RM

Last week I started officially at Wollongong Hospital as a Registered Midwife, which is very exciting and scary in equal measures. Most of the week was orientation and learning to use the computer system, most of which I already knew because I've been there for 3 years. I also did 4 hours orientation on the Birth Unit, which is where my roster starts next week. Even though it was orientation I still worked and went in to receive 2 babies, which is when the 2nd midwife comes in to the room as the baby is being born. It's quite odd being registered now. People suddenly ask my opinion on things and ask me to sign official documents. I wrote notes for each of the babies and got to sign my first RM after my name, at which point I allowed myself a silent cheer.

This week I'm doing 2 shifts as extras, as I have already done my 5 shifts for this fortnight last week as orientation. But I wanted to do extra so I could get as much lead in as possible before I'm working on my own. I'm still nervous, but not as much as before as it really seems they have set up as much support as possible. Tomorrow I'm doing an early shift and then Tuesday an afternoon shift. And of course, I'm getting sick... Brett has had a nasty cold for the past 3 days and I now have a very sore throat. I'll be doping up on codral and soldiering on because I don't get any sick leave yet.

Simon has settled well into high school. I've actually noticed a positive change in attitude to homework, especially after he struggled with some difficult maths work. We really worked on it with him at home and then he got 100% in a class quiz. For a kid who hates maths with a passion and genuinely finds it very hard, this was a great boost for him.