I lifted 1400 lbs yesterday.

I need better access to heavy lifting equipment though.

My shoulder press still sucks... I can get the 30# dbs up twice, but I go to the 35s and there's no way in hell.

I dead-lifted 105# 5 times and did back-squat wiht 70# 5 times. I could go heavier on both, but all I have is my adjustable DBS that max out at 52.5# each and there's no WAY I can heft that much up to my shoulders to squat. If I had a bar and some bumper plates... and rings... and a 16# padded medicine ball... and... and...

In other news I am done with my OB clinical rotation and I believe I did very well. My last day was BUSY with every bed on the unit full, moving delivered mom-babies to peds and I personally was in on 2 vaginal births and 2 c-sections (one planned for transverse lie and one for a surprise footling breech!). We also had a VERY precipitous labor with a mom coming up from the ER and barely making it to the bed before pushing out her 7lb baby girl.

I'm pretty proud that I was able to get an 18gauge IV into a fore-arm vein for the first c-section patient. She hated hand IVs, (which is all I've done so far) and forearm veins are just a little deeper, but I got it on the first try and she was very happy with me. (HOORAY!). IVs were the one thing I was just petrified of, but I'm gaining a lot of confidence as time goes on. I still need to gain the muscle memory to keep things in the right order... but once I've got that I think I'll be pretty good at them. The other IV I started that day also only took one poke, so overall it was a good day. 4 healthy babies, for 4 happy families.

And now I must go kill myself with todays cross-fit workout.

Ouch

I hurt.

I hurt everywhere.

I hurt everywhere and I am exhausted.

I just finished my last shift of OB Clinicals. In 8 hours I put in 2 IVs, 1 foley, admitted 2 patients and assisted with 2 vaginal and 2 cesarean births (both c-sections were for breech babies, one footling and the other presenting its hip). My feet feel like shredded wheat.

I am also on day 4 of a 30 day CrossFit challenge. (Rest day! YAY!). I am going to do the Crossfit Workout of the Day (plus the standard warm up of 3 rounds of 30sec Samson Stretch, 10 push ups, 10 sit ups, 10 dips, 10 pull ups, 10 squats) every day for 30 days... hopefully that will be a stress release for me and help boost my energy because this school thing is sapping my strength and motivation like nobody's business. So, between running my ass off at the hospital, doing the WODs and trying to get school work done I'm just... burnt.

I keep feeling like I'm forgetting assignments or not finishing things and its really disconcerting. I haven't actually done that (yet) but that anxiety seems to always be hanging over me. Luckily I have all day tomorrow to really get caught up on readings and writings before my final exam in OB on Saturday.

Next week begins our "Aging Client" course... blah.

Right now, I'm exhausted and in pain, so I'm gonna pop some ibuprofen and get some sleep.

ciao.

Clean and Jerk...

Teehee.

Sounds dirty, don't it?

Today I learned to Clean and Jerk. I did it with dumb bells because I don't have a proper bar yet... but holy crap is that a fun (and powerful feeling) move.

The vid I linked to above is from the crossfit website and they have instructional videos and demonstrations of everything they use in their workouts... crossfit makes me want a bar (a real, heavy, bar) with bumper plates and gymnastic rings... mmm... ring dips...

Tomorrow is brutal...

An update

So... I am more than half way through my BSN program now. I have 4 more clinical rotations. My next rotation in OB starts next week. I'll be on the busiest L&D floor in the area so I'm VERY excited about that, plus the nurse I'm with works day shift and that rocks so much butt I can't even explain it. School is still going well. I blew my 4.0 with an A/B in Legal and Ethical Issues in Nursing. I was PISSED at myself, but... it was my own fault for going on a vacation to Boston in the middle of the course and screwing up the paper I had to turn in for the class. Overall my GPA is still a 3.677 I believe, so I'm not going to sweat it.

I have to take my Mental Health Nursing final today between 3 and 7pm, I am NOT looking forward to it. I did well on the first exam, but the second was INSANE (poorly written questions with ambiguously right/wrong answers) and everyone did much worse on it. I need a solid A (to get an A in this program you need better than 93%) to pull an A in the class... but realistically I'm gunning for an A/B this time... we'll see.

I'm planning to spend the weekend reading up in my OB text book because I start on the floor bright and early Monday morning. I may think I know a lot about the physiology of labor and birth, but really... I know NOTHING about nursing care for a woman in labor. I'm a trained doula, but that doesn't mean I'd be able to pick up late-decels on the monitor... or what to do about it if I did.

I am THRILLED to be doing OB tho. The other option I could have been assigned is Mental Health for this clinical... Oh. Hell. No. I mean, I have learned a HELL of a lot about mental health issues and got some HUGE revelations about people I've known who are (or are not) diagnosed with things like bipolar, borderline personality disorder and schizophrenia... but I do not feel that I am in any way ready to deal with other people's mental issues when I still have my own to sort out... thankyouverymuch.

In other news, Nate turned 6 a couple weeks ago. We had a Star Wars themed party here at the house for a dozen of his friends (LITERALLY a DOZEN KINDERGARTENERS FOR 3 HOURS!!!). He had a blast and got TONS of presents so I think he considered it a success.

Val has been doing SO well in school and I don't know if I mentioned but he participated in wrestling for the first time this winter and he was REALLY good at it. Plus he loved it, so that's probably going to be a regular activity for him from here on out. He's got a good friend now who lives just down the street and they're inseparable, especially when they go to the YMCA on the weekends. He's getting so much more mature it blows my mind. He'll be 10 in July... yeowch!

As for fitness etc... I have decided that I don't need to think about my weight at this point... what matters is my fitness level and being able to endure 8-12 hour work-days on my feet as a nurse when I graduate. That's why I decided to start the cross-fit program... well... that and my little sister challenged me (hah!).

We'll see if I make it through today's workout without puking... I am not optimistic.

;)

So... you want a challenge?

Try Crossfit.

Seriously.

Every day they post a workout (today happens to be a rest day so you're safe) and when you look at the workout you think, "What? That's it?" And then you look at the videos to figure out the moves... and you see the AMAZING shape these people are in and you thin, "Sure... why not, I'll give it a shot!" And then you start doing the work outs. Usually 20-30 minutes... no big deal, right?

And then you puke because you've never done anything so freaking challenging in your LIFE and it kicks your ass right to the floor and you think... well no wonder one of their motos is:

"Cross Fit. Your workout is our warmup!"

In the last week I've learned to do a hanging snatch, hanging power-snatch and a thruster... I'm not doing them with much weight, mind you... but I'm getting the motion down so I can safely do so later on... I've only been at this a week and my body HURTS all over and I love love love love love it.

My sister Meghan introduced me... now I'm introducing you... share the love, you know you want to!!!