A lot has changed since my last post. I am now the proud mother of a little baby boy!
I'll start with the beginning.
On February 14th of 2012, I took out a calendar and did some math. I counted, recounted, recounted again, and recounted about a billion more times. I realized I was very very late and that that had never happened before. I finally put the calendar away and knew pretty much at that point what was going on. I felt a major rush of emotions... all somewhere between feeling terrified and thrilled. I didn't want to tell Shane until I at least took a test and I wasn't able to get to the store to pick one up that day. So that night I went to bed with a secret. I could barely sleep. I laid there with my hand on my stomach, taking deep breaths, and thinking "this is it. our lives are about to change forever."
The next day I worked until about 6:30 and stopped at Walgreens on my way home. I scanned the aisle and found a brand that I heard good things about so I picked it up. I was so nervous I was shaking at the checkout counter. I put the test in my purse and came home. I secretly took the test while Shane finished eating dinner. At first the test wasn't very clear to me so I texted my friend Christina for help and in the meantime I did some research online. Both she and the internet confirmed that it meant I was pregnant. Shane was practicing guitar on the couch (he was teaching himself to play while recovering from knee surgery) and I sat down next to him and very nervously told him that we needed to talk. Before this moment came, I had so many different fun and exciting ways of telling him that I had in my head for years. But when the time actually came, all that mattered to me was that I tell him. He said "ok" and waited. I told him that "I took a pregnancy test... and it appears to have come out positive." He smiled and gave me this "for real?" kind of look. He then wrapped his arms around me and we shared a wonderful happy moment. It then turned into "holy cow, what do we do?! We need a doctor!" so Shane and I started asking moms from church who they recommended. My friend and coworker Deb told me a little about her doctor and she sounded great so I gave her a call the next day. She turned out to be a really great doctor, one that is so good, she's almost impossible to get into. Thankfully I did!
Throughout the pregnancy she told me how to remain healthy and happy and how to provide that for my baby as well. I worked very very hard at doing things in moderation and doing whatever was best for baby. As a long time caffiene addict, my biggest challenge was decreasing my caffiene intake. But I really wanted a healthy baby. In then end it was so worth it when not only did I get a healthy baby, but a healthy me. The only weight I really gained was baby weight. I never swelled anywhere else and was only 8 pounds heavier than when I started after the baby was born. I owe that all to my wonderful doctor!
The pregnancy brought so much anxiety and excitement. For the first 2 trimesters, I was mostly excited. Especially when I felt the baby move for the first time. Shane and I were both sitting on the couch and reading and I felt a bunch of lovely little flutters. It made me giggle. For a few weeks, I would feel those movements and laugh. But as time went on, those flutters turned into punches and kicks! It was amazing to not only feel my little boy moving around so much but to be able to see him too. I would lay in bed at night and watch his limbs move about under my belly. It got to be where I could even play with him. I could poke my belly in one spot, and a second later I would see a limb poke back. I showed Shane that he could touch my belly anywhere and baby would find a way to respond. He thought it was pretty cool.
As the third tri-mester approached and we were finishing up our birthing class, the excitment turned into fear. Since I had the most amazing mom in the entire world, the fear was not about being a good mom. I knew I could be a good mom after having been blessed with one who taught me so much. But the fear was about the actual birth. For the first few months, I didn't really think about it. But after seeing videos in the class and learning more about what actually happens to the body, I was quite scared. Some nights I couldn't even sleep. I had no idea how I was going to push a human being out of my body.
In the birthing class, we were told to have a "birth plan" ready. An actual sheet of paper with what we planned to use for labor (an exercise ball, massage techniques, breathing) It was also supposed to have what drugs we did or didn't want. Even my doctor told me I should have this plan ready and when we got to the hospital, the nurse asked for my birth plan as well. I told her my "birth plan" was to pray and let God do the rest. Looking back, I could not have been more happy with that decision. I didn't want to go in set on getting medications or having a natural childbirth. I just wanted God to guide me as it happened.
I woke up at about 6 am on Thursday, 10-11-12. I had been feeling light, very far apart contractions. There was also a tiny wet spot on the bed and my doctor told me if there was ANY sign of fluid to call immediately. I called her and she told me to eat a light breakfast, pack up my things, and get to the hospital.
We then spent the entire day at the hospital, leaving the staff puzzled. There is a test that is 99.9 percent accurate when it comes to ammniotic fluid. Well I was in the .1 percent where it's inaccurate because I tested positive for ammniotic fluid but that's not what was. Though we didn't know this at the time. The nurse swore by the way the fluid looked that my water had not broken. She turned out to be right but no one knew this at the time and they couldn't just send me home if there was a chance my water broke. We spent the day doing all kinds of tests for ammniotic fluid and although the first test said yes it is, everything else said no it isn't!
