My first hospital job was in the emergency department. I learned so much! It was all about prioritizing and learning new skills. I met amazing people. I cried a ton! For the toddler that would never get married, for the teen that would never experience marriage, for the man that would never be a grandpa and the kids because I knew what it was like to have a father with cancer. There were so many people that you couldn’t save! I learned I am strong and I am courageous. I worked long hours crazy hours. When I was 18 weeks pregnant, I found out our baby tested positive for Down syndrome and at 24 weeks would be born with Tetralogy of fallot and needed open heart surgery. I was exhausted on my days off; emotionally and physically. It is wild to think back to this time in my life. I am so thankful for all the experiences I had in the ED.

People ask me what I do for a living and I always wait for their response when I tell them I am a labor and delivery nurse. They always say, “that must be so much fun”. “It is fun.” But, what I really want to say is you have no idea how hard we work and the exhaustion we feel when we walk off the unit. Our days are long. We work hard. It is very much like and emergency department. There is no way to know what is walking in the door. It could be in an emergency and the patient could be an emergency cesarean section. We can have a baby out in 5 minutes.

There are days when every single room is full of laboring moms. Every nurse is working hard to get their patients comfortable and delivered safely. Also, we have not one be two patients in one body! We monitor both mom and baby during the labor process. There is no lunch break in your 12 hour shift because you are working hard to get your patient or patients delivered. Let’s not talk about restroom breaks! Or drinking water!

Then you will have the most amazing day! It is smooth and everything will go as you want it to go. Actually, you will get a restroom break and you will get to drink caffeine galore and water! There is a full lunch break! Then you have a beautiful delivery! These are the days of glory! Friends, I hold onto these days for dear life. I like busy and I love my smooth days at the same time. My arthritis has wrecked havoc in my life. Therefore, I like the days when it is smooth more than chaotic. I used to LOVE chaotic!

I became a nurse after taking care of my father. He had an episode of severe abdominal pain at work were it sent him to the doctor. If you knew my father, he doesn’t complain about anything. Long story short, we found out he had stage 4 colon cancer. I helped my mother take care of him, drive him to the doctor, and cared for him in his final days on earth. That is when I knew I wanted to be a nurse. My father always wanted me to be a nurse. I hate that it took me caring for him to realize that it was my calling.

I can’t imagine doing anything else. Celebrating birthdays everyday at work is the most rewarding job in the world.