kids

baby, Family, rainbow baby, Uncategorized

The FULL birth story–details and all

March 22, 2018March 22, 2018by Sheridan Johnson3 Comments

Ok so it started out being my 37 week check-up on January 9th, 2018 and I for sure was hoping that I had dilated more to a 5 by this point since I had been dilated to a 3-4 the past few weeks and I was DETERMINED that this was the THE birth day of my child!

My doctor examined me and said that once he stripped my membranes it would dilate me even more (and I would be around 5cm dilated) and that I could be sent to labor and delivery at Detar North Hopsital in Victoria, Tx. With my bags all packed in my car, and my mom with me, we grabbed a bite to eat (which I couldn’t eat much at this point because I was so nervous/anxious that today would be the day that I would get to meet this precious miracle of mine) and headed to the hospital. Of course they had to examine me once I was admitted (I was just about 5cm dilated), and ask 1,000 questions (or at least it felt like it) that I have already answered when I was in pre-term labor 3 weeks prior, but I did not mind and was ready to get hooked up to pitocin and get this labor started!

It was near 1:15pm or so that I was initially hooked up to pitocin and I estimated that I would have the baby around 5pm (which I was way off) lol but I asked my doctor and the nurses this time if I could go at a slower pace on the pitocin so that I could labor all naturally again and be able to enjoy walking around and talking/playing with my kiddos (and they said yes). During this time I had my step-dad bring up 2 of the kiddos to the hospital and Shane brought the other 2 when he get off work.

Every 2 hours just about I dilated 1 more cm and during this time, the day nurse that was taking care of me was SO sweet and made sure that I had enough ice chips and the super amazing thing she did was find me a wireless monitor so that I could be on the labor ball, and walk around with my kids in the room, etc and just have freedom from the uncomfortable bed. I LOVED this and I will remember that forever!

During the transitional part of labor (about 7cm-10cm) I was doing fine with my breathing techniques and having Shane hold my hand and rub my back throughout the entire labor until this point (and then she broke my water). I had asked to be checked and I was 8cm dilated and 100% effaced and I had nicely (because with Rochelle I was screaming and yelling the entire end of my natural-no pain medication labor) asked the nurse if she had anything that could lessen the pain ( I do this every time I am about to push lol) and she said “sweetie I am so sorry at this point if I give you anything, it could slow the rest of the labor down and you are about to start pushing so right now I don’t think that would be the best option” and I took a deep breath and said “ok thank you, could you please call my doctor right now I feel like I need to push”.

Well, she had come back a minute later and brought all the delivery supplies into the room–at this point my mom had taken Brielle downstairs around 8:45-9pm (She was the only child that stayed because she just HAD to see if I was having a boy or a girl since we had waited to find out until birth and they don’t allow visitors past 9pm in the delivery room) and I knew I was about to have our baby.

I had been in the bed towards the end of the labor because it hurt too much to get up and I REALLY needed to focus on my breathing and working through the intense pain I was feeling. I knew I was going to transition from 8cm to 10cm pretty quickly and was really trying to prepare myself mentally for the actual delivery. Of course (yet again) my doctor did not make it in time because just after all the nurses turned on the warmer for the baby, and got everything ready with my bed (taking it all apart, make sure all the sterilization procedures where in place and put on gloves) and I felt a HUGE sensation to push! All three of the nurses in the room told me “hold the baby in by crossing your legs” so I did just that two times and on the third time I told the nurse that was right in front me ” I NEED TO PUSH RIGHT NOW! I am sorry but I cannot hold this baby in anymore, get ready to catch”!!

Well, let’s just say one push later at 9:22pm weighing in at 7 lb 15 oz and 19 1/4 inch tall baby BOY Malachi Andreas Johnson was born and THEN my doctor arrived (about 3-5 minutes after I delivered) to get out my placenta and to see if I needed any stitching (I think he may have done one stitch to prevent excessive bleeding but no tearing thank goodness).