My nurse called my doctor again to tell her what all the tests were showing and asked what she wanted to do. I was one day early, the baby was full term, she saw no reason to send me home. She wanted to get that baby out.
At this point, after walking around the hospital and getting tests, I was feeling light, sparatic contractions.
I was then given a medication (not orally. ewe) that would dilate me over a period of 12 hours.
It wasn't long after that that I felt really gassy. I kept telling my mom and Shane that my tummy hurt and I felt so gassy. My mom just kind of nodded and smiled and looked at the monitors. (secretly thinking "that's not gas, kiddo.")
Soon the "gas" was causing me to do my breathing exercises. The nurse came in, checked the monitor (I couldn't really see it from my angle) and said "oh you're feeling them now aren't you?" and she gently placed her hand on my head as if to calm me down. Then she said "and they're getting regular!" She then walked away and my naivety went with her. This wasn't gas, these were contractions!
When she came back to see how far dilated I was, she noticed I wasn't doing my breathing for every contraction. She warned me that when they start, there is no way of knowing how bad they will be and to do my breathing every single time. So since the breathing exercises helped me so much, I listened to her!
She ended up working double shifts and she was excellent but had to leave eventually so a new nurse came in. By the time this one came in, my contractions were so severe I could barely move. At first Shane would hold my hand and rub my back and it felt nice. But as the pain got worse, I wanted no contact. I had this little tube of contact solution that I brought with me and I took my contacts out but decided to hang on to the tube. For some reason, squeezing that little thing helped so much. I wanted to try natural childbirth, but I prayed and knew it wasn't for me. If this drug was going to take 12 hours to do it's thing, and my contractions were that painful, there was no way I would have the energy to keep going the way things were and still have strength to push. I told Shane this and called the nurse in. I told her I wanted the epidural.
She told me she would get an IV going but I wouldn't be able to have the eppy yet because they don't do them until the patient is further dilated. I felt like I wanted to cry but held it together. She kept telling me I needed to sit back because they were having a hard time hearing baby's heartbeat with me hunched over. The pain was so terrible though I couldn't move. It wasn't until my mom told me that they don't know if the baby is ok without hearing the heart beat that I finally sat back and delt with it.
The nurse decided to check me to see how far dilated I was. (these "checks" by the way were completely painful and totally unpleasant. my doctor had been doing pelvic checks in the weeks prior to labor and every single one hurt like you wouldn't believe) Anyway, she checked me and then I saw her step back in surpise. The medication was working much faster than expected and I was way more dilated than she thought. She gave me a little apology and went to call for the epidural.
When she came back, she said "bad news on the epidural. they're calling for an emergency c-section." Shane looked momentarily stunned with worry and then said "what? for her?"! And she said "Oh no, I'm sorry. That's not what I meant. I mean someone else is getting one, which means the anesthesiologist is busy and can't deliver the epidural yet." We both leaned back in relief. ... She was not my favorite nurse.
I waited for what seemed like forever but was probably only 20 minutes. Finally the gas man came to give me the good stuff. A few weeks before, my friend Deb (a mother of 5) told me to just brace myself for the needle. That the hardest part is you have to be completely still while someone is sticking a needle in your back and you're having contractions. Turns out she was right. At that point I was sweating (I guess just from the pain) and for some reason I had found that shaking during contractions helped. So when I had to be still while having the most intense contractions yet was not easy. It wasn't even the needle that bothered me, it was not being able to move. I clutched a pillow and with my head buried into it and my nurse bracing me, I made it through the eppy.
Normally an epidural takes about 20 minutes to kick in. But the anesthesiologist said something about "nurse Ratched over there." and I faintly laughed and said "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." He was so excited that I got his joke, he ran over and sped up the eppy process. Within 2 minutes my legs were tingly and my contractions felt like minor cramps.
Soon I was given a new nurse. Her name was Peggy and I will never forget her. She was the nurse who was with me from that moment until the end and she was incredible. Peggy came into check on me a little while after I had the epidural and asked why I was still breathing (hee hee hoo) through my contractions. I said that it was mostly out of habit because the other nurse had me breath through every one. She smiled and walked away. But secretly I was still feeling pain. It wasn't nearly as bad as before though and I knew I could handle it.
It's now about 12:45 am. I had enjoyed the eppy for maybe an hour and Shane, my mom, and I were all trying to sleep. Shane on the floor, my mom on a chair, and me in my bed. I was super close to sleeping when Peggy came into check my cervix. She said "I think it's about 8 but let me see if I can get in there and produce a contraction and we'll see how far along you are with a contraction." She made a "I'm concentrating" face and wiggled around for a few seconds down there when we both felt a huge pop and a rush of water came flooding out. She pulled out in surprise and we both looked at each other and smiled. Finally after spending the entire day wondering if my water broke, we both knew it had. She rushed out shouting "call the doctor! this baby is coming now!" And before I knew it, bright lights were on, Shane and my mom were in scrubs and the room was full of people.
