Getting Ready

So the kids and I leave in only 19 days for Florida. I am spending the remainder of these days getting ready for the trip and packing in such a way that I can bring down the maximum amount of stuff possible during this trip. I hope to bring their bikes down now that all three are riding on two wheels, so that they can bike ride at their grandpa's house (he always ends up watching them for my ex-husband, often).

I have been anxiously awaiting my letter from FSTM. Though they did tell us that it could take as long as mid June to get a letter from them, I keep praying for more on the earlier than later side of things. I am on pins and needles and sort of in limbo until this decision is known to me, and I hate it when my life is left hanging like this, dependent on other people's decisions. I have instituted a plan B in case I am not accepted, but lets hope I don't have to go there.

Lisa from MTB asked me to come to South Carolina for the next skills weekend that she will be hostessing so that I can teach students there how to use moodle, and so that I can help Lisa learn moodle in preparation for turning it all over to her before I start FSTM. I am hoping to make it to the skills weekend, though I am currently seeking anyone who might want to car pool there with me to help me save on gas money. I am strapped for cash right now until my prerequisites for FSTM have been met.

In the mean time, I have just been cleaning and packing, and making new friends (what's that about? I am about to leave the area but yet keep making new friends as I go along!! I am beginning to see the sisterhood of midwives in Huntsville that I was carefully guarded from while I've been here...and I am deciding they are pretty amazing women.)

I am also faced with a difficult decision regarding my oldest son for next year if we move back to Florida. I realize he is way ahead of his classmates in Tennessee and that Florida public schools are even more behind than Tennessee public schools are. Soooooo....now I am faced with pushing to have him accelerated into 5th grade. I know that I could win my case about it, but I wonder if it is the right decision to make. Here in TN they wanted to accelerate him this year but I would not let them...however I am second guessing that decision now. I am going to buy him a Big Fourth Grade Book for the summer time and see how he does. If he flies through it, I will ask that they accelerate him, since he cannot attend Good Shepherd Catholic School until he's been in a Florida public school for a year.

Celebration!

Tonight I am celebrating the completion of MTB Moodle!! I finished unit 30 tonight, and am so excited to have the whole program LIVE now! This is not the end of work on MOODLE for me, as I have to upload the final exam yet, as well as add a few minor things and tweak it some..but it is the end of all the major construction for the project. This project took me longer than I had anticipated, and life got in the way at various points throughout the construction, but I had an awesome crew of students helping me, especially Taneil who did the bulk of the uploading of tests, as well as grammar editing of many of the tests for me. One of the greatest things about the MTB program is the incredible sense of community that we have with each other, and how willing we are to help each other out to improve our experiences in the program. We are a huge group of women who are close knit despite the number of students there. Even if you are going to another midwifery program elsewhere, I highly recommend using MTB as a supplemental program, as there is much to be learned about the science of midwifery but also about what the midwifery community *should* be like, helping each other. I have yet to experience a single "catty" moment on the MTB group, and really, seriously have only had Good Samaritan type experiences there. We help each other as much as we can, lift each other up when one of us is down, and stick together no matter what. Being a part of the MTB community has been life changing for me, and I am sure it has been life changing for others as well. Though I have passed my half way mark in the MTB program, I do plan on finishing it even if I decide to come back down to Florida.

But for the rest of my night, I will have some wine, and watch a movie, and relax and enjoy the fact that I have finished this major project!

Aw Bummer! and Day Seven in Sarasota

Well I was disappointed this morning when I woke up and discovered that Harmony was trying to reach me over night at the birth center because she had lost my cell phone number, and she had another woman in labor. So I missed the birth, but the confusion has been straightened out now and everyone has my cell phone number so I shouldn't miss any more. There are plenty of births happening around here this month, but it still would have put me one step closer to coming home, so I am a little disappointed that I missed it. I am home sick and 7 more births just seems like a *lot* to me, especially since I have all this down time just waiting. It probably wouldn't be as bad if I were in or nearer Orlando because there I have a *ton* of friends whom I'd love to be visiting with and such, however I am here in Sarasota and just not willing to go that far away with all of these births pending. Of course, I have my wonderful blog, facebook, and work on MTB Moodle to also help distract me.

So this is day seven in Sarasota, and my day is looking pretty uneventful. I will spend much of today working on MTB Moodle and trying to get that all finished, and then probably practicing my suturing. Might venture out to look for the Walmart, haven't decided yet. I do need to buy some more motor oil for my van before I head back up north, I just emptied my last 5qt container, and I try not to go without having some in the van for when I need it. I think I may also go through my NARM paperwork and see if there is anything left that Linda can sign off on for me, as I'm trying to make sure all my ducks are in a row.

I'd like to try to get home sooner rather than later, as I also have the Midwifery Today conference in April that I am going to, and I'd like to try to make sure I get to see my guy before then, and I'd like to love on my kids a bit before then too. It's hard to believe that by the time I get back home it will only be around 8 more weeks before they go stay with their dad. Time sure is flying in some ways, and dragging in other ways.

I got an update from Andrea, and our only "due" mom is doing good. She is due on March 13 so I will probably miss her birth, which is a bummer. But I traded one birth for 8, I think I got a pretty good deal LOL!

So, as it is, back to work on MTB, and I'll write more if my day becomes interesting!!

<3

Day Four in Sarasota

So this is day four in Sarasota. No more births yet, yesterday was a lazy day. I spent most of the day studying "Human Labor and Birth".

Today I am headed to the birth center to work on practicing suturing, to do some stuff online, work on MTB, etc. It is raining here, and will probably rain all day. Bummer. Wondering when I should head to the beach. I think I will hit gulf coast and east coast while here.

I am homesick. Trying to keep myself busy so I don't think about it. I am sure I will write more later.

<3
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Finally, A School Day!

My kids have been out of school and were "blessed" with a four day weekend this past weekend, due to weather. Though I know they thought it was super cool, their mommy, on the other hand, has become behind on her work as a result! Oh what I wouldn't do for high speed internet at my house so that I could work while home with the kids!

So today they are all finally back in school (yay!) and their mommy is back to work here at the clinic. Today we have the final ultrasound for our twins mommy before she has her babies (which should be some time this month!) and then just cleaning and organizing around the clinic. I should be working on MTB MOODLE today, but I just feel swamped with things here to do, so I am going to put it off for a few more days. Once I get working on it, I will probably finish getting it all live within a day.

Tomorrow I believe Andrea is going to come to the clinic so we can practice our skills for the skills assessment that we will have to take later this year. It is day one of practicing, we'll see how it goes! I will probably look through the book today and see which skills we will practice tomorrow, I am super organized and it works out for both of us that I am, because we can be very efficient with our time. We don't have any clients to see tomorrow, but we do have another *very* busy Thursday, as we have so many people do in the next few months and it is filling our clinic days very fast.

I think I am going to suggest to Linda that we offer an alternative clinic day to, at least during this busy part of the year, as we are booking up every week pretty much with clients, and it seems that we may end up with overflow here in another week or two!

I am watching the clients keep coming in, and hoping that we manage to get all of our numbers in time to sit for our exam in February of next year, but I would appreciate prayers, and referrals to the clinic! LOL!!

My baby's birthday is coming up. He was born on Valentine's day of 2005. And no, I was not induced! I am going to post his birth story on here in a few days, when I manage to track it down online. I'll have to ask the mothers from the parenting group in Florida that I founded to see if one of them will look it up in the group archives.

We are still waiting on a baby, who is due this Thursday, and I expect the baby will come Saturday or Sunday. We also have one mom who is teetering on the edge of labor but we're all praying she keeps the baby in for another 13 days, so she will be 37 weeks. Prayers for her would be appreciated.

The Count Down Continues

The count down continues...as seems to be the center of my life right now. We currently have 17 clients due before October, and I need 15 more in order for me to sit for my NARM exam in February 2011. I pray on a daily basis that these numbers appear out of no where for me. I pray that we have a full 10 months with lots of beautiful births. I pray that I find a way to save the money for my Skills Assessment with the QE (it will be $700) and then that I also find a way to save the money for the actual exam (another $700). I pray for the ability to absorb as much knowledge as I can all at once.

Andrea needs another 20 on top of the numbers that we have, and I am hoping they come quickly for both of us. We really do need to get this finished and get our licenses. If I had the money, I'd just go to the Philipeans and finish my numbers there, but that is just not possible in my current life. So, let the women keep coming. They seem to keep coming.

I have a slow week scheduled for this week, with not much planned on non-clinic days. I will spend most of the week just trying to finish the MTB moodle website, I am almost there! I only have 5.5 more units to go live, and then I can start doing more nitpicky stuff on it!

Our twins mommy needs your special prayers right now as well. We are praying that these babies begin to cooperate and turn to the most desirable head down position prior to her next ultrasound which is February 2nd. Please pray for this family!

We are currently waiting on one mom who could have her baby at any time, but whom we do not expect to go into labor until mid week next week. Pray that she has a beautiful, easy labor and a healthy baby!

Until then!

If It Isn't One Thing, It's Another!

Well, at my father's behest, I upgraded my firefox version this morning to see if it remedied the issues I was having with my firefox yesterday. 'Lo and behold, my problems with firefox have ceased since the upgrade, but now I am having internet connection problems. It's a clear sky, so who knows why. Today and Friday are my last two days to work this week on moodle, so I'd really like to get a bunch done. Especially since next week I am super busy with the workshop, and I won't get to work on it much.

Tomorrow is a busy day with lots of clients. This weekend is suppose to be nice, so hopefully we'll get some outside time.

Updates to my blog!

So, MOODLE was driving me crazy today (or rather, my firefox on my netbook was) and so I decided to spend the day fussing with my blog. For a self-taught website designer, my blog looked pretty shabby, and shameful! LOL! So now, introducing my new and improved "look" with my very own custom made header even!! Yup, those three cuties up there *insert up arrow* are my kiddos, the littlest is Bobby, the middle is Tori and the oldest is Tommy. That picture was taken outside of St. Jude Catholic Church in Chattanooga on Tommy's First Communion day last year.

I will be back at MOODLE as soon as I can figure out what is wrong with my firefox. Might have to have my guy look at it.

Tomorrow Andrea is coming to the clinic, mostly because she misses us LOL! She had been sick so has been gone for a few weeks. But now she's feeling better!

Thursday we have a busy clinic day. Yay for busy clinic days!!

countdown till the next workshop? 10 days until the next workshop!

29 more clients needed for Andrea and I both to sit for the NARM! 18 more for me to sit!

(what an exciting post! LOL!)

Back at Moodle!

So, I am back at working on MOODLE now after taking a break during the winter holidays. I have felt so overwhelmed with everything, with life, that I really just needed a break from it all. Lily's beautiful birth was invigorating, and now I feel like I can start conquering my life again, one step at a time. I am already thinking of ways to improve the moodle environment, and I am not even done uploading the initial curriculum. It has ended up being something to keep me busy, entertained, distracted, and focused all at the same time, at times the work I need to do on moodle has been a Godsend.

We have a few new clients here at the clinic, and our count right now is 14 clients through August! I only need 18 more, Andrea needs 23 more, and we combined need 29 more by October in order to get our paperwork turned in on time to sit for the February 2011 NARM exam!

The twins mommy went to the accupuncturist on Saturday, and the good news is she *thinks* they have both turned back to head down!! This is great news, and we will confirm it by palpatation and finding FHT's by doppler in a few days. Ultimately we will have confirmation by ultrasound in another 3 weeks (she goes for monthly ultrasounds) and at that time, she will be able to have the babies at any time!!

We have a busy clinic day this Thursday, we are up to five clients coming now on that day. I love busy clinic days!

The workshop is next week! I can't believe it is already time for the next workshop. I have a surprise in store for these students, and am giddy with anticipation over it! I love doing these workshops, but they wear out Andrea and Linda and I. I will be glad to start it, but glad for it to be over too, so that we can focus on planning the next one!!!

And the Snow Just Keeps On Falling......

Falling falling falling.....

Sigh.

So, I love the snow. I really do. I am not as much a lover of the cold. I know you must have cold to have snow. I hated the fact that in Florida, it never snowed. Despite it getting below freezing. I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. So we got lots of snow. I have such fond memories of building snow forts and igloos and snow ball fights and snow men. I love the snow. However, why did it have to snow today? Why not Sunday instead? Sigh. I was suppose to see my guy tomorrow, and on through Saturday. The longest amount of time we would have spent together probably since June, when we took a trip to Florida. Here me whine. Here in Alabama (and very southern central Tennessee) they are not prepared to handle snow. Which makes for lots of black ice on roads. Which makes for cancelled dates :( *whine* I am watching it snow outside. We have about a half inch accumulated right now. I am sure it is less in Alabama. I would still *probably* be able to drive into Huntsville tomorrow even if it sticks up here, as long as it is more clear down there. I don't cross any bridges until I am well into Hazel Green Alabama. However, if it is snowing this much up where my guy is staying (with his parents atm, in New Market, on a rural road up a mountain) then he will not be able to drive into Huntsville. *whine*. ah well. Such is life.

That said, the snow has also caused the schools around here to shut down for the day. There was no school today in Lincoln county, and Fayetteville city. I also heard that Madison county schools closed (which probably means Hazel Green and meridianville are also closed, since they are near there, and north of it). I have to giggle at how people react to the idea of a little snow fall here in the deep south. But I understand that black ice is dangerous, and that they do not salt the roads here, which leads to more instances of black ice than we usually had in Ohio. All of our clients declined to come today, and rescheduled for next week. It makes next week a full week, but that's ok, I *LOVE* busy clinic days, it was one of my favorite things about working with Christina back in the day!

So, clinic news? I haven't started working on moodle again yet. I have had issues getting motivated, but need to get on the ball for it. I did open my own website ( a free one) for midwifery, hoping to bring in a few new clients. I have also been visiting the local book stores and slipping business cards into the pregnancy and baby books. Neither has worked yet. LOL! I also have been doing some billing work, trying to get Linda paid (and at least 50% successful thus far) from the insurance companies. It really is pathetic how hard it is to get them to pay. It is like squeezing water from rocks. I kid you not.

We just had one student cancel for the January workshop, which is a bummer. I am hoping to fill the spot, but not sure that I will be able to with such short notice. I did not have a waiting list this workshop, which was sort of surprising, but I did not advertise as heavily as I did the last time, so maybe that is why.

I do have *four* pregnant mommies coming for the workshop and I know the students will have a great time with that. I also think that Lily's mom may bring her for the newborn exam demonstration. Yay! The workshop is coming together nicely! Andrea is coming Monday so we can go over everything that we will cover, and just to visit (we have missed her, since she has been sick!)

I have also started a count down for Andrea and I for sitting for our NARM exam to get our CPM certification. Because of the rules that NARM has set forth, we have to have all of our paperwork turned in 6 months before our planned date to sit for the exam. We were hoping to sit in October this year (the last exam of the year) but that is not going to be feasible. Therefore, we are hoping now to sit by February of next year. In order to do that, we have to have all of our paperwork turned in by October of this year. In order to turn in all of our paperwork, we have to have all of our births documented (and post partum exams, and newborn exams, and initial exams, etc, but those come much easier). Right now we sit at 13 clients currently here and due by August. I need an additional 19 before October in order for *me* to sit. Andrea needs another 24. Combined (so both of us can sit in February next year) we need another 30 *total*. This is because some of the births we can share, and others we cannot. Hence the total amount that we need is less than the combined number we each individually need. Here is hoping that a bunch of pregnant ladies come raining down on us over the next few months!!!

I know it's been a while

and I apologize to anyone who is reading along with my blog. I am not usually such a slacker when it comes to journaling (as can be seen by my dozens of journals that hold the last twenty years of my life in them stacked in my closet.....) but this last month has been so busy. We have had several new clients come to the clinic, plus the holidays are in full swing. I have been busy setting up the Midwife-To-Be moodle community for all of the students, and have been frustrated as well as joyous at the work involved to get it set up.

We are expecting a baby soon, she is 37 weeks now and in the count down, can go anytime! I am officially sleeping with my cell phone again, to make sure I don't miss a call! We have been busy turning babies who were stubbornly staying transverse lie as well as doing the cookie exchange party.

I am hoping to finish the moodle project before the end of the year, and I should at my current rate of progress!

We have also been very busy organizing another basic skills workshop for January, I am so excited to be offering this service to students across the country once again. My preceptor is awesome!

Tomorrow we have another Ultrasound for the twins' mommy, and I will post and update on how her babies are doing after that.

Until then!