Eternal exhaustion

Many people have kindly inquired about how work is going now that I am pregnant. I feel compelled to comment, and will be as upbeat as possible.

First off, I am a person that enjoys a regular routine. I sort of knew this about myself before working a midnight shift, but that fact is certainly confirmed after this experience. I've never been a night owl, party all night, let's stay up and watch the sunrise kind of a person. What I do enjoy are mornings. Having a cup of coffee with breakfast and having the whole day ahead of me to accomplish anything on the to do list. And right now, those don't exist.

Quick side note about coffee: I was a regular two cups a day coffee drinker before becoming pregnant. My plan was to limit that to one-a-day, for caffeine's sake. My body, however, had other plans, the smell, or even the thought of coffee sent my stomach reeling. Therefore, I've quit cold turkey and don't plan on having any until after the baby is born. Bummer, I lost my only pick me up for a little energy at work.

So shift work and flip-flopping sleeping schedules is hard enough on a regular person (especially me) and pregnancy has made this ten times worse. At first, I could tell by the expression on people's faces and comments like "Gee, Charlotte, you don't look so good!"...and the other day I looked in the mirror and thought, I sure don't -- and I look just how I feel, too! Bags under my eyes, pale skin, yikes! Where is that "pregnancy glow" -- are people referring to the throw back to teenager acne days? 'Cause that is what I'm experiencing. :)

Now for the upbeat part, rumor has it I could be on day shift by Christmas. Oh please, Santa! Now and again, however, I remember that day shift is very busy all the time. At least on a good night, I can sit for a spell between hourly vital signs.

I'm posting this and heading to bed, I've got other updates I should work on soon -- regular blogging takes discipline!

Quiet Weekend

Well, its been a quiet weekend at home for me. George is currently in his ER rotation (he is at a facility located in Detroit that serves a pretty hard area). Needless to say, he is getting quite good at suturing (knife wounds, etc). He has had a more intense schedule this month, working every weekend and only has Tuesday and Thursday off. In addition, the fast pace of the ER has George pretty worn out. This is a new concept for us as his rotations earlier this summer were a little lighter to accommodate a study schedule for the boards. So overall, its been a good experience for George, but I'm sure he'll be glad to get back to the office setting of family practice. For the month of September, he'll be in Madison, Wisconsin, checking out a program there that he is interested in for residency.

On a different note, my sister, Caroline, left for China today. She was describing her itinerary to me on the phone last night, flying from Des Moines, Iowa to Chicago O'Hare for a 13 hour flight to Beijing. Unfortunately, her layover is a whopping 1 hour...so I do hope that she made it onto her flight from Chicago ok. Thank goodness she's traveling with a few other girls that are also in the China exchange program through Drake University teaching English as a second language. Safety in numbers, I say. She is in the city of Shijiazhuang, and we're all anxious to hear about her new adventures. But, she doesn't even arrive in Beijing until Tuesday afternoon, so we'll have to be patient until we hear from her!

Being a good sister and nurse, I did instruct her to get up from her seat, or at least flex her toes to avoid getting a clot in her legs on her long journey.

We've had a roller coaster of weather recently in Michigan. At the end of last week we had some brutal storms zip through the area. Lots of thunder and lightning, and even a few tornadoes. Today and yesterday have been beautiful. The humidity has finally let up and the sun has been shining. That autumn feeling is in the air. So I'm going to get a few things done around the apartment before I have to go to work tonight.

Prenatal visit #2

My second prenatal visit was a quick check up at the doctor's office. The labs and tests from the first visit are all normal, and we were able to dopple the baby's "heartbeep" (as Julia liked to call it during Andrew's prenatal visits) at a rate of 155 beats per minute. This is right on target for the average 140-160 beats per minute.

I am 14 weeks and just entering my second trimester. My weight after the first trimester: -6 pounds. Although the nausea has finally subsided, I still don't have much of an appetite. Thankfully, my energy level is returning to the point where I can handle some household chores, and possibly even take a walk now and again!

My next doctor's visit will be around 19-20 weeks and will also include the ultrasound!

Sand Dunes

On the shores of Silver Lake, we (Mom, Caroline, the Sanfords, and I) cooled off on a hot August day in Michigan. Julia and Andrew enjoyed rolling in the sand and the returning to the water to wash off and repeating this over and over and over again. The water was very refreshing!

Afterwards, we had a little barbecue in the picnic area where Stephen grilled up some bratwursts and hot dogs. We also enjoyed some local flavor when we picked up another 1/2 bushel of Michigan peaches! What a yummy treat!