My husband will make comments when we are out shopping and I pick up something cute on sale-"Whi's that for?" he'll ask. "One of the girls at work is pregnant." He just kind of rolls his eyes and says, "when are they not?"
And it's true. Most nursing units, especially larger ones, have at least one woman pregnant or on maternity leave at any given time. Last year my unit had to have special staff meetings just to figure out how we were going to staff the unit because we had between 2 and 6 new moms that were ging to be off around the same time!
But it doesn't seem to phase us. We rearrange and make do- because chances are someone did it for us when we had our kid(s). And we take care of our moms-to-be on the unit, helping to turn their patients and making sure they get to eat enough during their 12-hour shift. Today I helped a preggo nurse get her patient out of a chair. We had to wrap his leg with an ace wrap while he was standing up and she had the wrap in her hand. "So...", I said. "Do you really wanna bend down and do that or do you want me to?" She sighed and handed it over...
But oh do I love my nurse-mommies. They come to work for their 12-hour shifts all the way through their 9 months, pulling their weight no differently than the rest of us. I love rubbing their bellies and feeling the magic of life move inside. I love watching the ones go thru their first pregnancy and bloom into mothers, bringing in and posting pics of little fingers and toes and telling stories of sleepless nights and sore nipples.
Today's pic is of a nurse I work with and today was her last day as a nurse for awhile. The next time she's in the hospital she will be on the patient side of things. As you can see, her little boy is just about ready to meet the world-and the crazy lady his mommy works with that always rubbed her belly.
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