Two Hundred Dollars Richer!

So I woke up early today and checked my work email and this was in my inbox:

"Dear Jessica,

Congratulations! The All Children’s Hospital Scholarship Committee has met and reviewed the 2010 applications for the All Children’s Hospital Scholarship Awards. You have been awarded a scholarship for $200.00. Your scholarship payment will be in the paycheck you receive October 15, 2010 and will be listed on your pay stub as “Scholarship.”

The All Children’s Hospital Scholarship Committee thanks you for your interest in the All Children’s Hospital Scholarship program and encourages you to apply in the future if you remain eligible for application.

Please remember, All Children’s Hospital employees who receive scholarship awards may also be eligible to apply for tuition assistance.


Good luck as you continue your health care studies!


Sincerely,

Dan "

Today is a good day!

Ten Centimers Too Late

So I'm sitting at work and I've been seeing people come in all day to see my work friend and her baby who are upstairs. I hadn't seen my friend come down yet so I wasn't sure I was going to see her before she returned from her maternity leave. Well, today she graced me with her presence and let me just tell you, this woman looks fab for just having had her baby on Friday. I give her my warm congrats and she tells me her birth story:

Friday: Contractions 10 minutes apart for five hours at home. Calls the CNM and is informed to stay home until they are 5 minutes apart. Well, that time never seems to come so my friend and her husband decide it's time to come in to the hospital.

While at the hospital, the receptionist makes her wait in a room full of people while she gets signed in. While in triage, the nurse checks her to make sure she's in "active labor" and this isn't just "false labor." Well guess what? Momma's 8 cm and her water just broke! Cue the "Stork Team." My friend tells me she's never seen more people in a delivery room in her life!

The entire time she was pregnant she always told me she planned on getting an epidural, she had one the first time and she swears by them. Well, momma was ten centimeters too late this time and pushed her baby out unmedicated into the waiting arms of whoever the hospital OB was because her midwife hadn't even been called!

My friend was absolutely glowing! It's so amazing how drastically plans can change. Sometimes for the worst but, more importantly, sometimes for the better. I love to hear birth stories when the moms were too far gone to get an epidural and had unplanned unmedicated births. They come out with a new perspective! It's beautiful.

What are your healthcare career goals? Why?

All Children's Hospital offers a scholarship to its employees and children of its employees every year. The two page application requires an essay explaining your healthcare career goals. I feel like my essay says little to someone who is familiar with midwifery but explains a lot about the fundamental model of midwifery care to the average citizen!
My moms says I have horrible luck, so here's to trying!