One step closer...

God is good.

No.

Great.

Wait.

AMAZING!

 

Why? Because he answers prayers...all in his perfect timing. This afternoon I was offered (and I accepted) a position as a Health Unit Coordinator
(HUC) in the NICU at the University of Minnesota Amplatz Children's Hospital!! I have been volunteering at the NICU since last August and never thought I would be here in this position a year later. I have also applied for countless hospital jobs since receiving my nursing assistant certification but never had the "hospital experience" they were all looking for.

 

The funny thing is. I wasn't even looking for a new job. It all started when I was done rocking babies for the night and I was talking with Alissa, one of the HUCs, and I just randomly asked if there were any nursing assistant jobs. She said no but then mentioned the HUC position that was just posted the Friday before. She also said she'd put in a good word for me and leave a message for Margie (my new boss) so I went home and applied for the job. That week I heard back from HR and had a phone and in person interview set up for the following week.

 

That was last week...and this week I heard the good news. The best part about my interview last Thursday was it never once felt like an interview. Margie just likes to get to know the person so we spent a good amount of the time talking about our dogs. I know, right? How awesome is that? I don't have an official start date, I have to complete a pre-health screening and orientation for Fairview but should be getting my start date soon! I am so incredibly excited!!

 

I'm sure you'll hear me rambling on more about this job once I get into it a bit. My mind (or body) can't sit still at the moment. It actually has been on fast-forward since I got off the phone at 12:30 this afternoon. Ahhh...I'm so pumped!

Workin' On My Fitness

Have you heard of the "100 Workout"? Am I the last one to know about this? Is it last year's news? Either way, it's quick (depending how fast you do it) and it doesn't make me feel quite as lazy now that it's getting cold out. I'm going to miss going for walks/runs/bike rides/kayaking now that it finally feels like fall.

100 Workout

100 Jumping Jacks

90 Crunches

80 Squats (I add weights and do my arms as well)

70 Leg Lifts

60 Jumping Jacks

50 Crunches

40 Squats

30 Leg Lifts

20 Jumping Jacks

10 Minutes of Running (and I've been doing this in my house - I'm talented)

It doesn't look like much but it gets my heart pumping and my body is sore! I've only done it twice and we'll see if it continues but I like trying new things and I can do it while I'm watching my new favorite fall shows.

Also, I love being a mother goose. I seriously wish it could be my full time job. For the past three weeks I've been able to hold a little boy named Isaac who has a heart problem. Unfortunately, every week I see him his heart condition continues to get worse. :( He looked really sick on Monday night so just keep the little guy in your prayers. There are a lot of sick babies in the NICU that need God's hand but this little guy has a place in my heart since I've held him so much.

I Am: A Mother Goose

Last night was my first night of many, many more as a Mother Goose in the NICU. I loved every single minute of my two hour shift and if it wasn't for being 10:30pm when my shift ended, I would have stayed in that moment another two hours. From start to finish I held the sweetest baby boy, Joey, in my arms and watched him dream in his sleep, stretch, yawn and even smile. My neck was sore from watching him the whole time (not in a creepy way but in a loving, volunteer way) and because I just love babies.

Even though I have no idea who his parents are and I most likely will never see him again because he could be back home with his family the next time I'm in or I could be in a different nursery, I have this strange feeling that I was some how a part of his life. I can't really explain it and know it might even sound a little silly but when you sit there with him in your arms for two hours and you look at his face, his ears, mouth, hands...you feel like you know him. I soaked it all in just as if he were a part of my own family. I prayed for him, that he would get really strong and finally be able to spend his nights in his parents arms instead of a volunteer's arms and hoped that some day he would chase every dream he had and succeed in his life. I can still see his sweet face in my mind.

I am already excited for next Monday and hope that I will be able to continue my role as a Mother Goose for a long time. It's nice to sit back and hold a little one who is just starting out their life in this world and makes you thankful for everything you have and realize what is truly important. **FYI: Being a Mother Goose does not help cure baby fever. I asked Joe if we could have a baby and he said "No"!

Mother Goose

Last night I had my "Mother Goose" training at the hospital. For those of you wondering what a Mother Goose is, it's another volunteer position in the NICU where I'll actually be rocking the babies, talking with them and providing that human touch contact which is extremely important to their growth and development. I'll be in the NICU from 8:30-10:30pm Monday nights doing what I have been wanting to do since I first applied to be a volunteer. It's a popular position hence my late night shift, however, it just increases my chances of holding a little one every night I'm there because parents and visitors will be few and far between the later into the night it gets.

After talking with a RN in our training about what we can experience, how to scrub in, what is expected of us and any questions that we might have had, we toured the nursery and saw every baby in the unit. My heart felt very heavy at times because some of those little ones were no bigger than the length of my wrist to the inside of my elbow. They were so tiny and hooked up to several machines, IV lines running in every direction, fighting to stay alive. 

I am so excited and thankful that I will have the opportunity to volunteer my time in this way. I believe I get to start next week and hope that I'll have many happy ending stories to tuck in my memory.

Volunteering

For the past four Tuesdays I've spent my evenings volunteering at the University of Minnesota Fairview Hospital & Amplatz Children's Hospital. I sit at the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) info desk and help parents and visitors check in before heading into the NICU and direct people who come off the elevator either to the NICU or the Labor and Delivery Unit. Unfortunately there is not a lot to do and since I can't help the nurses with any paper work and I sit outside of the actual unit so I tend to twiddle my thumbs or read a book. However, sitting at that desk has reconfirmed my decision to go back to school to become a nurse on several occasions. I just want to do more!! Every night I've been there, the charge nurse is calling unscheduled nurses to see if they'll come in because they're short staffed and I just want to raise my hand and say, "I'll do it! I want to help!!" Then I remember, I not even close to being a nurse yet. Shoot.

When the nurses are talking at the desk I listen and make mental notes on things I want to look up and learn what they are talking about. Everything about the setting interests me and makes me really excited to learn it all. Or when you see soon to be moms and dads heading into the Labor and Delivery room because they are about to become parents - it's such a sweet moment. Every once in a while I get a glimpse of a newborn in a bassinet heading up with their mom up to the postpartum rooms on the fifth floor. So cute!

Then there are times when they're sending out a transport team to go and pick up a baby to bring them back to the hospital because they are having a lot of problems. Or like last night, the elevator door opened and there was a transport team member holding onto a gurney with a young boy laying on it. Turns out they were in the wrong wing of the hospital and they really needed to go to the bone marrow unit in the Children's Hospital. That boy should be outside playing with his friends, not in a hospital because he is sick.

My heart breaks everytime new parents come out of the NICU crying because their little one is lying in there, fighting to survive each day. I have found myself praying for every parent that comes out of that unit, that they would find the emotional strength to get through this difficult time and that the little ones would get better quickly so they could grow up outside of the hospital walls. Not every baby in the NICU is in critical condition and some are just a few weeks early so they want them to get a little bigger before they send them off into the world, but there are many in both circumstances.

In September I start my Mother Goose training where I'll be able to actually hold the babies in the NICU. I am so excited to do this and I think Joe is hoping it cures my baby fever that I've had for a while now. He can only hope haha. (Christina, I expect a good comment out of you on this one:) Although I see and hear a lot at the desk, I'm really looking forward to being a Mother Goose and talking with the baby, rocking and holding them.

This experience has been so rewarding although I really don't do much. Just being in the environment makes me want to be a nurse that much more. I want to help these little ones and take good care of them! Two years to go....two years.