Just thought I should write about a not-so-bad day at work, so people don’t think I’m a slave to a horrible job.  There weren’t any patients planned at our two smaller hospitals yesterday, so I got to be on call all day instead of starting after my shift.  I slept in until 9, then showered and donned my flannel pants, a t-shirt, and my pager.  I set to work on the craft space and got it completely organized.  I vacuumed the basement and did dishes.  I had a nice lunch at home and did some paper crafts. 

Just as I was wondering what to do with my afternoon the pager went off.  Apparently the doctors forgot to tell us about one patient who needed dialysis, and the nurse was wondering when he would be dialyzed.  I switched to scrubs and got to the hospital by 2 pm.  The patient was fairly stable and the doctors and nurses nice to work with.  I had some machine trouble shooting that delayed my start time, but I was able to leave the hospital at 9 pm.  Not bad at all!  I was able to get a decent shift in, with call-back pay, and now I was anxiety free for a good night’s sleep, knowing that the call 2 nurse would have to get the next page, if there was one (there wasn’t). 

Unfortunately, there were some signs that I’m not as tough as I used to be.  I can’t leave a patient who is on treatment, so I couldn’t go to the bathroom while I was there.  My stomach was cramping up badly and I was trying not to drink so I wouldn’t make it harder for my bladder.  Halfway through the patient’s treatment his blood started clotting the tubing.  I had been giving him saline flushes every 15 minutes but I could see a total blockage was coming anyway.  I rinsed back his blood, clamped him off the machine, and paused treatment to start a new tube set-up.  Normally I hate clotted systems for delaying the treatment but this was a blessing from on high!  I dashed to the bathroom for some much needed relief before re-connecting him. 

But what’s really weird is that around 7 pm I started having cramps again.  After an hour I figured out that these were probably Braxton Hicks contractions and they. hurt. bad.  Remembering that dehydration can lead to cramps I started chugging my water.  Not much relief.  It actually hurt to stand up and walk around with them.  As soon as the patient was transported back to his room I dug out the granola bar I had brought, and gave myself another bathroom trip before finishing cleaning up the room.  They came about every 10 minutes and felt like really bad menstrual cramps, but just on the my right side and back and down my right leg.  I hobbled out to my car at 9 and per Ben’s advice grabbed dinner at McDonald’s on the way home.  I felt much much better as I started eating real (ha!) food and by 10 pm the cramps were totally gone.  I haven’t had any pre-labor contractions yet so that was really weird.  I think I pushed myself a bit too hard at work and shouldn’t have gone so long without eating.  My coworkers have been encouraging me to get a doctor’s note so that I don’t have to do call anymore.  I thought it was too soon but after last night I’m rethinking it.  Today I’m still cramp-free, but I’m having a harder time leaning over and climbing stairs.  I get winded really easily.  It looks like the third trimester is finally catching up to me.