Hispanic Moms= Fast Babies.

First week off orientation I learned this rule. 

Hispanic Mom's= Fast Babies

I had no idea this was true until this last week. To start off this women had been here at BJC for 24 hours laboring. Which was abnormal for this type of patient G3P2 latino women. Usually they have precipitous deliveries within 1-2 hours. She told me her birth plan. I want to go without an epidural. I laugh to myself..obviously in my head.. Oh great I get to hear her scream all day. Her pain she is rating is an 8 and I keep assuring her to breathe and getting her some heat packs to put around her stomach. Nope that doesn't work everyone can still hear her down at the nurses/doctors station. Doctors are looking at the screen, "Cameryn is your patient pushing?" I look up at the screen. I see the contractions that look like zig zags. "No...she was complaining of nausea I think she is just throwing up."

 Well, I didn't lie...we admitted  her because her chief complaint: hyperemesis gravidarum and I did just give her zofran. She has been in and out of the hospital. So I check back up on her just to make sure there was no baby in the bed....Nope she is on the birthing ball bouncing up and down. That would do it.

 I ask her but mostly in the direction of her husband because I know she wont answer, "Everything okay in here?"

"I want the epidural!"

"Okay, I'll be back!" Sounding like Schwarzenegger in Terminator.. That would be funny, I don't think she would think this is funny. 

So I call the Anesthesiologist attending and of course he tells me that the intern will do it. Oh great,  this wont take long (Being sarcastic hint hint**).

So we wait until he arrives. I monitor baby while mom is in hysterics. Gripping the bed with white knuckles and holding her breath. 

"Breathe! In through your nose out through your mouth!" I have to remind her. Baby's HR was dropping with the contractions. 

Okay lets set up. The intern says. Let's have you side lying..(ugh why?) That takes so much longer. 

"It hurts so bad!" She says grabbing my arm. "Please help me...(Crying) Please....(sobbing)help..." crying gets weaker than SCREAM!!! 

"We are doing the best we can, in order for us to do this you have to be really still." I say reassuring her but being realistic. I have dad come sit next to her. Usually we don't let family or another person sit relatively close but in this case it was the only thing that I think would calm her down. We get the epidural in. FINALLY. The attending and intern leave..and my patient says...

"I feel something" I check to see if I see baby's head. Nothing yet. I call out for a resident on the phone in the room. Secretary picks up, "Hi can I have a resident in 82 to check my patient." I would have except I was scared that the baby would literally fall out once I put my hand down there. A resident comes in and baby head is starting to descend. 

"Baby is right here!" She says. "Let's break the bed down NOW!!!"

Oh crap I think baby's head is coming out... No baby stay in stay in!!! 

Women is in hysterics.. Her two kids on the cot next to her bed say, "Nurse, is mommy going to be okay?" They are both crying. Why are the kids in the room?? We don't have a policy against this but do you REALLY want your kids to remember this moment and be scarred for the rest of their life?

I push the big red button on the call phone, "I need a chief and attending to 82 NOW!!!" I say losing my cool a little. 

As the resident is gowning her sterile field, I have my hand on baby's head gentle handling the baby's head stabilizing it. Its evident baby's head is coming out. At least I have gloves on... I think to myself. A bunch of fluid and blood hits all the way to my elbow crease. Well gloves didn't do any good.

 Baby's neck is coming out.. baby's body... and then the whole thing just falls out! Holy crap! I catch the baby. 

Uh.. what do I do.. think think.. what do the doctors do in this situation....clamp clamp cut! The resident helps and we cut the umbilical cord. I put baby on mom's chest dry... stimulate.. finally the chief and attending get there. Seriously we have docs and residents all over this floor and I still  manage to deliver a baby. Who would have thought.

We wait for placenta and bolus her with pitocin. I call out time of birth...thinking crap I didn't look at the time.. I guess.. 1645? 

We didn't have enough time to break down the bed so the sheets look like a slaughter house out of a horror movie. (Sorry if your queezy might want to stop reading then)! All I think is, great, I have to clean all her sheets up... don't judge. 

We get her in stirrups where we stitch her a bit. Not too bad. She had just gotten the epidural but I don't think it did too much pain wise...

Docs give her local lidocaine and a few stitches. There! They leave, well thanks docs! I will just do the rest!!!! No worries, the nurse is here, we labor the patients and deliver the babies NBD. Jk I am just being facetious our docs really are amazing. 

