Festive Welcomes, Cat Cuddles and Sombre Endings!

This past couple of weeks have flown by. I decorated for Christmas, we had our first snow day, I visited family and said goodbye to my time as a community midwife. 

Click here to watch the vlog or see below. 

The day after Luke's birthday called for Christmas decorating. I originally wanted to put all the décor up after Halloween but I was fundamentally told I was not allowed, so instead I wanted just a couple extra weeks. It was lovely to have a little clean and then get the tree up together. I haven't bought any new pieces this year, which is a little sad, but right now, I just want to wait until I have my own house to my everything new!

We had a busy weekend because I was working both Saturday and Sunday, but only 1200 - 2030 on the Saturday. In the morning, we had two house viewings; one that I wanted and one that Luke wanted. We went to the first and I think we were both pleasantly surprised. It was quite spacious inside and Luke loved the garden shed, which took up like half the garden. There was a couple of downsides: 

1. There was no dining room, so the table was in the conservatory
2. The second bedroom was quite small but apparently that was due to the furniture layout 
3. No garage and small non-grassed garden

We then headed to the second house and just before we arrived, I looked at my phone and they had cancelled the viewing. Unfortunately, the tenants were refusing to give the landlord or estate agents access to the property. Of course, that screamed red phones, but it was the house that ticked ALL the boxes so I was a little desperate to see it. Luke ended up seeing it without me and said you couldn't fit a wardrobe in the master bedroom so it was kind of ruled out. 

The next weekend I was actually off. I worked 11 days in a row and was so excited to have some downtime. I headed down on the Friday evening and was so loved on, on arrival. We settled down to watch a film before heading to bed, then the next day we headed to St Albans which is a beautiful town nearby. We did some Christmas shopping, and unlike Luke, my sister actually buys things! I had finished my Christmas shopping but my sister brought up the fact she didn't want anymore wood around the house, which is kind of what I bought her, and my niece already has her present, so what a nightmare! Back to the drawing board. 

On the Sunday, it was a more relaxing day. The kids had football and horse riding in the morning, then we spent the day playing board games, having a yummy Sunday lunch and watching a film before I headed back. There wasn't any snow near us, but friends and family in both Nottingham and Leeds, kept sending pictures and videos of snow so I was getting a little worried about the weather. I ended up leaving a little earlier than normal but it was absolutely fine. 

Another week, called for another week back at work, but it was also my last! I had a lovely day of visits on Monday, then finished the night with a trip to the theatre for the first time in Nottingham. We went to see Adam Kay's Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas. I've written a full review, so be sure to read it if wanted! 

The next day was my last proper day as a community midwife. I had a lovely morning of three visits, before coming back to base and spending lunch with colleagues. I had so many cats join me, including this little kitten. From there, I had admin to do and bags to sort, finishing with some training on the new bilirubinometers and then discharges. I left on time saying goodbye to the team and shedding just a few more tears. They wrote me the most perfect card and I even got a beautiful bunch of flowers as well. They were stunning! I'll be sharing my thoughts on the who rotation very soon.

That evening, Luke was also celebrating. His work aren't doing a Christmas party again this year, so instead they've given them all a big hamper to celebrate with instead, and have organised an online event for the week before Christmas. 

The next day, I had a packed study day from home which was honestly incredible, and then I finished the week and my community rotation with a night shift. It was honestly, one of the worst shifts I've had. I was pulled from the phones within the first few seconds, put on triage and then switched to HDU, before being asked to go help on the wards. I'd just settled down doing the jobs I needed to do, when I was called back to labour suite for a pathological CTG which resulted in an emergency section. It didn't help that all the paperwork has changed and so it took me 2 hours to catch up with everything. I was utterly drained by the end it. I then had the wake up early to return all my equipment back to the headquarters to just top it off!