Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC

So, Nurse Jackie has just become Grandma Jackie, one of the greatest roles and joys of my life! My baby girl had a baby girl. I am so in love with this little nugget I can’t find the words. (I know, hard to believe right?)

But it’s been so long since I’ve been around an infant, that when my daughter asks, “Is this normal?” I look at her like the proverbial deer in the headlights. Is that much spit-up normal? I have no idea. Should you hear a newborn pass gas in the next room? I have no idea. Should a newborn fuss that much? I have no idea.

I mean, I know it’s not normal for an 85-year-old to vomit after they eat. I know it is normal for an 85-year-old man to pass gas so loudly you can hear it down the hall. (Hey, my dad was FAMOUS for that!) And every 85-year-old has earned the right to fuss.  But newborns? I have to go to Dr. Google. “Paging Dr. Google!” And every one of my daughter’s friends has different advice and experiences and this is just so confusing.

I am extremely happy that over the last 20 years or so geriatric medicine has become evidence-based. I have my answer to the questions. I can get into my nerdy, data-obsessed self and find my normal.  But with infants, it looks like I am going to have to find my new normal.

But one thing that is totally normal: me loving being an “Ommy.”

Just keeping it real,

Nurse Jackie

The Real Nurse Jackie is written by Jacqueline Vance, RNC, BSN, CDONA/LTC, Senior Director of Clinical Innovation and Education for Mission Health Communities, LLC and an APEX Award of Excellence winner for Blog Writing. Vance is a real-life long-term care nurse. A nationally respected nurse educator and past national LTC Nurse Administrator of the Year, she also is an accomplished stand-up comedienne. The opinions supplied here are her own and do not necessarily reflect those of her employer or her professional affiliates.

The opinions expressed in McKnight’s Long-Term Care News guest submissions are the author’s and are not necessarily those of McKnight’s Long-Term Care News or its editors.