Howdy!
I really enjoyed my time at WIC today. I love mothers and babies and pregnancy and women things, so I think were I ever to go into public health, WIC would be a good fit for me. I got to see some 6-week old twins!! Mothers have a concern for nutrition like few other segments of the population, so i think it would be really rewarding work. I shadowed a nutritionist for a good portion of the afternoon and also spent some time learning about the checks and watching kids get their fingers stuck 🙁
[I think finger sticks are the WORST part of healthcare. Why would you stick a needle in one of the most nerve sensitive parts of the body!?! Perhaps I’m just a baby, but I’d rather get a tooth drilled. It was interesting that the mom’s were more bothered by the stick than the little kids!]
This rotation is a bit different than my last. At the school system I was more integrated into the staff and was put in charge of things to jump right in, but because the health dept has so many programs and there are so many RDs and so many things to learn, I’m doing a lot more shadowing and observing than hands-on stuff. I’m fine with both ways :) I also don’t feel comfortable at all taking photos during this rotation. We were warned by our internship leaders not to share photos of pretty much anything we’re doing. The schools were a bit different, again, because I had much more flexibility and showing a Superfoods board isn’t revealing anything. But just so y’all understand why I can’t include any photos or even details on specific things I’m doing this time.
VIDEOS
Guess what?!
The ROACH was found today!!! On his last leg… Whew!
And guess what!?
Our house has a For Sale sign out front!!
Today is one of those days in the Embrace The Cycle where I wasn’t hungry!! I actually prefer the hungry days because I get to eat! Today I didn’t really get hungry all afternoon and around 5:15 was ready for a snack but I knew I would spoil my dinner if I had one! So I pushed through till 6 and then had an easy dinner.
On the boring side too!
I couldn’t decide if I wanted soup, salad or lasagna and Matt said to just have all 3.
Spinach with some Annie’s Goddess dressing with heated Bob’s Red Mill soup and Dr. Kracker lasagna with chia seeds on top!
It was just alight 🙁
I was FREEZING and decided to have a mocktail with dinner. Nuttzo.
Dinner left me needing a little something more a bit later. I wanted a Caramel Oikos but it was too cold so I heated up an apple instead with cinnamon and the last of my Crunchy Coconut Granola and a tsp of TJ’s PB!
Plus hot Tazo Cucumber White tea!
Going to snuggle under the covers on this cold night. It’s getting to be that time of year where I’m so tired to being cold and having to lug my space heater around the house! Good thing it’s almost March!!
Hooray for finding the roach!!! No more worries! 🙂 I hated the finger prick…it’s so painful! I can vividly recall my finger throbbing after those things. Eeep.
i lug my space heater around well thats not saying much since it’s a 2 bedroom apartment lol but today was freezing here too!
sorry dinner was blah but that apple and granola combo looks and sounds awesome!
I think the dessert sounds better than the leftovers; pb can dress anything up.
Congrats on getting the sign out there! I’m sure cars will be slowing down outside in no time
Interesting stuff about the WIC portion of the internship! – that’s one of the parts I don’t know too much about and would like to learn more about. Can’t wait to hear more as you get more into it. 😀
Stay warm! I know how being cold is and trying to find a food that doesn’t turn your fingers into icicles~
I’m sorry your dinner seemed lacking in flavor, but your dessert sounds delicious! It’s so simple, but I”ve been wanting to try the method sometime soon. Hot apple “pie” like that for a snack or dessert when it’s so cold outside sounds wonderul. Good luck with your new rotation! I’m sure they will soon realize what a true treasure they have on their hands. 🙂 My sister and I are having to use space heaters, and we cannot wait until spring either! Have a great night!
My best friend worked for WIC for 5 years. She really enjoyed it but it does get tiresome. The clients’s demands and how some of them treat their children can really start to take effect. It was definitely a rewarding experience for her in the end, but she did have many rough days.
