Milestones

I graduated, yay! And then, I took my National Certifying Examination (boards) yesterday, and passed! Yay! So now I have completed all the requirements for licensure as a certified registered nurse anesthetist, and just have to wait for the state of Oregon to grant my license. And wait for credentialling at my hospital, which will hopefully happen in time for me to start work by July 5.

So, that's great. I had been studying for boards since January, but once I graduated on the 7th, all I had to do was study. I'm not the best at concentrating on dull material for hours on end, especially at the end of this long marathon of a program, and especially while pregnant, with that hormone-induced fog pregnancy can cause. I love anesthesia, but studying in that format was hard, and two and a half weeks of it nearly drove me mad. In addition, finding a good study spot was hard. I liked to study at the library, but I couldn't get comfortable there. I could only last a couple hours before my back or my butt started complaining too much and I would have to leave. So then I studied at home for the last week or so, which was much more comfortable, but our city has been tearing up the street we live on (a relatively busy one) for a month or so, and the noise right outside the window was at times unbelievable. I used earplugs, barricaded myself in the back of the house, but it still made it tough. I'm so glad that is over, and I don't have to do it again!

Now, my job for the next week is packing the house. More on that later. We move on June 3 to Portland.

Meanwhile, the baby is doing fine. At 23 weeks, I am finally feeling what I recognize to be kicking, which is kind of fun. I've chosen a bunch of beautiful Amy Butler fabrics to make a crib set out of, all in pinks and oranges, and am looking forward to unpacking the house, getting some baby furniture, and sewing that all up. We had another ultrasound this week because our little girl wouldn't move enough to see the cord insertion and all of her spine last time, so we got to peek at her again, and she seems to be doing great.

My only major complaint in the last few weeks has been the heartburn. It just gets worse as time goes on...I really don't think doing anything more with the band would help, as I can already eat quite a bit and I don't think there is any over-restriction issue by any means. It seems pretty clear that as the baby takes up more room, the heartburn gets worse. It doesn't matter what I put in my stomach. So I was on Pepcid for a while, then Prilosec...then both...all while taking lots of tums every day. Finally I called my OB and he put me on Protonix, which has helped a lot more, but doesn't last all day, so in the evenings it's still tums or an occasional Pepcid. Ugh. It's really a bummer.

But all in all, I would have to agree with everyone who says the 2nd trimester is a good time in pregnancy. Packing the house makes me more tired this time than when we did it 6 months ago, but that might have as much to do with everything that has already happened this month (graduating, studying and taking boards) as it does with being pregnant. I'll be in the 3rd by the time I start work, and I hope I am able to work until the end, but I can see how it could get hard.