There was a movable wall in the room that sectioned off where all the post-labor work is done on the baby. At Community, they are big on bonding and do everything in the same room so that baby never has to leave his mother. (unless something is wrong) So the wall came down and there was a whole staff of people preparing baby's side of the room.
Normally I am a very VERY shy person. But there's something about wanting to get a human being out of your body that makes you ignore the fact that you're half naked and laying spread eagle in front of an entire staff of people.
At this point, I am now feeling the strong urge to push. We were told in the birthing class that your body knows what to do and when it comes time to push, you will magically know how. Well Mary (the teacher for the class) was right. Once my water broke, all I wanted to do was push. But the doctor wasn't there yet and I wasn't allowed to until she checked everything and gave me the go ahead. I just remained frozen because I knew if I moved even an inch, I wouldn't be abe to stop myself.
Finally she gets there and I'm chanting "don't push, don't push" and she smiles and says "Ok that chant you're doing... take out the don't." So with Shane on one side holding one leg and my Mom on the other with the other leg (with an epidural you can't hold your own legs up) and with Peggy in the middle, I begin pushing. Doctor walked away for a while (her job is really just the final catch) so it was Peggy doing all the coaching. She was so great and so encouraging. I can't even begin to describe how exhausting it is to push. Without those 3 people there with me, I have no idea how I would have done it. I pushed for 2 hours. It was very hard feeling like I wasn't getting anywhere but I was working so hard. Finally nurse Peggy grabbed me and yelled "Open your pelvis!" And although it sounds nuts, that literal imagery worked pretty well. But the best advice I can give anyone who is reading this and is about to have a baby is to not put your legs down. If you're laboring in the usual position (like all the women do on tv), I tell you do not put your legs down in between pushes. Once I told Shane and my mom to just keep them up... baby was out in 2 pushes.
Then at 2:53 AM I felt the most relief I have ever felt in my entire life as little Henry slipped out. They placed him in my arms for half a second and Shane and I began crying happy tears. We couldn't wait to meet the little guy! Then they took him to his side of the room to clean him up. While this was happening, I felt the urge to push again. I asked the doctor what that was about and she said "it's the placenta. but your job is done, I've got this." and then it just slid out and I laid my head back in relief again. Earlier when I was pushing I heard the doctor say something about sutures and I nervously asked my mom what she was talking about. My mom said "they're talking about someone else." and me being so tired, I believed her. (she was fibbing to keep me calm during pushing) But it became clear after baby came out that the stitches were indeed for me. And boy was there a lot of them. I didn't just tear, I tore reeeeally bad. And you would think with the epidural still in full swing that this wouldn't be so bad, but the suturing process was brutal and it went on for over half an hour. I kept asking the doctor when she would be done!
In the meantime, she said baby sounded "grunty" so they took him away to check him and Shane went with. She said by the time he came back, the stitches would be finished. Finally he came back and I was done but the baby still wasn't ready. He was fine but they had to do a few things first.
Before baby was brought to me, I was taken to a Post partum suite by wheel chair. Which sounds simple enough but when you have zero feeling in your legs, getting in and out of a wheel chair is a 2 person job. But then I got to the room and a nurse poked her head in to tell us baby would be in soon and boy is he hungry!
Finally my precious angel was brought to me and I began nursing without any problems. (that boy would latch on to anything if he thought food would come from it. he still would)
The week after that was one of the hardest and best weeks of my life. I was so tired from feeding a baby who wanted to cluster feed all night and I was so frustrated that I couldn't sit up and could barely walk. The stitches were so aweful, I couldn't sleep at night. Honestly, post labor is worse than active labor because at least you get breaks from contractions but the pain from the tearing was constant.
I felt like such a lazy bum and I have no idea what I would have done without Shane by my side. Since I could barely move, he did all the diaper changing and brought baby to me when he was hungry, even in the middle of the night. It was also a major help when Shane's mom stayed the night and came back again later to clean and cook us dinner.
I look back at how nervous I was in the third-trimester and smile because it was all so worth it. Henry was 8 pounds, 1 ounce when he was born and seemed so tiny. I loved holding that warm little bundle in my arms and though he's growing, I still love the feeling of having him close to me. I was right about a year ago when I laid down to sleep, thinking that our lives were about to change forever. But I had no idea the change would be this precious and this rewarding.
Henry is a miracle and I literally thank God for him every night. All babies, all lives are miracles. I really don't know how someone can look at something as intricate and beautiful as human life and not believe in God.
