Is this really my life??

Gah!  I’m so sorry it’s taken me so long to get another update posted here.  Things are a bit beyond crazy at the moment.

Where do I start?

Well, I took the AMCB board exam on June 29th, and I passed (!!!!).  I am now a Certified Nurse Midwife!  I still have to get my certification number from the ACNM, my license number from the State of New York, and my DEA number from the federal government so that I can prescribe controlled substances, but that’s all just a matter of bureacratic cake at this point (a bunch of applications to fill out, and to get notarized, and fees to pay etc.).  The most important, amazing thing is that I’m a midwife.  Hold on.  Let me say that again.  I’m a midwife!!  AAAAAAHHH, I’m a midwife!!!!  When I got the print-out at the testing center telling me that I had passed, I just stood there for a moment holding it while my eyes welled up with tears.  It was a very incredible feeling.  I thought that was pretty much as good as it could get.

My birthday was the next day, June 30th.  I was turning 30.  I was all set to celebrate with my beloved boy, who had been planning some kind of surprise for awhile, but he wouldn’t tell me what.  I was looking forward to celebrating my 30th birthday AND being a midwife on the same day.  We went out to brunch the morning of my birthday and he asked me what I wanted to do that day.  I asked him what he had planned, because I knew he’d planned something, but he wanted to hear my ideas first.  So I suggested we get our picnic blanket and hang out in Prospect Park for awhile (it was a gorgeous day) and then maybe go shopping, or stroll around SoHo for awhile, and then go out to eat at a nice restaurant.  Sounded like a lovely birthday to me.  He told me he didn’t want to do any of that.  I said: what?  Why not?  He said he wanted to go to Rome.

What?

We’re going to Rome

Rome, as in Italy??

You’re taking me to Rome for my birthday??  Is this for real?

Yes.  Yes it was.  Our flight was leaving at 8 pm, we had to buy a few toiletries and then pack and head out to the airport.  I was absolutely aghast.  I stuttered like a fish.  I couldn’t believe it.  I was so excited!!  I’ve ALWAYS wanted to go to Italy, and I’ve never had an opportunity to do so before.  I was thrilled!

So, we walked up the street after brunch to the drug store to get some shampoo and sunscreen and little bottles to fit in those annoying plastic bags for airport security, and then, as we were strolling back to our apartment, strolling down our beautiful, tree-lined street on a gorgeous, sunny day, he all of a sudden got down on one knee and said something like: you’ve always known that I couldn’t take you to Italy without asking you to marry me, so, will you marry me?

!!!!

(No, I’m not making this up.  This is really how it happened.)

STUNNED doesn’t even begin to cover it.  I have a hard time remembering the exact moment, actually, because I was in such a state of shock.  My heart was racing at about 130 bpm.  He was holding this ring out towards me that looked like a piece of the sun, it was glittering so brightly, and I just stood there like an idiot.  He finally had to say something like: well, are you going to put the ring on or just stare at it?  GAH!

So, we went to Rome!  We had an amazing time!  I’m 30 years old!  I’m a midiwfe! I’m engaged to be married!  I didn’t think it was possible to be this incredibly happy.  Honestly, at what point do you just explode from happiness???  Seriously.

At some point in the not too distant future, I will come back down to earth, and start to write about midwifery issues again.  I know that lately this blog has gotten very personal, just sort of following my own personal adventures with very little commentary or news or updates on any of the larger issues going on, and that’s a shame, because there’s a lot going on.  There’s a lot to say.  I’m working on a report on the safety of birth centers at the moment, which I will post here as soon as I’m done with it, and of course there is the upcoming job search to write about, and the fabulous book I just read, and the student statement from that ACNM convention, and the latest news….this will be a real, working blog again soon, I promise.  For the moment, though, I can’t seem to concentrate on anything.  I just keep floating off into space, working hard to keep myself from exploding from sheer happiness.  This is really my life???

Yes.  Yes it is.