We all Have to Work

Yes, I'm a night-shift-nurse. You may wonder how one can stay up all night and work for 12 hours straight. Well, it is a bit difficult. It wasn't so bad before Ivy was born. I could nap before my shift, when I got home, and whenever I needed to catch-up and for as long as I wanted, without interruption. Now, I am lucky to get a nap if Ivy decides to take one. I really don't know how I do it. I guess it was all of my years of training going out to clubs and partying all night long. (Actually, I was usually the one who got tired first and wanted to go home to bed before everyone else did.) The great thing about working nights is that I get to see more of Ivy. I could change my schedule to days if I wanted, but it just wouldn't work out with child care, and I do get paid quite a bit more. It really isn't so bad since I only work 6 days every 2 weeks, and I often volunteer to get called off if they are over-staffed. It really is a pretty good gig, since I have to work and make a living doing something. It can also be a nice break from toddler world. I get to hang out with other grown-ups all night long and usually there is always something pretty interesting about the patients I take care of. Last night, for instance, one of the babies was a huge 11 lb. 9 oz baby boy! (Yes, C-section). My other patient was giving her baby up for adoption. It was open, so she knew the adoptive parents and they were in the room with her visiting earlier in the evening. I was just dying all night to know what was going through her mind as she held, fed, and cared for her really cute newborn that she was going to give up. She did tell me that she was going to have visitation rights to see her every 3 months. To make things more complicated and scandalous, the father of the newborn was suing for custody also.



When I work nights, Scott takes complete care of Ivy. These are some pictures Scott took of Ivy walking in my shoes on Friday night when I was at work. (She loves shoes and touching anything with her feet.) It is really great for them to bond and hang-out together without me around as a distraction. Scott is a great dad. Better than I could have ever imagined he would have been. It just gets a little tough when Ivy isn't feeling good like this week. She has had a stuffy nose and has been running a low-grade fever. She isn't sleeping through the night and has been going through some separation anxiety. It will all get better the older she gets I suppose. I also will look forward to sleeping all day long and getting some freedom during the days back once she is in school in a few years. I'll be able to take classes and pursue other interests again. Yeah!!!!!