Work, music, and a little bit o' pain.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Wow I can't believe I haven't written in this thing in FOREVER! (says "forever" like the kid in the Sandlot)
So a lot has changed since my last post where I whined about wanting work. A wonderful friend of mine from our Bible Study got me a job at the medical office she works for. It's an Ear, Nose, Throat and Sinus office. Or as we say when we answer the phone "ENT and Sinus."
I run the main desk which is awesome. Never a dull moment with phones to answer, insurance to check, and paperwork to do. Plus everyone in the office is incredibly sweet and funny. I can't even believe I work at this place. I am so grateful to God for bringing this perfect job to me. There is no drama or gossip between the staff (which I have never experienced at any of my other jobs before), we get along so well, the hours are awesome, and I could spend all day raving about how great this place is. It's so weird working for a doctor that you can actually talk to and ask questions, and instead of being grumpy, he's happy to help. oooh and another plus is that other doctors buy us lunch all the time so we're always getting good food!
It can be a bit sad at times though because we get a lot of patients coming in with lumps on their throats or necks so half the time, they're getting test results from us telling them that they have cancer. However, the other half of the time those people with lumps find out they DON'T have cancer and then they're super excited.
It definitely an interesting place to be!
In other news, I started taking piano lessons. Which I actually started in Alaska. Oh crap, that reminds me I didn't even post here about our mission trip to Alaska! I will have to write about that later. Alaska deserves a whole post of it's own.
Anyhoo, so now I take those lessons here and have been told that I learned more in 2 months than some of my instructor's students have learned in 2 years! I guess I'm picking up the piano quickly and have been told I have an ear. I can tell when something doesn't sound right even when my teacher can't!
And the last slice of news I will share is that I'm getting my wisdom teeth out on Saturday. Pray for me, I am a nervous wreck.
So a lot has changed since my last post where I whined about wanting work. A wonderful friend of mine from our Bible Study got me a job at the medical office she works for. It's an Ear, Nose, Throat and Sinus office. Or as we say when we answer the phone "ENT and Sinus."
I run the main desk which is awesome. Never a dull moment with phones to answer, insurance to check, and paperwork to do. Plus everyone in the office is incredibly sweet and funny. I can't even believe I work at this place. I am so grateful to God for bringing this perfect job to me. There is no drama or gossip between the staff (which I have never experienced at any of my other jobs before), we get along so well, the hours are awesome, and I could spend all day raving about how great this place is. It's so weird working for a doctor that you can actually talk to and ask questions, and instead of being grumpy, he's happy to help. oooh and another plus is that other doctors buy us lunch all the time so we're always getting good food!
It can be a bit sad at times though because we get a lot of patients coming in with lumps on their throats or necks so half the time, they're getting test results from us telling them that they have cancer. However, the other half of the time those people with lumps find out they DON'T have cancer and then they're super excited.
It definitely an interesting place to be!
In other news, I started taking piano lessons. Which I actually started in Alaska. Oh crap, that reminds me I didn't even post here about our mission trip to Alaska! I will have to write about that later. Alaska deserves a whole post of it's own.
Anyhoo, so now I take those lessons here and have been told that I learned more in 2 months than some of my instructor's students have learned in 2 years! I guess I'm picking up the piano quickly and have been told I have an ear. I can tell when something doesn't sound right even when my teacher can't!
And the last slice of news I will share is that I'm getting my wisdom teeth out on Saturday. Pray for me, I am a nervous wreck.
A post within a post within a post.
Monday, April 4, 2011
I've been neglecting this blog! Facebook has ruined blogging.
In other news, I sent my resume into a salon the other day. They're looking to train a stylist's assistant... which would rock my socks off. For the past few years I've been desperately wanting to take Cosmotology classes but I could buy a brand new Honda Fit for the price of tuition! It's just too much. So this job would be perfect! I love hair! I love styling my hair and get so many compliments on it when I do. Styling hair for a living would be awesome but being a stylist's assistant would be great too. I really hope I get called in for this.
Though I dreamt last night that I was called in for a working interview and when I got there it was a funeral home and they styled dead people's hair. O.o ... it was not an uplifting dream.
In other news, I've been asked to babysit a bunch of one to three year olds at the church every wednesday morning during a mom's bible study. I said yes. I hope it goes well! I won't start until April 20th but I am looking forward to it. I know I'll be nervous but I love being at that church and I love kids. I'm also happy to help the mom who leads the group because she is probably one of the busiest people in the universe... raising a bunch of young kids and all. I have no clue how she always looks so chipper and happy!
Let's see, what else. ... I wish I had a space to do my oil paintings in so I could do a bunch and try to sell them on Etsy or something. I can't do it in any rooms cuz of the cats or lack of space. It would be too hard and too messy to set everything up and take it down all the time. Lame!