Good luck, I know you land the perfect position in the end! 😉
I worked for WIC years ago, it is such a great program and really happy that they now have partnerships with farmers markets so people can use their vouchers on healthy, local produce. We all had to learn how to do the finger sticks and practiced on each other. Wasn’t so bad and yes, the moms were often more squeamish than the kids!
Your post just gave me a great idea! I saw caramel Oikos and apples in the same section. I am thinking caramel apple yogurt mess! I think the caramel Oikos is too sweet to eat on its own so I keep looking for stuff to mix in.
I had a caramel oikos for dessert today!! Soooo good!
haha it’s freezing here too! i was going to have yogurt…but i’m sipping citron tea instead! lol
I think WIC is an amazing program. I only wish it could be expanded (in our state at least) to include fresh fruits and vegetables. I am certainly happy that it applies to more than just milk and cheese though!!!
Thank God you found that roach, and hopefully can sleep in peace. I hope it is freezing there so all his little buddies (not that there are any) get froze out!!!
Mama Pea, I live in California and work for a Public Health Organization. We just worked really hard to get a new WIC package that started to roll out in October that includes fruits and veggies. We also work with farmers markets to accept WIC and EBT so families can support local farmers.
Many of the farmer’s markets accept WIC vouchers in my area and I see people using them all the time!
I can understand about the whole not taking pictures thing. I think WIC is an excellent program and I am glad to hear you have a chance to help serve them. 😉
Sounds like you are going to learn a lot girl!!
I had a caramel oikos tonight for the first time… to die for! I bet it would be amazing with a microwaved apple..yum!!
I am not digging how cold it has been in NC! Feels just like Boston!
I hate when I don’t know what a I want for dinner and then what I finally decide on fails me :-/
Yay to the House for Sale sign!! It’s a-comin’ along!
Have a nice cozy night in 🙂
Your salad looked good, too bad it wasn’t what you hoped for.
Aww are you sad your house has that for sale sign out in the front? I would be a little. 🙂
Yes ;(
Aw, you’re house will never have such wonderful inhabitants such as you and Matt.
I think your salad looks like a lovely compromise of all 3 options 🙂 too bad it was just alright.
Have a great night!
The dessert looks great! Glad you found the roach…yuck.
I’m so glad you enjoyed your day at WIC! I”m a dietitian and have been working for WIC for over 7 years now. It is definitely a rewarding job (most of the time)! Some great changes have been made to the coupons in our state: they added whole grains and a fruit/vegetable voucher to the coupons. I’m so glad that these options are now available to the participants. And I hear ya on the finger pricks- I HATE checking iron!!! We were checking lead levels in the past, too, and that will be happening again sometime soon. Enjoy the rest of your rotation!!
🙂
I’m a WIC RD and very excited to hear you are liking your rotation so far 🙂
🙂
Ooooh I really like what you’re doing now!! That is totally up my alley..glad you’re enjoying it. I want that zebra spoooon!!
It’s totally fun to read about you going through the same rotations I did! The WIC booklets were the coolest, I found them so informative about how much food to feed small children!
Wow, your rotations interest me so much. I’m in grad school now but I want to go into some sort of public health/ medicine/ someday toward nutrition (I probably need to go to MORE school… someday I’ll find the right path :D). Thanks so much for sharing though, it’s always interesting to hear about the jobs out there that I never knew existed. On another note entirely, it is a HANGRY day in my embrace the cycle!!
hi kerf –
can you post a link of your home listing? great job getting it ready – it looks gorgeous. i love your blog and have never commented before.
Well not well I’m living here! That wouldn’t be very smart or safe.
Haha I keep a space heater under my desk at work in order to handle the horrible NYC winters. For sale huh? Exciting news!!
thank god your roach troubles are behind ya! your latest rotation sounds really interesting, but i understand why cameras would be a no-no. working with babies + moms is so fun!
