I really hate distance ed..stats!!!

So I have attended 2 classes of stats on campus and I have found it to be a far better learning experience than learning online. Currently I am enrolled in an online distance learning type course which will later transfer to my nursing program at Red River. I'll get to the point. Where does my prof get off thinking that he can assign word for word reading of the text and the study guide and think that that is an appropriate way to learn? When I attend class I get a more concise, to the point version of what takes me HOURS to read, watch and interpret. I must admit that there are several resources online for me to use like the text, stat tutor (the online video series)and study guide however reading every word of an american text and watching hours of a women spout stats theory in a monotonous tone drives me insane. What took me 3 hours of reading and watching took 1h 25 minutes of in class time and a far better explanation of the content. It was not clouded by American stats or too many examples and information that is not even needed for the class. Why should distance ed be any different from an in class course where you would have the profs notes as a basis to study with the text as a resource. I am thoroughly unimpressed with this delivery of this class and will never again take a course if it's taught like this. Good news is I am learning however at a sickeningly slow pace.

Smelly boots and Crayon Stench

As I walk through the halls of my Julien's new school, it brings back memories of my elementary and my life when I was young. The smells are so similar despite the fact that it's a completely different school. It makes me nervous to send him as he's currently in preschool 2 afternoons a week and already says he doesn't like going. He just turned 4 and so we are deciding whether to send him to kindergarten this year or next year. I think socially he's ready to go but he has NO patience for the academics of learning. He is always asking, "What time is it Maman, What's his name Maman, What does it saw on it Maman" but get him to sit down to learn letters comes in short, 10 minute intervals few and far between. I think he likes being at home with me and Claude and enjoys the freedom of doing things when he wants. "Always on his terms" I say when he fights being asked to do something he doesn't want to do(like getting dressed to go outside!). I just want him to be a kid a year longer and have a full year advantage over the kids instead of a full year disadvantage.
Also it does smell rather odd in the halls of a school. All the kids boots and winter garments, the stench of crayons and art hanging on the walls. Lunch days with pizza, Spaghetti and milk sales. The music teacher getting the kids excited to sing a song they love. It's all very distant from my memory but I get to live it again through my kids!

My Appendectomy at 18 weeks

It was Saturday, January 10. We had been shopping that evening getting groceries from Stupid Store, getting totally into the bulk barn and I bought some hair dye. All night I had been having cramping pain mostly from my stretching ligaments but it was also in my back. We ate dinner, put Julien to bed and then proceeded to dye my hair. I started feeling weird and asked Claude if dinner had made him sick too. He said no and also J was fine as well. I had been having waves of nausea but they had mostly passed by this point and so I just figured it was dinner not sitting well with me. The pain got worse. We went to bed around midnight and I tossed and turned for 3 hours until I got up and started looking on the net for some answers. This is something I do a lot because I love information.
By this point I was reeling in pain and felt awful...then I started really throwing up. I never do, never have fevers, never get really sick and so this got me a little more concerned with my state. I phoned Health Links and talked to a nurse who suggested I go to Emergency right away. I walked to our bedroom where Claude was half asleep and asked if he wanted to drive me to the hospital. His response "I hate to say this but can you drive yourself?" Before you jump to conclusions, I had thought about driving myself well before this point as Julien was sound asleep in the next room. NO WAY was I waking up a 4 year old, dragging him to Emerg at 4 am just so he could sit and be miserable and watch Maman puke every half hour.
So I got dressed, grabbed a puke bucket and a wet washcloth and drove myself to St B Hospital 6 blocks away. When I arrived there was no one there thank god! I was admitted within minutes of arriving and they got me settled in a room. I sat for a while totally uncomfortable, nauseous, exhausted and in pain. At one point I felt like throwing up and had an internal debate about whether to puke in the sink or the garbage can. I felt bad about having someone else clean up my mess so I chose the sink. This made for an easy cleanup!
Shortly after that the doctor walked in. A tall handsome man with white hair and a white beard who looked EXACTLY like Julien's pediatrician Dr Connor!!! "Hello I'm Dr Connor" my eyes got big and I smiled. It was OUR Dr Connor's notorious brother who looks and acts very much alike. "So you've met my brother have you?" and he just chuckled. It put me at ease and on went the exam. They got an IV going, Gave me some Gravol, took blood and told me to try and rest because I would be here for at least the night.
I was so uncomfortable but the Gravol helped me to relax and stopped the nausea. I was in and out of sleep the rest of the morning until around 9am when there was just too much commotion about. Orderlies, hospital staff, residents, med students, nurses and just the fact that those beds are terrible! The nurses just kept me on the gravol but of course I wasn't allowed to drink or eat anything just in case.
Around 10:00, I called Claude to let him know what was going on. I was in line for an ultrasound to be done by a Radiologist and so it was just a matter of waiting. My blood tests had shown that my white blood cell count was slightly high at 15 points and so they were more suspicious as to why. Shortly after 11 I was taken up to radiology and Claude was on his way.
The Radiologist poked and prodded, scanned my belly and she kept going over one spot. I asked what she was doing all the way up there and she said "I think I found your appendix". "Way up there?" I added in surprise. It was just to the right and above my bellybutton and explained why my pain was all over my right side. She found Fluid on it and suggested I get it out. She was really nice and was as gentle as you can be during that procedure. She sent me downstairs with my "note" suggesting I had a suspected perforated appendix with fluid around it and it should come out.
Back downstairs Claude and Julien arrived and Dr Clark came in to tell me that the surgical team has been called and that Dr Vergis was on his way to talk to me. He is a very pleasant, young, confidant doctor who was great to have on my team. He explained that if my appendix were to rupture, the miscarriage rate was 80% but with this laproscopic procedure it was a generous 10% (more like 7%). I expressed my concerns about staying low risk because I was with midwives and he was very reassuring that there would be no reason not to return to their care. We chatted about what would happen and the effects of general anesthetic on the baby and then he was off to get ready. My surgery was scheduled for around a 3pm.
I wasn't scared, nervous or concerned about anything as I knew it was way better to have it done now with lapro rather than wait and have full on incisions like my sister. The only moment I was thinking "HOLY S^&T THIS IS REAL" was when they put the mask on me in the OR and I was out! I woke up in disbelief that anything had happened and had to be told several times as I giggled, that it was over. The nurse was great at managing my pain right away and gave me 5 shots of fentanyl right off the hop! It was great and I was relaxed and was in recovery.
After a short while there with my pain under control, I was wheeled up to the Gyny ward on the 3rd floor. I was greeted with fantastic nurses and staff who made my stay as comfortable as it could be under the circumstances. The cocktail of drugs I was given to keep me healthy and in minimal pain included; cefoxitin (cephalosporin for antibiotics)Morphine (for the pain) and 2 shots of Heparin to prevent bloodclots. After that I was given T3' and sent home with a prescription for Augmentin (Amoxicillian / Clavulanic Acid) for 5 days. This poor kid was given a soup mix of drugs and yet they are all relatively safe for pregnancy. I went home and double checked just to make sure!
I ended up with 3 tiny incisions on my belly all of which have healed very well and are now less than 5 mm long!!! They still suspected perforation but didn't say much else since I figure it wasn't that bad. I stayed at St B for 2 nights after the surgery and went home in pain, but I was feeling OK. Mostly feeling depressed because of the general anesthetic they give. Julien was good about letting me rest and keeping busy because he knew I was sick. He saw my IV's and my "bobos" and was very sympathetic towards me. My Dad and mom also took him a few nights while I was in the hospital and helped get him to swimming and school because I couldn't drive. Thank god for Nanas, Grandpappas and Husbands who help out!
So it's been 3 weeks. I am almost healed, just a few pains here and there and the after-effects of appendicitis. I found the end of a stitch last night and decided to snip it off as it was bugging my belly button. J and I did the "procedure" together! He will be a surgeon one day if I can help it! It's still amazing what doctors can do and how little I am affected now. I really appreciated what Dr Vergis and his team did for me and my family. I also learned a lot about nursing during my stay and took away some valuable knowledge that will no doubt help me later on.