I wish it was summer. I hate dealing with bugs more than I can even say but I really miss nice weather. I want to ride to Dairy Queen with Shane on his motorcycle, go for walks with Nicholas and Abby, have cookouts, go to baseball games, and just generally enjoy not being cold. Plus there's no Sunday School during the summer. I will miss the students of course but being free for that hour in the morning means we get to go to the adult bible study instead.... which is filled with a bunch of people that I adore.
It's crazy how much I love our church. I wish I could get a job there of some kind. I would like that even better than the hair thing! I applied once to be a teacher's aide during the regular school hours and even had awesome references but never heard back. I was really bummed about that. Not only would I be at a place I love but I would be doing something I love too.
There's just too many things I love. I need to find a job that allows me to style hair, edit videos, assistant teach, be a travel agent, sell oil paintings... and to do all of this from mission control... which I will have to somehow re-locate to our church.
Well at least I dream big. I just don't get why no one calls me back. I've sent my resume in to so many places. Even to the NWI Times because they are always hiring. I was the editor of my college paper and I was good at it dangit. But I began to stray from journalism because it's such a difficult field to try to be in. Even if you do get on a paper, there's a good chance you'll just be doing obituaries. Bleh!
In other news, if you're reading this and you haven't seen Inception, go see it. After seeing that movie, I felt like I had just watched all of Lost in one sitting. That's how much it hurt my head. But it was still good. I like stuff that makes me think.
Anyhoo, I would like a new hobby. I'm just not sure what. I thought about starting a blog about cars. I think they are awesome but I don't know much about them... which I actually think would be an attractive quality to the blog. I can learn and research as I post. The only problem with this is... Shane would complain that I have too many blogs. Which makes no sense since I only have one now and I rarely post here anymore!
Ok I'm done rambling for now.
Wait, I lied. I joined Twitter! Twitter is fun if you just follow a bunch of comedians and read their tweets. You will literally laugh out loud at least twice a day.
In other news, I sent my resume into a salon the other day. They're looking to train a stylist's assistant... which would rock my socks off. For the past few years I've been desperately wanting to take Cosmotology classes but I could buy a brand new Honda Fit for the price of tuition! It's just too much. So this job would be perfect! I love hair! I love styling my hair and get so many compliments on it when I do. Styling hair for a living would be awesome but being a stylist's assistant would be great too. I really hope I get called in for this.
Though I dreamt last night that I was called in for a working interview and when I got there it was a funeral home and they styled dead people's hair. O.o ... it was not an uplifting dream.
In other news, I've been asked to babysit a bunch of one to three year olds at the church every wednesday morning during a mom's bible study. I said yes. I hope it goes well! I won't start until April 20th but I am looking forward to it. I know I'll be nervous but I love being at that church and I love kids. I'm also happy to help the mom who leads the group because she is probably one of the busiest people in the universe... raising a bunch of young kids and all. I have no clue how she always looks so chipper and happy!
Let's see, what else. ... I wish I had a space to do my oil paintings in so I could do a bunch and try to sell them on Etsy or something. I can't do it in any rooms cuz of the cats or lack of space. It would be too hard and too messy to set everything up and take it down all the time. Lame!
I wish it was summer. I hate dealing with bugs more than I can even say but I really miss nice weather. I want to ride to Dairy Queen with Shane on his motorcycle, go for walks with Nicholas and Abby, have cookouts, go to baseball games, and just generally enjoy not being cold. Plus there's no Sunday School during the summer. I will miss the students of course but being free for that hour in the morning means we get to go to the adult bible study instead.... which is filled with a bunch of people that I adore.
It's crazy how much I love our church. I wish I could get a job there of some kind. I would like that even better than the hair thing! I applied once to be a teacher's aide during the regular school hours and even had awesome references but never heard back. I was really bummed about that. Not only would I be at a place I love but I would be doing something I love too.
There's just too many things I love. I need to find a job that allows me to style hair, edit videos, assistant teach, be a travel agent, sell oil paintings... and to do all of this from mission control... which I will have to somehow re-locate to our church.
Well at least I dream big. I just don't get why no one calls me back. I've sent my resume in to so many places. Even to the NWI Times because they are always hiring. I was the editor of my college paper and I was good at it dangit. But I began to stray from journalism because it's such a difficult field to try to be in. Even if you do get on a paper, there's a good chance you'll just be doing obituaries. Bleh!
In other news, if you're reading this and you haven't seen Inception, go see it. After seeing that movie, I felt like I had just watched all of Lost in one sitting. That's how much it hurt my head. But it was still good. I like stuff that makes me think.
Anyhoo, I would like a new hobby. I'm just not sure what. I thought about starting a blog about cars. I think they are awesome but I don't know much about them... which I actually think would be an attractive quality to the blog. I can learn and research as I post. The only problem with this is... Shane would complain that I have too many blogs. Which makes no sense since I only have one now and I rarely post here anymore!
