OB/GYN

We're entering week three of our Maternal Health and Childbearing class, which is a fancy name for Obstetrics/Gynecology. This course is five credits in eight weeks and includes ten hours of lecture, two hours of lab, and sixteen hours of clinical per week. This of course, is in addition to three other classes...no big thing for a nursing student, right?! Class has been extremely fast paced, lab has consisted of practicing baby baths and breast feeding a doll (okay, not quite, but we had to do the motions!), and clinical has had it's ups and downs.

I am at Boulder Community Hospital, which is without a doubt where I want to have a baby. They have brand new "suites" for labor and delivery, as well as suites for recovery that include a queen sized bed to include dad, spectacular views of the Flatirons (mountains for those of you unfamiliar) and jacuzzi tubs. They also highly encourage breast feeding and do everything in their power to make it work for mom and baby. They even supply donor breast milk to babies who need more calories than mom can provide. Lastly, they use cloth diapers, and let me tell you, cloth diapers have come a long way! These have velcro tabs and everything.

Above a really bad picture of me holding a very sleepy newborn! This was a highlight of my day today as I have still not seen a delivery, either C-section or vaginal. So far I've spent two days in Labor and Delivery and have seen very little action. I've not even seen regular contractions. Instead, my two patients have come in to be induced, which is a lengthy process. I've also spent a day in the NICU (Neonatal or Newborn, Intensive Care Unit). This is for babies with problems. Most of them were born premature. Luckily they were all stable when I was there and are just working on gaining weight and getting stronger. They are so tiny! The two I had were between three and four pounds! The other picture is three of the girls at Boulder. Alexandria, Erin and Jacinda. There are six of us total.





As of now, I'm not sure I have any interest in being an OB nurse. I could however, see myself working in the NICU someday. It's very interesting. Denver and Regis has a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner program, so maybe someday I'd consider that? Who knows. Hopefully next time I write I'll have a story about a birth I saw!