I know what you mean, I hate it when my kids have to get the finger prick at their check ups! So sad anytime they have to get stuck! I am also with you on the cold! I am so ready for Spring! I am definitely a flower and I need sunshine to grow!!!
Hi Kath,
What is WIC? (I not familiar with the term, and guessing it may be an American thing?) Is it a clinic of some sort? Sounds interesting anyway
Congrats on having the for sale sign up!
Here’s the site: http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/
It must be really rewarding working at WIC. I completely understand that they don’t want people taking pics. And I agree- why do they draw blood from your fingers?!
That tea sounds wonderful. Can you tell me about chia seeds, how you eat them, and what kind of vitamins they are supposed to contain? I’ve been hearing a lot about those lately. Thanks!
Click on the chia seeds link in my post and it’ll go to my Open Sky store and there’s a whole video on them!
Ughgh– I HATED getting my finger pricked as a child– even more so than shots! Congrats on the “For Sale” sign– it must look kind of weird!
You’re right – I think my mom got more upset than I did when I had a shot or finger prick!
Congrats on getting the house ready and finding the roach!
yay for finding the roach and yay for the for sale sign!!
i am so ready for it to start to warm up! that’s quite the concoction for dinner…very interesting 🙂
so glad you guys have a for sale sign up now! i bet you have offers starting tomorrow 😉
I’m glad you enjoyed the WIC rotation today. I’m really looking forward to mine in a few weeks! My clinical site doesn’t allow photos either, which makes sense. Even so, I’m so used to carrying a camera around that I feel NAKED without it!
That’s awesome about your WIC rotation. I’m a Labor and Delivery RN so I get the privilege of delivering those sweet babes and sometimes get to watch them grow up with parents updating me when we get to be friends throughout their process. Such a blessing to love on them!!
I lug my space heater around with me everywhere–I practically have it stuck on my hip!
I wish I had a space heater – it gets so cold here at night!
What a great experience today! It sounds so intriguing and you really seem interested in it! 🙂
Another fabulous way to use those crackers… love it!
Warmed apples are one of my favourite snacks, so good!
THANK GOODNESS YOU FOUND THE ROACH! It’s nice you are in an area where mom’s care so much. I had a lot of negative experiences with the mothers and it was really depressing.
Dessert looks great!
yum… i love warmed apples! the caramel oikos is so good on top of them too! i had that for breakfast the other morning with some granola… tasted like warm apple crisp with ice cream on top 🙂
When I was a young single mother, I lost my job the first day back after my six week UNPAID maternity leave. The only job I could get was a temp job – back in the day (this was 1992) I was making $225 a week at the time, and my day care cost $150 a week!
That being said, I was thankful for my WIC coupons – but even back then, I only got about $31 a week to help with groceries – it was really hard to feed our small family of two on $31, but we made it. Lot’s of noodles and beans! 😀
Hooray for twins! I have a twin sister, so I was born with my best friend! 😀
It’s crazy now
So glad you liked WIC! Public health nutrition is so interesting. I actually found my WIC rotation very difficult. I saw lots of very young mothers without the means to care for their children, and some didn’t even qualify for food stamps, which was really hard to see, especially if they had a disease like diabetes. It really broke my heart. I wanted to help people, but sometimes the aid we could give wasn’t enough. And I wish I could say that the mothers were all very motivated, but that wasn’t always the case. Maybe it had to do with the population in St.L? But anyway, I’m so glad to know that WIC can be rewarding and exciting! 🙂
Emily,
Yes, I saw some sadness yesterday too. Didn’t think it was really appropriate for me to talk (or blog) about it though. But at least the program can help some.
I keep forgetting to pick up those new Oikos! They’re going to the top of the shopping list. 🙂
Jenn
Went to Kroger on my way home from the gym tonight and they didn’t have the new oikos 🙁 They only had full-priced oikos (they are usually on sale), but they had the new danon greek yogurt on sale. looks like I’ll be trying those out. Bummer that we can’t see pictures during the day but I’m glad you’re enjoying the experience!