Ok I'm done rambling for now.
Wait, I lied. I joined Twitter! Twitter is fun if you just follow a bunch of comedians and read their tweets. You will literally laugh out loud at least twice a day.
Dentistry
Monday, January 10, 2011
So how it usually works in the world of applying to be a dental assistant is that you get called in for a regular interview and then if they like you, they ask you back for a "working interview." Which is where you work for a day and see how well you mix with the staff and then they either ask you to work for them at the end of the day or they call you and tell you how they feel it went later.
Well I saw a job on careerbuilder last week for a Dental Assistant position and sent in my resume. I was then e-mailed an interview. Yes, e-mailed. The dentist gave me a lot of details about the position and then asked me questions that only someone with experience would know the answers to. I answered all of the questions and then honestly told her that although I had over 3 years of experience, that it had been a while since I had any hands on experience and that I understand that that may be an issue with dentistry because technology is always changing in that industry. I also told her that I can learn anything and that I have a passion for the industry and loved being an assistant.
Well I thought that she forgot about me because I didn't hear from her at all for a few days. Then she called me today, saying she received 120 resumes and only 20 of them came from people with experience. She said there were only a few out of the 20 who seemed promising and she was really impressed with my e-mail so she called to offer me $100 bucks to come do a working interview later this week. ..... Consider my mind blown!
She also said she understood me not working as an assistant for a while but that it's still good I have the experience behind me and she would be happy just knowing she wouldn't have to train someone from scratch.
Soooo pray for me!
I am nervous and I hope I remember things. When I worked for Dr. Wolff and he would take his annual August vacation (yes, we were off for the entire month), all of us assistants would come back feeling like idiots for the first few days because we had forgotten things already!
But I'm looking forward to it at the same time. If I got this job, the hours would be amazing. 9-5 Mon- Thurs. I would always have a 3 day weekend!
Well I saw a job on careerbuilder last week for a Dental Assistant position and sent in my resume. I was then e-mailed an interview. Yes, e-mailed. The dentist gave me a lot of details about the position and then asked me questions that only someone with experience would know the answers to. I answered all of the questions and then honestly told her that although I had over 3 years of experience, that it had been a while since I had any hands on experience and that I understand that that may be an issue with dentistry because technology is always changing in that industry. I also told her that I can learn anything and that I have a passion for the industry and loved being an assistant.
Well I thought that she forgot about me because I didn't hear from her at all for a few days. Then she called me today, saying she received 120 resumes and only 20 of them came from people with experience. She said there were only a few out of the 20 who seemed promising and she was really impressed with my e-mail so she called to offer me $100 bucks to come do a working interview later this week. ..... Consider my mind blown!
She also said she understood me not working as an assistant for a while but that it's still good I have the experience behind me and she would be happy just knowing she wouldn't have to train someone from scratch.
Soooo pray for me!
I am nervous and I hope I remember things. When I worked for Dr. Wolff and he would take his annual August vacation (yes, we were off for the entire month), all of us assistants would come back feeling like idiots for the first few days because we had forgotten things already!
But I'm looking forward to it at the same time. If I got this job, the hours would be amazing. 9-5 Mon- Thurs. I would always have a 3 day weekend!
Nevermind the whole job thing
Monday, December 20, 2010
So a couple of days into my job, I started noticing that my boss (the dentist) was being really mean. As time went on, it got worse and worse. He snapped at me for things that weren't my fault, threw temper tantrums, swore, and generally acted unprofessional. He was becoming completely miserable to work with. And the worst was when he would make me look like a fool in front of patients. I felt like he was a bully and there were even a few times I had to take a bathroom break just to cry and keep myself from exploding while working the front desk.
I thought maybe it was just a phase, but one of the assistants saw him yelling at me in front of a patient once, something like "this is f-cking ridiculous that you couldn't fill the two spots. Call everyone in the books and get someone in here. that is your job, not mine." and when I told him I called literally everyone in the book, he started pulling charts and throwing them at me across the desk saying "did you look for these extra phone numbers in their charts? you have to think of these things, i shouldnt have to tell you. This is really stupid" and THEN when i told him I called every number i could find... he just continued to yell and swear and stomp away all mad. Anyway, after he left, the assistant said he was a huge jerk and always has been.
Later he yelled at me again and another assistant saw and said she hopes i don't mind being belittled all the time because that's how he is. She also called him an ass and then walked away.
A couple days later one of the assistants was so scared of him, she was hiding from him.
It didn't matter what we did or how good we were at our job... if there was any amount of time where he wasn't working on a patient, he got upset and started bullying people around.
It was terrible and I didn't want to go to that place anymore. And I have a feeling the assistant that was hiding isn't going to be going there much longer either.
