Snowshoeing with the Boy Scouts

Since I work on most Fridays, I only go camping with my troop about every other month. On the off months I try to take them on a weekend adventure, and this month's activity was snowshoeing! Saturday morning we met at the church and carpooled to the trailhead of Green Pond, near Snowbasin Resort. After fitting everyone's snowshoes and ensuring everyone had the gear they needed, we headed down the trail. As we got quite a bit of snow overnight and it was still snowing, we were breaking trail, so it was good for each boy to experience leading the troop. At our turning around point we discussed some avalanche safety and winter survival techniques.

One of the boys didn't let us know he was going to show up, so we were short a pair of shoes. It worked out though -- I let him use mine and I brought up the rear after the trail was packed down enough for my boots. As you can see, whenever I got off the trail I post-holed pretty deep! 

One of the leaders and boys had to return early, so it wasn't a very long hike, but I think it was just perfect for some of the boys who were not used to tromping around in the fresh powder.

The week before our snowshoeing trip, we organized a community service project for which Ogden Recreation Outlet offered free rentals for the boys and leaders who participated. I was unable to attend, but our troop performed some trail clean-up and maintenance for the Ogden Nature Center. I felt pretty proud, as these have been the first outings that I've organized and successfully pulled off! Many of the boys enjoyed themselves and said they'd do it again.

20 Week Bumpdate

Hey all - it's Dani again! I know I haven't been as active on the blog lately and am grateful that Chris has continued to take the time to write. The last few months have just been a whirlwind of emotion, nausea, and fatigue - and taking the time to write just slipped away from my priority list. But I'm back now and am ready to give you a 20 week bumpdate -- or rather a little snapshot of how pregnancy has been up until this point.

Chris and I found out pretty early on at just 4 1/2 weeks along that I was pregnant. I was supposed to drive down to Provo and throw a joint yard sale with my girlfriends but woke up that morning feeling incredibly nauseous. I told my girls I wouldn't be able to make it and two of them (who are already mothers and knew we were trying) started teasing me that the reason I was nauseous was because I must be pregnant. I have never had regular periods, was only a couple days late, and had just taken a negative pregnancy test recently. Not wanting the disappointment of another negative test I told them I was sure I wasn't pregnant and it must just be something I ate.

At this point I texted Chris my conversations with my friends, and he came home with a pregnancy test and convinced me to take it (this had happened a few times before -- I was sure I wasn't pregnant but me mulling over the "what if" would drive Chris nuts until we knew for sure. So he bought the test just to prove that I wasn't pregnant, not to actually see if I was!). I took the test just knowing that it would be negative -- and I cannot begin to explain the look of shock on our faces when it read positive! Once the initial shock wore off we were thrilled.

The next three days I was stoked out of mind; ready to be the epitome of the perfect Pinterest/Instagram pregnant woman. I exercised, ate healthy, and set goals of perfection for the upcoming 9 months. On day four the nausea came back -- and you guys, it hasn't left.

My pregnancy could not be more different from the perfect little dream I had painted. For the first 17 weeks of pregnancy I had "morning sickness" (which by the way is completely misnamed seeing as it lasts all day, everyday). The nausea was so strong that most days I was not even able to get out of bed. Normally it was just a debilitating nausea, some days I would just throw up at random times, and occasionally I would vomit from morning until night. There was no pattern or trigger behind my sickness which made it really difficult to handle. Would I throw up just once that day or would it last a full 24 hours? Would I be sick in the morning, the afternoon, in the evening, or the middle of the night? There was no way to tell! My body just did what it wanted, when it wanted. I tried everything to help -- from eating saltines first thing in the morning, to trying different supplements, and even getting weekly IV therapy treatments. For the longest time I kept counting down the days to the end of the first trimester, thinking that once I hit that milestone I would feel better. But my first trimester came and went and I found no relief.