I clean her all up and get Lucca /they finally pick a name, all wrapped up. I leave the room my hands shaking and still high on adrenaline. All the nurses and docs congratulate me. First catch? My charge nurse says. Yep! Guess it happens more than you expect! 

Well I can say I successfully had my first catch! It makes me realize that getting Neonatal resuscitation certification is a must at this job because what if the baby came out not breathing? Well then.. that would be for another story... hopefully that doesn't happen in the near time or future!

Mom then tells me later, Oh with Isabella (her first child) we had a nurse deliver her too and got a picture. Do you mind if we take a picture with you and Lucca? That would have been nice information to know beforehand...

Sure! I say. He is a cute cute baby. Full of dark hair. 

Sorry explicit photos ahead!!!

Star Wars 3D

While getting into the swing of things after Peru I had three nights in a row and then transitioned to days. That is tough! I don't know how people do it. I think I have realized my body likes me better when I am working days even though it is ALL day. I decided I would still work day night rotate instead of just straight nights. Chris and I had a pretty relaxed week, and that doesn't happen too often. I had some days off of work and Chris has been getting home a little earlier, which never happens! One morning he had it off and we were able to go to the gym and go get brunch at Rooster. We also made plans to go to the movies one night. We had bought the tickets and when we showed up to the movie theater we found out that our movie didn't start until 10:40. It was 8:30 when we got there. Chris opted out to watch Star Wars for the second time and me for the first time. It worked out since the movie started at 9. Only con was that it was in 3D. Definitely don't see the excitement of 3D. It just makes me dizzy.

I was able to catch up with a nursing school friend and go to lunch with her. It's so fun to see people from nursing school and what they want to do and where they are going.

School hasn't started yet but will start this week! I am taking pharmacology and statistics so we will see what is harder.. It has been nice to have a little break from school but now I am kind of itching to get back. This girl has a hard time sitting still.

Chris and I signed up for an Olympic Triathlon. It is over 6 miles of running, 24 miles of biking, and 1 mile swim. I think I can do all of it except for the swim part. I am really nervous honestly to do the swimming. I have never done that much swimming so it will take some time to practice.

 With the new years primary has taken on some goals of itself. I think it is nice to have a new year to reflect on what we can do better and what we can change. We had a couple of primary meetings and a teacher meeting this week. Our new theme for 2016 is, "The Scriptures Are True". There is a women in our ward who bought fabric and made all the primary kids little totes to bring their scriptures in. They are the cutest thing. People are so generous. I was even able to get my visiting teaching done this month. I love visiting teaching and always have. It's nice to be able to get outside primary once in a while.

This week I work on Thursday and this weekend. I don't love working the weekends since that is the time that Chris gets off and doesn't make it very fun for him. But I also get this week to hang out and catch up on some school work.

Love,
Cameryn

Peru 2015

The Call's decided to do Christmas a little different this year. We checked something off our bucket list and went to Machu Picchu. It was definitely worth the travel. An hour and a half to Atlanta 6 1/2 hours to Lima, an 1 1/2 to Cuzco and then 4 hour train ride to Machu Picchu! Although it was a lot of traveling we had fun while we did it. Instead of Christmas gifts we decided to draw names and write letters to one another. It was  special for me because when I am home the bros are either with friends or school. It was nice to have everyone together and no cell phone service :).

