brings. My blood pressure was really good again. Amazing how it is a lot lower when I'm not working. I try to take it myself everyday, although I have not taken it when I am having a crappy day. My doctor knows I have been doing this and now wants me to take it two to three times everyday I work.

I am finally getting my massage in about an hour. I can't wait! My back feels a bit better after sleeping in my own bed last night, but it still hurts. Imagine that! After that I am going to meet with the new plastic surgeon that has now started doing cases with us. I really want to get things off to a good start before I am off. I want to not worry about it while I am gone. I know I am going to be busy, but I am pretty sure I will still worry about how things are going at work.

Speaking of work, I got a call yesterday as we were driving home. I was supposed to go to a meeting yesterday afternoon only to find that it had been cancelled because JCHO is here. For anyone who doesn't know, this is a freaking huge deal. It used to be that they scheduled a time to come, basically. We knew when they were coming. That changed and that isn't entirely bad. They tell us what standards we need to meet. There are about a million hoops for us to jump through, but in the end it is about the safety of the patients. It just gets very frustrating for all the health care workers. They are technically early compared to when they used to come, but we have been expecting them for months. It will actually be a relief to have it over with, but at the same time I was hoping they wouldn't come until I was on leave. You see, I was the lone lucky staff nurse from my department to get to "entertain" them the last time they came. I spent about two hours answering questions and it actually it went very well. Of course they talked to my supervisors in addition to me and they examined the department as well. Our anesthesia department had a significant deficiency that was quickly corrected, but surgery did pretty well. I am just hoping I don't have to be "the one" nor does the person that I am "technically" still orienting. I know we were planning on getting the remainder of her orientation materials signed off this weekend. Well, I hope that doesn't bite me in the ass! At least this will be over and we can deal with the issues we need to address. We already know some, but they always find something in the hospital that is a surprise to us. If we make it through the week, it will be one less thing stressing everyone out. With the surgery center opening across the street and the impending JCHO survey, things really have been stressful for everyone. I just have my added bit.