Random bits of our lives

Three cheers for my hubby: The alternator in his truck went out Friday. In retrospect, we should have seen it coming, as we've gone through several batteries since we bought the truck in 2001. But we didn't. Long story short, he called up one of his buddies who works at a repair shop, they went to AutoZone for the part, they replaced it and the truck runs a million times better than before. All for a whopping $106. The man is a genius, and I am in awe of him!! Hubs, that is.

What I don't like: This has to do with work. So if you don't like the words placenta, uterus, cervix, or any talk of bleeding, skip this paragraph. :) And it has nothing to do with doctors, or even difficult patients, just their conditions. I work with a lot of high-risk antepartums (pregnant women) and have enjoyed learning how to take care of them. I enjoy reading the fetal monitor strips and enjoy just getting to know the ladies. We have many who stay with us for weeks and months until they deliver. My two least favorite high-risk conditions are placenta previa and placental abruptions. Previa is a condition in which the placenta completely covers the opening of the cervix. What makes that bad is that the placenta has a LOT of blood flowing through it at any given moment, and when that cervix starts to dilate (even just a tiny bit), the placenta starts to separate from the wall of the uterus. Which means that you could bleed to death in a matter of minutes. Boy howdy, when you get someone with a previa, you better be Johnny-on-the-spot cause when they break, it can be bad. You run, you don't walk, with them over to the OR. I also don't like abruptions. That's when the placenta (implanted anywhere in the uterus, usually in the upper portion) separates from the uterine wall. Less placental attachment=less nutrients to the baby, for starters. The other bit is that with as many blood vessels as are there, that can also kill you. What's even worse is that sometimes you have a hidden abruption, where the ends of the placenta are attached to the uterus, but the placenta starts to separate in the middle. So there's no actual bleeding that you can see, but it can still kill mom and/or baby. Those things will keep you on your toes, to be sure. (Note: the whopping majority of the women with these things have been wonderful to meet & know. I love them, I just don't like the conditions. Big difference, just clarifying.) Just in case you wonder what I do for a living....

Conversations with our two year old: we are down at the drainage pond at the end of our subdivision, which on this particular day, has a distinct rotting vegetation smell. Normally it's not so bad, and we like to go down there to skip rocks & watch the turtles.
Me: Ew, this water is stinky.
Daniel: We need to clean it off.
Me: We need to clean it off?
Daniel: Mmm-Hmm.
Me: What should we use to clean it off?
Daniel: Toilet paper.

And, the requisite photograph: