Flash Back

On March 23,2010, It was memorial's dinning hall Giant Food Night. Katie invited her guy friend to dinner with a big group of us.  I had talked to him on Facebook late one night but we had not met. I knew that he knew that I had told Katie he was hot which made me really nervous. I wore short navy shorts and a hot pink tank top. We sat at the big circle table in memorial. My friends made me sit by him which make it even more awkward. I was laughing at a joke and hit my hand on the table and ended up hitting a fork and it landed in this guys lap. Talk about embarrassing. This is the night I met Drew. He loves to tease me about throwing that fork at him. He slowly joined our group of friends. Here is some of the pictures from that spring.

Awkwardest picture 

Love,
Elisabeth

Spring Break 2012

My spring break was not super eventful. I didn't drive home until tuesday because... I had an interview with parkland NICU. I feel like it went really well and I would be so blessed to work there. They had a 90 bed unit and are in the process of building a brand new hospital in which will have private NICU rooms to increase HIPPA as well as allow 24 hour visitation. I have been praying daily for this job! I drove to Waco to meet drew so we could drive home together. We had agreed to watch Alex for the night so we went to dinner at Cafe East one of Alex's favorites. I am shocked to say I didn't take a single picture. Taylor and her littler brother met us and we had a nice dinner with them. After dinner we went and say the Lorax in 3D. I thought it was a cute movie and Drew didn't hate it.

Wednesday
I went shopping with my step mom and step sister. We were on the hunt for the perfect graduation dress and some tops to go under my suit. Since I just have the hot pink one. It was extremely successful. We found a green and gold dress that is so very much my style.

Graduation Dress 

We went to kohl's because my step mom had a 30% coupon. We found some good finds. I got a shirt to go under my suit, 2 pairs of soft summer PJ's, and a nice dress for interviewing.

At Ross we also found a summer blue dress and 2 tops for my suit. 

Wednesday night- Drew's mom and dad, Meaghan, and Drew all came over for dinner. My mom's famous lasagna . We had a wonderful time eating and socializing. His mom got us cupcakes from O lala. They stayed till 1130. I had rented movies that we never got to them, so my mom and I watched Crazy Stupid Love. It was a FANTASTIC MOVIE!!! Ryan Gosling is one hot guy! 

On Thursday, We slept in late because Alex didn't go to bed till 2am. Drew got to my mom's house at almost 3. We all had lunch at willies and then went to play putt putt. It was a lot of fun especially when my Mom ended up beating Drew. I even got a hole in one at hole 17. We also got some cute pictures. After putt putt, We went to the batting cages which I have never done before and for the whole first round, ever time I swang I also screamed very loud and even louder when I made contact with the ball.  

He has grown up soo much!!! 6'1 and a half 

Classic Drew Face 

in the water :)

hole in one!

Ahhhhh

He was really good!

I know I look naked 

My ballerina 

I went to Meaghan's house for dinner and we had corn beef and cabbage for dinner and it was really good. 

Friday- I finally go to go see Tracie. I got to hang out with her for most of the day and met several of her friends. For dinner we went to Ripka's for crayfish (Dad, Kim, Alex, Drew, Ali and I. )

It is literally in the middle of nowhere 

Good but a little spicy :) 

This was the biggest one, I named him Fred. 

After dinner we went back to my Dad's and watched the movie "Babydoll". It was in black and white but it was still good.

"We got nothin' to do but wait for tomorrow and see if we're remembered or forgotten."

Saturday- I went to Waffle house with my Dad, Kim and Alex. Then I went shopping with my mom for a pinning dress. We got a great deal on cloths at dillards. Here is the dress she got me. 

Pinning Dress 

I was debating between two different dresses. The other was green and one shoulder. I loved it but when I asked the sales lady about the price, she told me it was too expensive. I was like what?????  I kept telling her I wanted to know the cost but she REFUSED. I have never been more mad at retail before in my life. I am still thinking I will call Dillard and complain about it. I ended up getting.

Dress for Drew's graduation 

I got 2 others that are less dressy, One was pink & the other is aqua and grey. I didn't spend more than 14 dollars on any of these!!! Very excited and in honor of getting new cloths I cleaned my closet today and have several bags to give to good will! I have internship this week and can't wait :) Only 51 days till graduation!!!!

Love,

Elisabeth

Drew

I love the story of how me and Drew met it unexpected and just completely fate at work. We met just months before I would be leaving Baylor in Waco through a mutual friend. I had been trying my best to be getting over my ex of 3 and a half years. I was NOT looking for another man. That is when you always find them when you not looking. He actually had the hots for one of my best friends and didn't see me like that. After we went home, one night we were hanging out and I just knew he had feelings for me and when Drew falls, he falls FAST. By the end of the summer, he was already talking long term even after he told me this was just gonna be a summer fling. I am normally the clingy/plan for future type person but after having my heart broken. I was scared to fall again and kept telling my friends this wont last long. But he was charming and cute and before I knew it I had fallen too. I look back and just giggle because I never thought I would love and care for this man as much as I do. He has his faults believe me, even if he denies it. I love his confidence even when its a little too far. I love his smile its perfect. I love his baby blue eyes. I could not ask for a better man. He loves me with a love so intense sometimes it scares me. I know that even if he says he wouldn't push me around Walmart for the rest of his life, I think he would. We have so much fun together, he is my best friend and even if he hates to talk on the phone I know he will always answer. Thinking about him makes my eyes get teary thinking how did I get so lucky. He can be a butt but I know at the end of the day, he will be there to wipe my tears and hold me close. I love him.

 Drew and Elisabeth- May 2010

Love, Elisabeth

First Day of Internship

My first day of internship was nerve wreaking but I was extremely excited. My preceptors name was Sarah and I was anxious to meet her. I was about 30 minutes early so I had to wait. When nurses finally started showing up for the night shift I kept checking their ID’s for the name Sarah. Someone finally told me that she was going to be about 30 minutes late. So I was paired up with Amanda in the mean time. We had been assisted me postpartum patients and just were finishing their recovery and moving them up to postpartum. The first mom had two little girls that were just precious and very excited about being big sisters. Amanda went and got them each ID brackets that said Big Sister on them. Amanda didn’t have to do anything really because Sarah showed up a little earlier. When I finally met Sarah, I was a little disappointed because she was older and I was nervous about her being like Bufton. I was happily wrong she was so sweet and just cool about everything. She gave me a quick tour of the hospital and showed me where some important things were. We also got to change into navy scrubs. This really excited me because wearing those bright green scrubs where you stick out bothers me. Like I could never be consisted there nurse in those scrubs which make me different. After I changed we decided we would finally move our patients up. This was the same patient that had the two daughters to make points easier we will call her patient A. Patient A had another little girl she was 9 lbs 6 oz. In other words a big baby. She had feeling in her legs so we were able to put her in a wheelchair. I got to push the beautiful baby girl. She was so cute and kept startling when we would hit bumps. We got the baby in the room and the postpartum nurse told us that we were in the wrong room so we headed to the right room. We got mom and baby comfortable and then went back down stairs to work on our other patient or patient B. Patient B had 2 little boys running around and had just delivered another little boy. NICU had come down to evaluate because he was breathing fast and had some grunting after delivery. We helped mom go to the bathroom and ended up straight cauterizing her. We waited to take her upstairs till NICU was done evaluating. We got a call from upstairs that we had brought the right baby chart but not the right mommy chart. So we went upstairs to correct everything, After we fixed our mistake, we went back down and got mom to bring her upstairs. The baby ended up going to NICU so we just took mom. Sarah got a call from the charge nurse that she might get a complicated patient with diabetes, hypertension and a former stroke. Sarah didn’t want this patient so we took our time bring patient B upstairs. We got her comfortable and finally headed down. We did bring this patient to the right room with the right chart. When we got back downstairs, we went by the charge nurse and she said she was giving up a labor patient. We got the room ready which takes a lot more time than I realized. We had to fill out some of the paperwork. We then went to triage and got our patient. On first impression I would have swore she was a teen mom and this was a accidental pregnancy. She looked young and both her parents were in the room and she had a small stuffed frog that she was holding. The boyfriend was there as well. He looked just like Debi’s ex boyfriend like until I heard his name I was worried it was him. She said she couldn’t walk so we took her on the stretcher. We got her to her new room. We were unsure of her beta strep status so we got penicillin ready. We primed all the tubing for her IV fluids. Sarah told me that she loves to start IVs so we were going to start this one. She made it look so easy. We tried a vein on her right wrist because she didn’t want it in her hand. She got good blood return but should not advance the catheter so she was able to get her blood work but not her IV started. She had to poke her again and this time in the hand. She was not happy. It went really well that time tho. We got her fluids started as a bolus so that she could get her epidural ASAP. We started the penicillin to prevent infection.  The doctor came in about this time to check her and told us that she was group B strep negative which means she didn’t need the penicillin . She was 4cm, 100% enfaced,-2 stations. He wanted to rupture her bags. The nurse attempted to advocate for the patient because she was in a lot of pain. She rated it a 10 on a scale of 1-10. She wanted the doctor to wait for the epidural to rupture her but he did not listen and it increased labor and our patient was not handling it well. We finally got the epidural team in just as she needed a new bag of LR. Her boyfriend informed us that she had an epidural with their first child that was born stillbirth. In order to do an epidural, you have to stay extremely still. Our patient was not good at this, he ended up using more lidocaine because she was screaming in pain. She was a whiner and complainer. It did not bother me but my nurse was ready to smack her. She finally got her epidural but did not really feel very much relief. She hated when we put in her catheter and it really irritated her the whole time she was in labor. It made me more in favor of the least invasiveness possible during my own labor. She had variable decerations her whole labor but the babies baseline at this time was consistent with a well oxygenated baby. She had a tendency to be tachycardia when she got upset. We encouraged her to take deep breaths and try and relax. About an hour after her epidural we started to see the baby having more increasing variables and the EFM was taking trouble picking up the heart rate. We watched it for about 4 minutes and then we turned her to her side and gave her a bolus of fluid. The baby was very active and did not like the monitors on him. We were constantly refinding the baby. Sarah said that sometimes after an epidural the mothers blood pressure doesn’t drop right away but with the way the baby looks she was pretty sure it was about to drop. It did shortly after. We ended up putting 10L of oxygen via a non-rebreather mask. We tried to dim the lights and help her relax. I wish I could have put on some soothing music. Her boyfriend loved to joke and tease her. She would get sooo mad at him. That is understandable tho. He was trying to make her comfortable and she would get mad and say I’m fine. We turned her about every 30 minute and she was finally in less pain and more comfortable. We called the doctor just to inform him that she was having variables and that we had turned her, oxygenated her and given fluid. We checked her about every hour and around 0130 she was complete and was feeling the need to push. We started getting her to push. It took her a while to figure out how to push the right way but once she got the hang of it, she really did well. I felt very active I was holding her hand and rubbing her hair while she pushed. I also adjusted her toco and her EFH monitors in between contractions. I felt like I really helped her and it made me feel good and I felt like I was really her nurse. I even was the counter and verbally encouraged her. The boyfriend was a talker and I basically had to tell him to shut up a few times. She pushed for about an hour and then we called the doctor. She really only had to push with 3 different contractions and the doctor delivered the baby boy. There was slight amount of meconium which they figured baby passed in birth canal.  She had a 2^nd degree laceration and a 1^st degree peritoneal tear.  While the doctor was sewing her up I was telling her what was going on with baby. I told her that he passed some stool and there was a possible that he inhaled it so they were just checking him out. The doctor rudely corrected me and was like no that is not true. She hated the episiotomy and was really screaming the doctor ended up using the emergency lidocaine to re numb her. I was hold her hand the whole time and updating her on what they were doing with the baby. I started to feel that yuck feeling where you almost faint while they were doing the episiotomy it just looked creepy and painful. I felt bad that I had to step out but I know you have to take care of the nurse so the nurse can take care of the patient.  I went back in and they were almost done. The baby’s agars were 7 and 9. He had some trouble with breathing right away so NICU was called for reevaluation.  He was sucked because they were worried about meconium aspiration. He was on the smaller side weighing 5lbs 3 oz and 18 inches long. I was so proud of myself for being my patient’s advocate and asking NICU if before they took up the baby if they could let mom see the baby because he was stable. They did and I took a picture of the three of them together as a family. Our patient HATED fudus checks and I did one and was able to identify that the fudus was not firm and to the right which meant that she probably had a full bladder. We put her on the bedpan and she was able to void just a little bit. She discovered that it burns and didn’t really want to try anymore. We cleaned her up and got her comfortable till we would transfer her. The daddy went and checked on the baby in the NICU. We took a break and ate so one of our other nurses watched her for 30 minutes. We then went and took her upstairs. She was doing good and much happier. Daddy arrived back just as we were taking her up. He said baby was doing great and they were bathing him and then would bring him back to mom. We got her comfortable and said goodbye and congratulations. Out next patient was a 29 week and 4 days. She had a high fever, vomiting and lower back pain. The triage had been very busy all night with patients similar to this. We got a flu culture, fibronection test, the doctor order a stool culture but she did not go. She was checked and closed. We got her a clear liquid diet and she drank some apple sauce. The baby was consistently tachycardic because of the mom’s fever. We started her on antibiotics, Tylenol and zofran. I got to give report to the day shift and thought I did a good job. That was my first very exciting day. 

Weekend

I finally had a weekend of relaxation. Drew got here late Friday and we just hung out watched TV and ate spaghetti. We had planned on going to the zoo but his phone said it was like 55 and possible chance of rain. Plus we hate to get  up. I really wanted a Date like a real out kind of date so I goggled for about an hour and found that a community theater was hosting Avenue Q. I got us tickets even thought Drew is not a fan of musicals. I decided to curl my hair this is an extremely rare occasion. It actually turned out great and I looked and felt gorgeous. The play was in Denton so we left early just in case we hit traffic. We were starving and always try to not eat chain restaurant food. Something I learned from my grandma and father. There was a small pub by the play house so we decided to eat there. Plus it had TV's and it was after all, basketball night for Baylor.  We had fried pickles and fried mushrooms to start and I actually ate some pickles they were really good. Drew had a bbq sandwich with cheese, an onion ring, and bacon and some fries. I had a mushroom Swiss burger with the best mash potatoes. Overall, wonderful meal. After we finished eating, we went to the old fashion ice cream shop next store. It was super cute . He got vanilla with like chucks of stuff like chocolate and caramel. I got after dinner mint which was similar to chocolate mint but with a more minty favor. After ice cream we walked over to the play. We had fantastic seats like the 4th row. The actors were very good and even Drew enjoyed it. I caught him smiling and laughing a few time.

I am so blessed to have him in my life. 

Love, 

Elisabeth