First Day In Cuzco: My birthday! The quarter century. What better way to spend it than in Peru. We spent the day in Cuzco acclimating to the elevation. The city is situated in the mountains at an elevation of 11,000 feet. We were greeted by many many people trying to make money off tourists. It's how they make their money but man it gets old fast. We saw the elders walking and got to meet them and see how missionary work is really like in Cuzco. It's hard.. they said, a lot of them are set in their traditions and many are Catholic.
We went out for dinner and were served some Peruvian food. Lomo Saltado seems to be the popular dish choice, we also tried I guess it's beef heart? I had no idea when trying it. I stuck to whatever said pollo. Seemed like a safe choice.
Day 2: We went to a "Waka" called Saqsaywaman sounds like "sexy woman". It is the historical incan empire. We walked there first and came across some mangy looking dogs. There are dogs everywhere in Peru. And not very cute ones like pampered Maggie. They are dirty, missing legs, teeth, matted hair. Somehow through all of it my mom still managed to find a soft place in her heart to feed them. Don't feed the dogs! We were all saying.. too late. We had a tour guide who I could hardly understand and kept being fascinated by the walls and rocks and how they line up so evenly. It was pretty cool that they could do this back then 900 AD. And look double doors! This place is very special..
Day 3: I always love eating breakfast in other countries. They are so refined and different from the breakfasts I see Americans eating. Eggs consisted the majority of the meal, but you could also find cheeses, and bread. Fruit was available, granola, and yogurt. We headed out to the Sacred Valley in our big white van trying not to get car sick. Fabrizio, "Look friends!" "My dear friends". I am not so sure if we are on that personal note yet. We saw the condours which the Incas loved and cherished. They are basically big vultures but are the 2nd biggest bird in the world with a wing span of 10 feet. We saw a puma, and some llamas, and of course more peruvian looking dogs. The people there were trying to sell us baby alpaca. All the nice sweaters, hats, pants, etc. contain baby alpaca. The people here LOVE baby alpaca also they love coca. More on that later.
We made it to the Sacred Valley which was my second favorite part of the trip. It was amazing to see how they farmed on these lands and how they protected themselves. We hiked a bit and bit more until our lungs were exhausted. The altitude was killing me! We were dropped off at the train station for our next stop Machu Picchu.
Day 4: Waking up at 450 was rough. We got ready and headed downstairs for breakfast and on our way to Machu Pichu. When I first came across this huge piece of miraculous land I thought I was in the movie King Kong. Everything is so lush and green! I felt like I was going to see this huge ape come by our bus. We couldn't have asked for better weather. It was warm and sunny perfect hiking weather. The hike on Winapichu was by far my favorite part of the trip. It was so pretty being able to look down from the peak. Not to mention the hike was a little sketchy but they had ropes to hold onto. Supposedly they only put those ropes in a couple of years ago and 17 people die a year! It was worth the risk. Looking down at Machu Pichu was like a fairy tale. It didn't seem real. Our tour guide took us around Machu Pichu and taught us all about the Inca life. That there were different temples in Machu Pichu and places to do sacrifices. The Incas I am learning were very intuitive people and very smart/ resourceful. They built aquaducts and windbreakers using their walls. They used the sun to see when the equinox was through a small window of one of their buildings. We were taught and got to see a coca plant. Which is a plant the Incas would use and later on farmers used to chew on so that they could maintain a high level of energy and not get hungry. The Peruvians love their coca. If you extract enough of it and from one ingredient of all the ingredients in it you can make cocaine. Yes, you need a whole lot of this plan but you can make cocaine. We tried some coca tea. Not my favorite, tasted like grass.
Day 5: Christmas Eve we slept in and went about Cuzco bearing good tidings and little trinkets for the boys and girls. Mom had an idea to make bags and collections of things to give out to the kids. After the first two bags given out other kids and their mothers spotted the free gifts and started towards mom. She was then encircled about by Peruvians grabbing at her and her bag. Dad had to separate them and drag her out of the circle. She wanted us to pass out the trinkets after that. All we did was run over to a kid drop the toy filled bag and say Feliz Navidad and bail. Our Christmas feast was good ol' pizza. Nothing like pizza with no sauce. We did white elephants and letters this year for christmas. I got a big coca cake and Jace chose my gift. Chris ended up with a big hoof where you can drink pop out of. Tanner ended up with a small cuddly guinea pig (the peruvians delicacy). They sold it all over the streets, Dad ended up with a shirt Coca (the leaf) Cola, and mom got a guinea pig paper weight. The letters were my favorite part. It was a different kind of present and a lot more meaningful. I will definitely keep those letters forever :).

Day 6: We left Cuzco and went to the Amazon. The Amazon is hot and humid but you need to be careful of the mosquitos and where long pants! So we were drenched in sweat and bug repellent and made our way to the amazon. We had an hour drive on a long bumpy road and then a 30 min boat ride. We then hiked 15 mins inland where our "hotel" was. There were no doors, no walls, no ac. But it was a cool looking building and they did make it homey. My favorite part of the amazon was seeing all the little monkeys in the trees starting at you. Also the howling monkey that sounded like wind howling through the air was fun to hear as well. We went on a couple of hikes to see the Macaws and to fish for Pirhanas! We all caught one. Not hard to catch since the fishing pole is a stick, a string, and a hook with meat connected. We saw some creepy crawly things at night- frogs, tarantulas, butterfly moths. No puma or Jaguar unfortunately. They are too deep in the jungle.
We had such a great time and had so much fun traveling through this country. Loved every part of it.











Peruvian Dog
                                                                                     Blanco Christo





Giving some llama some love.


Machu Picchu