The last four months summed up in one picture - I have to pee ALL the time
but don't dare go anywhere without my barf bowl!

During these beginning months of pregnancy I had a few tender mercies that helped me get through the long weeks. I missed a lot of church because I was so sick - but was blessed with a wonderful bishop who noticed my absence and helped by sending some sweet young men over to my house on Sunday afternoons to give me the sacrament. I felt comforted that although I wasn't able to attend my Sabbath day meetings I could still partake of the sacrament and renew my covenants. My testimony grew each week as this experience became more personal to me, and my understanding of the atonement grew. I am also incredibly lucky to have a worthy priesthood holder as my husband. Chris has been able to give me blessings that have helped me survive the worst of days. My visiting teachers have also become close friends as they would not only visit me monthly but would consistently text me, bring me books to read, randomly drop off flowers, and find small ways to serve me and brighten my long days.

Starting around week 18 my nausea began to let up, though it has yet to completely disappear. Instead of constant nausea 24/7 I now am sick only about half the time. As I approached week 20 (the halfway mark!) I had a stretch of really good days. Optimism overtook me as I begin to hope that this meant the sick days were behind me, until two days into my twentieth week when I had my worst day yet. In the course of just 11 hours I threw up 10 times! I was once again humbled, and reminded that this pregnancy just isn't going to be easy on me. But luckily I know it is worth it.

I'm just over halfway now and pregnancy has taken quite a toll on me, but I still wouldn't trade it for anything. It's been hard on both Chris and I. I've struggled with feelings of discouragement and inadequacy as I've been unable to do so much -- things like working, hiking, and even household chores have been impossible for me to accomplish. Chris has temporarily lost his adventure buddy and has taken on the role of full-time student, provider, personal chef and maid! The poor guy has pretty much only eaten quesadillas and eggs for months as I've been unable to cook and have been surviving on toast and applesauce (only recently have I gotten an appetite back most days, but now I have occasional "teenage boy cravings" of pizza, burgers, and ice cream! After his diet of late Chris has been more than willing to indulge in my cravings when I have them).

We're hanging in there, and we're optimistic for a better finish to a difficult first half. My favorite memory of pregnancy so far was on February 19th when I felt our little guy move for the first time! He's a little rascal though, because whenever Chris puts his hand on my belly to feel it our boy will immediately stop and won't start moving again until Chris moves his hand away. But I know he loves his daddy because whenever Chris is gone all day (work, school, errands), the little dude flips for joy inside of me when he hears Chris's voice again. I've also loved learning how much Chris truly loves me through this experience. It's easy to love your best friend when you're both feeling well and you're adventuring together. But to see how much Chris has loved me through my worst of days makes me feel insanely lucky. I've always known he loves me -- but what a different level of love I've seen in moments when he drops whatever he's doing to run to my side in order to help hold back my hair and rub my back when I'm barfing. Or when he's had to pull over on the side of the highway as I'm throwing up all over the front of our new car, and then he tells me it's ok and cleans the car out himself. The list of selfless service and sacrifice I have seen from him the last few months is never ending, and I thank Heavenly Father daily in my prayers for giving me such a patient, loving, kind, and perfect husband.

Remember to pray and remember to play (cause it's way more fun than barfing),

Mr., Mrs., & Baby Andrew

Clinicals in psych

Another pretty low-key week for the Andrew family. Dani felt quite a bit worse after our weekend travels, and it's been discouraging that she felt so good and now feels lousy again. We're at 20 weeks, and we expected that at least halfway through the pregnancy she'd be feeling awesome again. It's frustrating that she'll take two steps forward and slide another step back.

On Monday I took a shift for Morgan EMS but spent the day studying at the station. It's nice to have a full 12 hours to get homework done, but whenever I'm on call I really hope for some action.

On Tuesday my clinical rotation was in adult behavioral health. I worked with the nurse in the psychiatric intensive care unit (PICU), an area that typically has more difficult-to-handle psychotic patients; they may be violent, aggressive, or agitate other patients enough that they need to be more secluded. One of our patients was obsessed with working out, and spent most of the day on the floor attempting pushups as he yelled out with each rep. The day was pretty uneventful until the evening, when one patient with dementia started to become combative with the staff. They had to hold him down while I gave him an injection of an anti-agitative medication. After a few minutes it didn't seem to make much of a difference (after deciding that barricading his door with his bed wasn't enough, he cracked the door open and peed in our direction), so we gave him another dose and he calmed down just fine.

Last week I worked in pediatric behavioral health, and although it's a totally different world working with psychiatric patients, I don't think I'd enjoy it for very long. Next week I'm in OB/GYN, so we'll see how that goes!

Finally an adventure!

Early last week Dani felt somewhat better, and we were able to go for a short walk on a trail near our home. However, she relapsed later and felt pretty crappy again. With this warm front a lot of the snow has melted and I just had to get outside, so I soloed Adam's Canyon to the waterfall.

This week Dani felt quite a bit better so we went camping! All of Utah was in a downpour, but after our rain-or-shine adventures in Juneau we were not daunted. We planned a visit with Jacob and his fiancée Karlee this weekend, so we figured we could break up the trip in two days (car rides aren't so good for pregnancy puking) and have some fun doing it. We drove up Provo canyon Friday night to look for a camping spot and finally found one at Deer Creek State Park. It had been raining so hard and so much snow melted that the ground was waterlogged, so we put the seats down in the Subaru and "roughed it." In the morning we headed out of the canyon (the long detour thanks to two mudslides) to stop by the Hansens for a nice visit and then to Grandpa and Grandma Andrew's with Jacob and Karlee. With the wedding preparation they have been doing they were looking for a central location to hold a reception after the wedding in June, and it sounds like they've chosen my grandparent's beautiful summer backyard for their venue.

Dinner on the stove

On Sunday we took a quick trip to Logan for Hannah's homecoming talk! It was so good to see her and my cousin Mark (who is studying at USU) and catch up with the rest of the Duersches and my sister Anna.

Two roads...

This week I started my second semester clinical rotations at McKay Dee Hospital, an Intermountain Healthcare facility in Ogden. My first day was in the OR, and I have to say I don't think I'm cut out to be an OR nurse. I think everyone in the OR has fun except the nurse - the surgeon is running the show, the techs have their bloody hands right in there with the surgeon, the patient is dreaming away, and the anesthetist is making sure the patient doesn't die. But not the nurse, they get to sit at the computer, chart, and occasionally run for extra supplies.

The previous times I've been in ORs I've been shadowing the anesthesiology department, and they have a pretty fun job if the surgery isn't too long. They are talking with the patient beforehand, bringing them back into the operating room, administering the anesthesia and intubating them (placing the tube down their throat to control breathing while they're unconscious), and monitoring vital signs. If the surgery is drawn out, then I'm sure it can get monotonous, but I imagine that the rest of the excitement makes up for it.

Also this week I had the opportunity to shadow a functional medicine nurse practitioner. My career will either lead me to become a nurse anesthetist or a nurse practitioner, and I'm trying to get as much experience in both fields to know what I want to do for the rest of my life. If I become a nurse practitioner, I would want to do the same things that my dad does in functional medicine, so I looked up a family NP who has her own practice in Salt Lake and sees patients who haven't found the answers they need from traditional Western medicine. Her business is successful and thanks to Utah laws enjoys as much freedom as doctors do. She is well respected by colleagues and patients alike. It was great to get an idea about what my life might be like if I continue down this path. If I do, I'll already have a head start on what takes most functional doctors and NPs years to discover, as I already have a background in wellness.

Thankfully, I don't have to decide which road to take for a few years at least. After I finish this program, all other masters/doctorate programs require a couple years of clinical experience, so I will have plenty of time to determine my future in medicine.