I was so excited to meet my son right away, and put him directly on my chest and start breast feeding right away (and he latched SO good I didn’t need any help from the lactation consultant this time– even though help was definitely provided). Shane was an AWESOME labor coach the entire time and went over and beyond to make sure I was ok, make sure kids were taken care of ( and tried to help my parents as much as possible with this aspect as well) and I am SO very thankful and amazed at the goodness of God at how everything turned out!

We had to stay in the hospital for a day and a half because they don’t discharge at night so because of his birth time, we left about 39 hours after his was born, and we (Shane and I) were SO ready to head home and see all of the kiddos and be a family of 7!

I will leave you with some pictures of the journey to bring Malachi into this world, and I thank you all for the MANY prayers, support, encouragement, and love that you all have provided us during his pregnancy!

Brielle, RN, work

A day in my life

September 23, 2015September 23, 2015by Sheridan Johnson10 Comments

I know from my survey, many of you are interested in what a day in my life looks like as an RN. I just want to start off by saying I don’t work in the hospital, I work in the nursing home, and pediatric home health. Both sides of the spectrum! 🙂

These are my top 3 littmann stethoscopes. 2 are adult and 1 is pediatric. I love this brand!

I will go through one full day of what I do (round-about) at work and at home on the weekend as a Charge Nurse. I am in charge of the LVN’s, Med-Aide’s, and CNA’s and all of them take care of over 100 Residents.

4:00am- alarm goes off to get up, get dressed, and head off to work.

This is my daily gear(watch with a second hand, stethoscope, pulse oximeter, and a pen light) along with scissors and a blood pressure cuff, oh and course a black pen! 🙂

4:30am-Clock in and grab the treatment book, look over the 24 hour books on both sides (100/300 hall and 200/400 hall). I always talk to the night shift nurses about how everything is going, which residents are in the hospital, who are the new admits (new residents who have been admitted to the nursing home), discharges (who has left), which residents they are worried and why, and how their overall night was.

5:00am-7:30am I start doing my treatments on the residents and make sure that the CNA’s are making their beds, that they are assisting the residents with getting up and ready for breakfast, and for the residents that refuse to get up for breakfast I usually double check why and let their hall nurse know.

7:30am-8:30am I help serve trays to the residents and make sure that each resident is getting the appropriate food for their diet and also get them anything they may need. I also have to document how much each resident is eating after each meal, so I need to be in the dining room, aware of how much they are consuming, and offering them an alternative meal if they don’t like the one provided.

8:30am-10:30am This is the time where ALL he** breaks loose. NO idea why, but it seems like after all of the residents have completely woken up, stuff just hits the fan. I try to be on top of everything that happens, or could potentially happen and since we have a weekend manager that is on call, I try to keep them aware of the situations that occur that they need to be notified about. This is usually the time I am helping the hall nurses the most, just to get everything done in such a short period of time.

10:30am This is the time that I usually take a break for 30 mins but let’s be real(breaks don’t happen that often when you’re in charge). My husband (Shane) will usually bring Brielle and breakfast during this time, if I am able to step away for a little bit to eat.

11:00am-1:00pm This is usually when I am finishing my treatments, helping my residents with lunch and documenting their meal intakes, making sure all the orders from the physicians are taken care of during the day shift and don’t get shoved over to the night shift, communicating with both residents and nurses, and trying to finish everything so that I can leave on time. (HA!)

1:15pm I come home and hope and pray that Brielle is ready for a nap by the time I get showered and ready to lay down with her.

2:00pm-5:00pm I lay down with brielle for a nap, and since she tosses and turns, it usually results in me not sleeping too well.

5:00pm-9:00pm This is the time where we make dinner, choose to go get dinner somewhere, or choose to go to visit Shane’s parents for a little bit and head home so we can shower and have Brielle in bed, so that I can TRY to go to bed early enough to get some sleep before that 4am alarm hits again the next morning!

