Cynical and frustrated

That was the theme of work yesterday. I've been increasingly disgusted with the amount of drug babies we've had, and there are either as many or more child protective service cases.

The other nurses I worked with last night vented the same frustrations. Why can't people get it together enough to get into rehab while they're pregnant? Why are people so neglectful of their children that the state issues warnings to all the hospitals before the kid is even born? Why don't they just do their drugs and use birth control? Why can't people act like adults and own up to their shortcomings? There have been so many times that the patients have blamed other people for their drug use. The last hospital I worked at was a total yuppie hospital- Most of my patients were in their mid-late thirties, had IVF or some fertility assistance, and didn't come in stoned out of their minds. It was a BIG DEAL if someone didn't go home with her baby- so much so that in the 2 years I was there it only happened once. If someone at the Yuppie Hospital had tested positive for drugs, ALL of the nurses knew. Now, I come in to work and I'm really surprised if there isn't at least one baby who is withdrawing or in state custody. I've become really cynical, and my standards for what's okay during pregnancy and what's not have gone way down. Now when someone wonders if it's okay to have sushi or MSG during pregnancy, I'm like "Hey! It's better than snorting coke!"

And... on to happier things.

I made Annabelle the Ganomy Hat from ELizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac. I knit one for myself a long time ago and found it to be a fun knit. The last time I was at Webs, I picked up some Araucania Nature Cotton to make spring hats for the kids. Annabelle chose the "elf hat", and insisted it have a flower. I had some extra Mission Falls Cotton with which to make the flower, but it was white, and Annabelle insisted the flower be blue. So, we dyed it with food coloring. Food coloring wasn't my first choice, but the fiber-reactive dyes are a pain. I have yet to sew it, but I'm considering it pretty much finished. Hannah chose a purple for her hat and is requesting a pillbox style. Enzo hasn't put in his request yet.


Chris is choosing signs for his campaign, and his friend made some really great ones. This one is a joke, but I'm tempted to make a little magnet from it...