It's official, I am a nurse.
After completing the NCLEX, a test almost as ridiculous as the scenario portion of the CNL exam, I have completed the last step in becoming a registered nurse. Liscencing complete. I wish I could say that I will get a break from learning all sorts of new things, but I will likely spend the first year of my career becoming familiar with my patient population and aquiring all the skills that go along with caring for them. While I am grateful that the learning never ends, it will be nice to go to a job with some level of comfort in regards to my duties that day. It's exhausting when you are in learning mode 24-7 like I have been the last couple of years.
But, I am going to enjoy the hell out of the next couple of months that I have home with the little ladies. I don't have school or tests hanging over my head and I can just sit back and enjoy this time.
Thank you all for the support and enouragement during this adventure. I certainly could not have done it without lots of help, patience and understanding from friends and family.
And now I can sign my name as:
Mrs. Kerri Murphy, BS, MFS, MSN, RN, CNL, MOM
But at the end of the day I'm just the same old Kerri you have known and loved for years.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
A Little Lighter
Well, to follow-up with my weight rant, I will share the good news. I had my six-week post-partum appointment and I am now 25 pounds lighter than my last pre-delivery weigh-in. I still have 5 pounds to go before I hit my breastfeeding weight. This means I still don't fit into my favorite pair of jeans, but hopefully that will happen soon enough. I also don't dig sporting the muffin top that has come along with my lack of tone. Now that I have a clean bill of health; it is time to go for long walks, do some situps and get this body back into shape.
Brian has also been losing weight, but I won't steal his thunder and tell you how much.
Looks like it is only the under seven crowd that is gainig weight and that is exactly as it should be.
Brian has also been losing weight, but I won't steal his thunder and tell you how much.
Looks like it is only the under seven crowd that is gainig weight and that is exactly as it should be.
Thursday, October 08, 2009
A Moment of Thanks
I realize my life wouldn't be nearly as fun, relaxing, or enriched if it weren't for my husband. For starters, he was the bomb during grad school (both times). Especially this latest round that required juggling of children and schedules and money and craziness. He was super awesome labor support. This past 5 weeks (has it really been 5 weeks since Bridget was born?!), he has been super dad getting the eldest off to the bus stop in the AM and taking the middle one to speech on Thursdays. This has netted me an extra hour of sleep every day, for which we are all thankful. A tired cranky mom makes for a tired cranky house. I also want to thank Bridget for being such a fantabulous crib sleeper.
Brian also helped me rearrange the guest room and the girls' rooms yesterday after the clutter was driving me batty. I know it wasn't on his Top 10 list of fun things to do on a Wednesday afternoon, but he did it without complaint. We threw away a ton of toys, set Abigail up with a distraction-free homework station, and garnered the big girls more play space in their shared room. There is no way I could lifted and pushed around that much furniture, but my sanity has been saved.
THANK YOU, BRIAN!!!
Brian also helped me rearrange the guest room and the girls' rooms yesterday after the clutter was driving me batty. I know it wasn't on his Top 10 list of fun things to do on a Wednesday afternoon, but he did it without complaint. We threw away a ton of toys, set Abigail up with a distraction-free homework station, and garnered the big girls more play space in their shared room. There is no way I could lifted and pushed around that much furniture, but my sanity has been saved.
THANK YOU, BRIAN!!!
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Weighty Matters
Bridget had her one month appointment today. Chubby cupcake has gained almost THREE pounds. She is now a plump and juicy 11 pounds 2 ounces. I know one should never compare their children, but since there is no judgment in the following (just a statment of the facts) I am going to proceed. All three girls were 22 inches long at 1 month, so the playing field is even. However, Abigail was only 7 lbs 6 oz (5 oz less than her birth weight) and Autumn was 9 lbs 7 oz (2 pounds over her birth weight). Needless to say I take a little pride in how much better the breastfeeding duos have improved over the years.
Now, as I told the nurse, if only each pound gained by Bridget was one pound lost by me. This is the part that I imagine no one will care much about, except for me. Maybe you enjoy reading the trials and tribulations of others. Either way, keep in mind that this is all relative to me and I get that others have much more significant weight struggles. But, since this is my blog, I get to write about mine.