That would be a typical day in my life, if stuff doesn’t hit the fan (some mornings, I am just trying to save a residents life and all of that other stuff gets thrown to the side!). I love working weekends and being in charge (of a LOT of people), but it definitely doesn’t come without stress and patience all.day.long. My favorite part of each work day, is definitely coming home to my hubby, and my baby girl! 🙂

Oh and happy #nationdaughtersday to my favorite little girls, Brielle and Rochelle! ❤

birthday, favorites

It’s my birthday!

September 4, 2015September 4, 2015by Sheridan Johnson2 Comments

Wow, 27 years old. I remember thinking, after turning 25, there really isn’t anything much to celebrate until you turn the big 3-0. Whoa, was I wrong! This is the first year that I can actually tell you I am finding who I truly am. Without college, being pregnant and having babies, this is the first year that I have had to grow and find who I truly am. I will write down 27 things about me on my 27th birthday!

I woke up at 4:30am to start out my 27th birthday year off right at the gym! (I have walked 5,469 steps and it’s only 6:30am)
I found this passion for photography that I never knew I had!
Crafting is still my weakness, but it’s something that I LOVE to do!
I set a goal to lose 27 pounds by my 27th birthday, and I just accomplished it yesterday(lost 29 exactly)! (Still have a new goal to set, but so happy that I did it!)
Late night walking with my husband and my baby, has become one of my favorite things to do.
My favorite bath and body works product is the lavender and vanilla body wash that is supposed to help with sleep! 🙂
I love to read! I just finished the book by author Anna Maxted and will be posting a review soon!
My favorite season of the year is fall, and I am so happy it’s right around the corner!
I am wanting to grow my blog further this year, and I will put in as much hard work as it takes, to do so!
My top two favorite shows right now is Mistresses, and Total Divas.
I love to work as an RN, but I LOVE to spend more time at home with my little love even more!
Teaching is one of my biggest passions in life, and I probably will spend Brielle’s whole life teaching her something new every day!
This is the first year in 5 years that I haven’t been pregnant or trying to get pregnant (kind of surreal).
I have had the same best friends for over 10+ years (of course adding my favorite twins over the last 5+ years)
I have’t dyed my hair since my sophomore year in high school in over 10 years (I definitely think that ages me a tad bit) lol!
Brielle will tell everyone “look that’s mommy’s favorite color pink”, and every single thing that is pink, haha! Oops!
This month marks two years that I have been with my home health patient in Austin!
My favorite places in our house are the keepsake areas for both Lamar and Rochelle.
I love me some pumpkin smelling candles in the fall time (well, really pumpkin anything in the fall sounds perfect to me).
I have three animals (2 dogs and 1 cat)!
Brielle’s liquid chalk markers, may just be some of my favorite things to use.
My teeth have shifted so much since I stopped wearing my retainer years ago (really need to make my dentist appointment and get a new retainer)
My mom got me the sweetest, most thoughtful presents ever this year (A bracelet with all of my children engraved on it, and the most beautiful jewelry box that I am keeping it in! Thank you so much mom!!)
Writing has been the one key factor that helps me express my feelings, and get out of feeling so alone and down and about these past few years!
Lamar’s middle name is Grant (After Shane’s family)
Brielle’s middle is Diane (After my mom)
Rochelle’s middle name is Elaine (After shane’s family)

Brielle, Lamar, Rochelle

My childrens room!

August 22, 2015August 21, 2015by Sheridan JohnsonLeave a Comment

When people ask me what Brielle’s room looks like, I often have to explain that it’s not only her room, that she shares it with her siblings as well. To some people, they think this is odd because both her brother and her sister are in heaven. To me, putting up a special place for each one in her room in honor of her sibling, is something that both me and my husband felt was the right thing to do.

I will take you on a little tour throughout their room! Hope you enjoy! 🙂