Caramel Oikos plus apple sounds like an amazing dessert. I gave up all the cookies and cupcakes that float around my office that I have gotten into the habit of eating multiple times a week, so a delicious healthier dessert sounds great right now!
Totally random: Have you read the New Weightlifting Rule book for women? Curious to see what you thought about it…
It’s still sitting on my night stand. reading other ones first!
Oohh hot apple (with cinnamon :p) is one of my favourite snacks! That and hot banana 🙂
That does seem weird to stick the needle in the finger, I didn’t realise that was done :s poor babies! At least they won’t remember 🙂
Hope you had a good evening, minus the roach 😛
Is the cucumber tea any good? I’ve had iced cucumber water befor,e but never as tea…
Not my favorite..
yay, WIC! we have a WIC office right in our clinic. almost all of my patients receive WIC.
i agree about fingersticks! luckily i never have to do them — just veins or arteries. while i’ve never experienced it (at least not in my memory!), finger sticks look worse than venipuncture (although less painful than sticking an artery . . . )! we do heel sticks on babies, too. they hate ’em!
Glad you liked WIC! I figured out on the first day that it wasn’t for me.
Jas and I already put our space heater back in the storage shed!!! I guess we are optimistic that it wont get TOO cold inside without it, but last night I was kind of regretting our decision! Yay for the house officially being on the market 😉
I am glad you are enjoying your rotation, it sounds pretty interesting. No worries on sharing the details!
The WIC opportunity sounds both enlightening and wonderful! Glad to see you’re contributing to that program!
Also, there’s caramel OIKOS? That sounds blissful.
I’m glad you had a good WIC experience. How long is that rotation?
Our interns either loved or hated WIC and it depended on the site. The finger sticks — I know! Those needles are HUGE, too! The iron tests need a larger sample than blood glucose. I stick adult fingers all day because our RD’s are responsible for meter downloads and meter educations, but I don’t know that I could stick a baby!
It’s 3 weeks at the health dept, but I might not get back to the WIC clinic.
Yikes, I never understood the finger prick either. I think their are plenty of other places to get a blood sample, just saying. 😉
I drag my space heater around with me too. It heats ten times better then the heat in our house does, and saves money so it’s my right hand man now.
I really can’t believe it’s almost March! Spring is on the way!!!
haha, soup, salad and lasagna is a unique layering, that’s for sure!
I can’t wait for spring!! It looks like we might get a little taste of it this week 🙂
I find it so impressive how much effort parents often put in to learning about proper health and nutrition. When I worked at a pedi clinic for children with diabetes it was overwhelming how LITTLE some families knew about eating well and balanced. For all of this information we have there is a huge lack in spreading it to people in need. Such a paradox.
Oh…and watching kids get stuck is never easy. I had to live as someone with diabetes during my training- which meant prick my own finger and give saline injections. It was so difficult!
I’m excited to hear more about your time at WIC! I’m sure it’s going to be a wonderful experience!
Congrats on the house!!!! That was SO FAST! And it makes me happy to think of you working at WIC. There need to be compassionate, caring people there.( hey, that is you…:) )
It’s great that you get to do internship rotations that are so different from one another. Hope your house sells for what you want 🙂 Exciting!
That dessert looks yummy! Of course, anything with PB rates very high in my books. 🙂
K
dang girl! you take a ton of foodie pics! i always take a small handful of pics but then my food demands to be eaten! 😀
I’m so happy the roach was found! ::heebie jeebies::
I am also a WIC dietitian. Coming from working at a large hospital during my internship, working for a program like WIC was a HUGE change. It can be rewarding but also frustrating at times, like any job. I have definitely learned more than I ever thought I would about nutrition in pregnancy and for children. Since I am not a mother yet, I feel like I will be super mom when I eventually do have children! hahaha Glad you are enjoying your rotation so far!
Soo nice, you rock 🙂
Sorry for my english