I hope you're good at math because the following is going to make your head spin. With Abigail I gained 24 pounds when I hit maximum density. I can't say the weight came off early, but that kid nursed every 3 hours around the clock for 4 months and never slept. The exhaustion melted the weight off (and a few hours on the elliptical). With Autumn I gained 21 pounds...still hit the exact same maximum density, but that's because I started out a few pounds heavier. I was into my pre-pregnancy jeans within a month. I don't say this to be all 'look at me', but to give context to my current distress.
This pregnancy I started out 10 pounds lighter than my second pregnancy, but more than made up for over the next 9 months. 40 pounds later (YIKES!) I hit maximum density + 7 and thankfully delivered Bridget. Having never been that heavy, I spent each passing day just hoping I wouldn't get stretch marks or gain yet another pound. The good news is I didn't get any stretch marks (although I will enjoy my linea nigra while it lasts) and I've lost 23 pounds. But I feel like I'm never going to be able to wear cute clothes again. I've never worn maternity clothes after delivery because I can usually get by with gym shorts and my one pair of super-sized post partum jeans. This time around I blame the weather because it's too cold to wear my stretchy shorts, but not cold enough to break out the sweats. I know, my post partum look just screams high fashion. Just be thankful I shower and shave every day. I think what has been making me feel particularly doughy and frumpy is the fact that I can't fit into any of my shirts. They are all too small. So I've been wearing maternity shirts. They have plenty of stretch to them, but are not really designed to be slimming.
The long and the short of it is, I'm really just feeling the need to complain, I'm being unrealistic in the status of my body, and I'm reminding myself that I will get my pre-baby body back once I feel up to exercising. Bridget's pregnancy was so different from my other two that I suppose I just wasn't prepared for the unexpected. Can you ever be?
Of course if carrying a few extra pounds right now is the price to pay for a well-fed, sleeping baby, then I will quit my complaining. Besides, I've only got 7 pounds to lose until I hit my breastfeeding weight and 12 to hit my norm (I have no desire to strive for my pre-Bridget weight since it was about 5 pounds lighter than my norm and would actually be an effort to maintain). Have the numbers lost you yet?
Now, as I told the nurse, if only each pound gained by Bridget was one pound lost by me. This is the part that I imagine no one will care much about, except for me. Maybe you enjoy reading the trials and tribulations of others. Either way, keep in mind that this is all relative to me and I get that others have much more significant weight struggles. But, since this is my blog, I get to write about mine.
I hope you're good at math because the following is going to make your head spin. With Abigail I gained 24 pounds when I hit maximum density. I can't say the weight came off early, but that kid nursed every 3 hours around the clock for 4 months and never slept. The exhaustion melted the weight off (and a few hours on the elliptical). With Autumn I gained 21 pounds...still hit the exact same maximum density, but that's because I started out a few pounds heavier. I was into my pre-pregnancy jeans within a month. I don't say this to be all 'look at me', but to give context to my current distress.
This pregnancy I started out 10 pounds lighter than my second pregnancy, but more than made up for over the next 9 months. 40 pounds later (YIKES!) I hit maximum density + 7 and thankfully delivered Bridget. Having never been that heavy, I spent each passing day just hoping I wouldn't get stretch marks or gain yet another pound. The good news is I didn't get any stretch marks (although I will enjoy my linea nigra while it lasts) and I've lost 23 pounds. But I feel like I'm never going to be able to wear cute clothes again. I've never worn maternity clothes after delivery because I can usually get by with gym shorts and my one pair of super-sized post partum jeans. This time around I blame the weather because it's too cold to wear my stretchy shorts, but not cold enough to break out the sweats. I know, my post partum look just screams high fashion. Just be thankful I shower and shave every day. I think what has been making me feel particularly doughy and frumpy is the fact that I can't fit into any of my shirts. They are all too small. So I've been wearing maternity shirts. They have plenty of stretch to them, but are not really designed to be slimming.
The long and the short of it is, I'm really just feeling the need to complain, I'm being unrealistic in the status of my body, and I'm reminding myself that I will get my pre-baby body back once I feel up to exercising. Bridget's pregnancy was so different from my other two that I suppose I just wasn't prepared for the unexpected. Can you ever be?
Of course if carrying a few extra pounds right now is the price to pay for a well-fed, sleeping baby, then I will quit my complaining. Besides, I've only got 7 pounds to lose until I hit my breastfeeding weight and 12 to hit my norm (I have no desire to strive for my pre-Bridget weight since it was about 5 pounds lighter than my norm and would actually be an effort to maintain). Have the numbers lost you yet?
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