NEW!

Whew, what a whirlwind the last few days have been! My brain feels like it's about to explode with new information and experiences. The last couple days have been pretty exhausting, but we seem to be settling into a routine here pretty nicely. Kyle, Payton and I moved down to Albany on Saturday afternoon with the help of my parents (who are AWESOME by the way!) We only took the "essentials", but turns out we needed to go back to U-Haul and get a bigger truck. It's amazing how much stuff you can have that you don't even know about. Rick and Sue left Sunday for Hawaii, so it's pretty much just been me, Payton and the boys. Payton has her own room, and Kyle and I are staying in Bryan's old room, which was Kyle's room in high school (Bryan is very graciously staying in a trailer in the driveway until his wedding in March--he's the best! Thank you Uncle Bryan :) Our stuff has been put away and organized, it feels good to finally be more settled.

My first day at Albany General Hospital was yesterday. I showed up at HR and filled out some paperwork, got my badge, watched a video on hand hygiene (yawn) and then headed over to the ultrasound department. One of the techs was off and another called in sick, so someone from Nuclear Medicine offered to walk me around since ultrasound was slammed. She helped me get some of my computer logins, passwords, all that stuff. I got to shadow ultrasound again in the afternoon, and it was a little overwhelming. I'm a quick learner and I know I can do it, but the idea of learning vascular (there's a LOT to learn!) is a pretty daunting task. Plus new computer systems, variations in protocols, new faces... when I went back today though it seemed a little easier, so I think by the end of this week I will feel more comfortable with everything.

Last night though... ROUGH. Easily one of the worst nights Kyle and I have had with Payton. Luckily we rarely have any bad nights, but she was a very unhappy camper last night. I felt so bad for her, you could tell she was in pain, but it's so frustrating that she can't tell you what's hurting her. She was up most of the night fussing and crying, and finally calmed down when I put some numbing drops in her ears. I asked Kyle to call her new pediatrician's office first thing in the morning so she could be seen, because we suspected she had another ear infection. This doctor was recommended to us by Kyle's aunt (who is an OB nurse and knows a lot of the pediatricians), and he is awesome! He checked Payton out, and she has an ear infection in both ears. Poor little girl :( So she's back on antibiotics again, and will hopefully start feeling better soon.

After my sleepless night I had to drive to Corvallis to attend my CPR recertification... fun. Not. Oh well, I only have to go every two years! I spent the rest of the day back at the hospital, trying to learn the computer systems. They haven't really had a chance to sit down with me though and do some specific computer training because they've been busy, so hopefully we can work in some time for that soon. I've only done a little bit of scanning, which has also been a challenge because I haven't scanned on one of their machines since college. So I'm reallllllly rusty, and still trying to figure out where all the knobs and everything are. I was so focused on learning the machine today that I completely forgot to take an important picture, and I felt like such an idiot. They were extremely nice about it, but I hate making mistakes like that, especially when I'm making first impressions and I know I'm better than that. I just told myself to take a deep breath. There's always tomorrow!

Tomorrow I'm headed to the clinic in North Albany to get some 3D training for one of the machines, which should be fun. Then the rest of the week will be at the hospital learning as much as I can. I'm going to be working full time for the next 4-6 weeks, then I will probably start my regular shift at the beginning of March, which my manager said will usually be about 10:00 - 5:00. So awesome! That coupled with a less than 10 minute commute home means a lot more time with my family, which I'm very excited about!

Our little girl is starting to get into EVERYTHING, and I know it's just beginning. She can pull to standing, and has even started cruising a little bit. She got her first big bruise last week from falling, right on her forehead. It freaked me out, but I was assured by our parents that it is probably the first of many once she hits this stage. She doesn't want to bother with getting dressed or getting her diaper changed, she just wants to immediately roll over and try to climb something... which means every diaper change pretty much turns into wrestling match. She is now down to propranolol just once a day, and in about a week and a half it will be once every other day. Just three more weeks, and then she will be DONE! Amazing to think she's been on it for almost 8 months. Payton loves playing peek a boo, and we found out she can be very ticklish on her feet. She shakes her head "no" a lot, every question you ask her is no. She is very loud, and if she doesn't think you're paying enough attention to her she will give a little scream just to let you know she's still there. She loves to imitate sounds; if you make a funny noise, chances are she will try to copy you. It's so fun, like having a little conversation. She is sticking her tongue out a lot, I don't know why! I thought she was maybe feeling her new teeth with her tongue, but who knows. She's also started to drool a lot again; maybe a new tooth is on it's way? :)

Anyway, got another full day of learning ahead of me tomorrow! My next post will have pictures I promise. Have a great rest of the week!

Happy birthday to Ashlyn and Connor!