Anyway, I talked to his wife (who had been training me and who was amazing person) and she was not at all surprised that I wasn't enjoying working there and that I didn't want to continue to work there if his behavior continued. Then I called him into the back room and told him I couldn't handle being around him all day because he was making me miserable and was being too harsh. He said that that's just how he is and he doesn't need to play nice.
So the wife and I decided i would work there for a while and she would try to talk to him but she didnt think his temper would change... which was one of the reasons she didn't want to work there either. She said he was so miserable to work with, he was ruining her Christmas. I felt so bad for her.
Anyway we decided that we weren't going to call it "quitting" , and that i would work there for a while and see if he improved and they would start looking for someone else to take over my job in case things didnt work out, but she started sending me home right away, saying he was in a terrible mood and to just not worry about it.
Sooo things ended quickly and strangely and confusingly. But the bottom line is that i don't work there anymore. Which sucks cuz the hours were great and cindy was great but it's also awesome because now i dont have to go to a place that makes me cry and feel really small.
I thought maybe it was just a phase, but one of the assistants saw him yelling at me in front of a patient once, something like "this is f-cking ridiculous that you couldn't fill the two spots. Call everyone in the books and get someone in here. that is your job, not mine." and when I told him I called literally everyone in the book, he started pulling charts and throwing them at me across the desk saying "did you look for these extra phone numbers in their charts? you have to think of these things, i shouldnt have to tell you. This is really stupid" and THEN when i told him I called every number i could find... he just continued to yell and swear and stomp away all mad. Anyway, after he left, the assistant said he was a huge jerk and always has been.
Later he yelled at me again and another assistant saw and said she hopes i don't mind being belittled all the time because that's how he is. She also called him an ass and then walked away.
A couple days later one of the assistants was so scared of him, she was hiding from him.
It didn't matter what we did or how good we were at our job... if there was any amount of time where he wasn't working on a patient, he got upset and started bullying people around.
It was terrible and I didn't want to go to that place anymore. And I have a feeling the assistant that was hiding isn't going to be going there much longer either.
Anyway, I talked to his wife (who had been training me and who was amazing person) and she was not at all surprised that I wasn't enjoying working there and that I didn't want to continue to work there if his behavior continued. Then I called him into the back room and told him I couldn't handle being around him all day because he was making me miserable and was being too harsh. He said that that's just how he is and he doesn't need to play nice.
So the wife and I decided i would work there for a while and she would try to talk to him but she didnt think his temper would change... which was one of the reasons she didn't want to work there either. She said he was so miserable to work with, he was ruining her Christmas. I felt so bad for her.
Anyway we decided that we weren't going to call it "quitting" , and that i would work there for a while and see if he improved and they would start looking for someone else to take over my job in case things didnt work out, but she started sending me home right away, saying he was in a terrible mood and to just not worry about it.
Sooo things ended quickly and strangely and confusingly. But the bottom line is that i don't work there anymore. Which sucks cuz the hours were great and cindy was great but it's also awesome because now i dont have to go to a place that makes me cry and feel really small.
insert interesting title here
Sunday, December 5, 2010
It's been a while since I updated!
Sunday School has been crazy this year. We have a bunch of kids and they're all nuts. I miss my good kids from last year! We've been working with them for a few minutes every sunday because my class (kindergarten) is teaming up with them to sing at the Advent service. The first graders behave like perfect angels and my class is all loud and all over the place. I thought maybe they were just shy being mixed in with my class but I snuck into their room today to leave some copies of the songs for them to take home and they were all sitting quietly listening to their teacher and behaving perfectly. *sniff* i want that peace and quiet back!
I do enjoy that these kids are really into hugs though. I get a lot of them!
In other news, I went to the Advent Tea at the church. Which is an event the church throws every couple of years. (i hear it's expensive which is why it doesn't happen often) What it is... a bunch of ladies volunteer to host a table and then invite guests to fill it. Patti (who hosts the Bible study i go to) hosted a table and invited me, another woman from the study, and some other nice gals. Also, men from the church volunteer to serve us. How nice is that?! They were dressed up really fancily (is that a word?) with pretty bow-ties. And they worked their butts off running all over the place, helping to prepare our food and get us our drinks and whatnot. It was nice.
Another cool thing is that every hostess goes all out to design their tables with a theme. They were SO gorgeous, i felt like i was at a really rich person's wedding. Our table's theme was Penguins! We had fancy silverware and plates and Patti even put little presents at each of our settings. (in really awesome boxes that she made herself)
There was also music, we got to be entertained by a violin and some beautiful singing the whole time. And we got to join in for a song when we all sang Silent Night in German!
And we were served a traditional German meal. .... Germans sure know how to make desserts!
In more other news, I have a job! I start tomorrow.
