be careful what you wish for

Yesterday I was 1st on 6am to 6pm and 2nd on 6pm to 6am. I had not had a primary in 15 days, which really was starting to get irritating. I had 3 nights of 1st on, and no babies. The next night I was off, and of course there was a baby. There were no babies during the day yesterday, but at 4:45pm a first time mom came in with ruptured membranes and no contractions. So pretty unlikely she'd have the baby the in the next hour before I was off.

Then we had someone come in in labor who wanted to sign up. I thought I might have a chance at getting a birth, because to count a birth as a primary here, you have to do 2 hours of vitals post partum and get the paper work done. So if a second baby is born less than 2.5 hours after the 1st, it's likely 2nd on will get to be primary! It was a great theory, but the girl in labor didn't want to have the baby at the birth center, her dad did. So in the end, they left to go to the hospital. Then another client came in for a labor check. I got excited all over again. But she was in early labor so they sent her home. I settled in for a quiet night of being second. Then around 3, the second labor check came back again in active labor. Because the student who was 1st on was following this client for continuity of care, she had to do that birth. Which meant, I was suddenly primary for the first client!!! Sadly, she didn't have her baby until 6:01 am. And then I needed to do vitals, and then she wanted to go home right away, so I didn't get off shift until 11am. I don't think I've ever worked a 29 hour day before. But I did get another primary!

So I went to bed for 5 hours, then had to get up as I'm 1st on again tonight. Our plan was to have a baby by 8 and discharge at midnight, but there have been no babies yet. I'm hoping that if there is one, the birth is a bit earlier than 6am!