Pregnancy - Week 21

I will start off with this pregnancy because it's been entirely different from my first. Julien, my son who is now 4, was an easy pregnancy. It was long at 42 weeks + 2 days but overall I had no problems. This time around there was minor complications at 5 weeks which required an ultrasound, more pain from my ligaments than I remember there being and then my appendix decided to go at 18 weeks. That was 3 weeks ago! This baby is active and seems unaffected by all the goings on outside it's environment but I still wonder if the ordeal of surgery and the cocktail of meds will have a lasting effect on it. We had our ultrasound on Sunday and the baby was active and looked great! All limbs were present and as the tech pointed out, the stomach was full, bladder was full, kidneys were good, bones were good and it seemed that all it's limbs were there. I did have some worries about deformities because of tiling the bathroom with a product that clearly states on the side "This product has known to cause birth defects in the State of California"! Of course we are not in California as Claude pointed out but i don't like taking uncalculated risks. So after the scan, I feel better and more at ease with how this baby is inside. I am also over the morning sickness now and most of the crazy cravings are gone. I started throwing up at 8 weeks and it lasted until week 17ish. This time I would be sick before I even ate and then was fine for the rest of the day. This was GREAT! My cravings were things that I could eat and would soothe the feeling of nausea. Food such as; apples, pickles, olives, fresh veggies especially cucumbers and cheese. I have also curbed the coffee drinking, i couldn't cook dinner for the time when I was feeling ill (Claude did it all) and I had to eat before doing dishes or picking up cat puke. The joys of motherhood. I felt "quickening" at 14 weeks which is very early but I remember it being 15 weeks with Julien. I was laying in bed and felt a distinct kick just above my bladder. I was SURE! I am pretty sensitive with movements and it helps when my placenta is at the back so by whole belly is free to feel any slight movement. Also at the ultrasound I asked the tech if Braxton-hicks contractions were common this early on and sure enough she says "yeah you're having one now"! "I knew it! I knew it!" I exclaimed because I had had a few already and they felt weird! Like a tightening around my waist and I felt almost short of breath. I was so glad to have validation of those feelings and what it was. I love technology and ask a lot of questions but as a result I know a lot too! It helps with my schooling and I'm sure will be helpful with my clinical when I get to that point. So this baby seems happy for the moment.