I went for the interview a few days ago and ended up being there for like 2 hours, mostly listening while this guy gave me his life story. I told everyone at my table at the Advent Tea about that and they all went "the job is yours!" and i was like "what?" and they said if he told me that much about himself and felt like he could talk to me for hours then the job was mine. I guess they were right!
He's really nice. It was hard to get a word in but he seems kind, i get the vibe that he has a huge heart.
It's a small office. It would be him, i think he said two assistants, and me. I was worried it would get a little lonely at first, me being up there at the front alone, but then it occured to me that women are catty and dramatic and i didnt enjoy working with too many of them in my previous offices. So i'll take a little loneliness over drama any day!
So I'm nervous and excited but i've prayed about this a lot, and I know God's going to take care of me. It's comforting knowing He's always got my back.
Sunday School has been crazy this year. We have a bunch of kids and they're all nuts. I miss my good kids from last year! We've been working with them for a few minutes every sunday because my class (kindergarten) is teaming up with them to sing at the Advent service. The first graders behave like perfect angels and my class is all loud and all over the place. I thought maybe they were just shy being mixed in with my class but I snuck into their room today to leave some copies of the songs for them to take home and they were all sitting quietly listening to their teacher and behaving perfectly. *sniff* i want that peace and quiet back!
I do enjoy that these kids are really into hugs though. I get a lot of them!
In other news, I went to the Advent Tea at the church. Which is an event the church throws every couple of years. (i hear it's expensive which is why it doesn't happen often) What it is... a bunch of ladies volunteer to host a table and then invite guests to fill it. Patti (who hosts the Bible study i go to) hosted a table and invited me, another woman from the study, and some other nice gals. Also, men from the church volunteer to serve us. How nice is that?! They were dressed up really fancily (is that a word?) with pretty bow-ties. And they worked their butts off running all over the place, helping to prepare our food and get us our drinks and whatnot. It was nice.
Another cool thing is that every hostess goes all out to design their tables with a theme. They were SO gorgeous, i felt like i was at a really rich person's wedding. Our table's theme was Penguins! We had fancy silverware and plates and Patti even put little presents at each of our settings. (in really awesome boxes that she made herself)
There was also music, we got to be entertained by a violin and some beautiful singing the whole time. And we got to join in for a song when we all sang Silent Night in German!
And we were served a traditional German meal. .... Germans sure know how to make desserts!
In more other news, I have a job! I start tomorrow.
I went for the interview a few days ago and ended up being there for like 2 hours, mostly listening while this guy gave me his life story. I told everyone at my table at the Advent Tea about that and they all went "the job is yours!" and i was like "what?" and they said if he told me that much about himself and felt like he could talk to me for hours then the job was mine. I guess they were right!
He's really nice. It was hard to get a word in but he seems kind, i get the vibe that he has a huge heart.
It's a small office. It would be him, i think he said two assistants, and me. I was worried it would get a little lonely at first, me being up there at the front alone, but then it occured to me that women are catty and dramatic and i didnt enjoy working with too many of them in my previous offices. So i'll take a little loneliness over drama any day!
So I'm nervous and excited but i've prayed about this a lot, and I know God's going to take care of me. It's comforting knowing He's always got my back.
Standing Still
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
I wrote this like 6 years ago and came across it earlier, thought I'd share...
When you've fallen through cracks in the gray rock,
Where it's hard and hard to breathe,
When you've fallen through the core of the ocean,
Where you sufficate by the battle of the coral sea...
Put two hands together, bring ten fingers to a plea,
Whisper every blunder,
Gather peace without parti pris.
Put two hands together, ten fingers by His spell,
Trust Him...
You're under the apple, and He is William Tell.
When you've landed within the city of the foe,
Where you're bare and barely seen,
When you've run into every tiger's smile,
Where it's deception is in it's teeth...
Put two hands together, bring ten fingers to a kiss,
Shout out every sin,
Throw them in the abyss.
Put two hands together, ten fingers by His spell,
Trust Him...
You're under the apple, and He is William Tell.
When you've fallen through cracks in the gray rock,
Where it's hard and hard to breathe,
When you've fallen through the core of the ocean,
Where you sufficate by the battle of the coral sea...
Put two hands together, bring ten fingers to a plea,
Whisper every blunder,
Gather peace without parti pris.
Put two hands together, ten fingers by His spell,
Trust Him...
You're under the apple, and He is William Tell.
When you've landed within the city of the foe,
Where you're bare and barely seen,
When you've run into every tiger's smile,
Where it's deception is in it's teeth...
Put two hands together, bring ten fingers to a kiss,
Shout out every sin,
Throw them in the abyss.
Put two hands together, ten fingers by His spell,
Trust Him...
You're under the apple, and He is William Tell.
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