u/AmphibianFront6911

Hi all! I have just begun my clinicals at the oncology lab section of a local hospital in my area. I have finished the classroom portion, received my certification, and am finishing up my clinicals which will take 4 weeks. I am in an area that is considered a "medical hub" as we have 3 major hospital systems, including a children's hospital. There are a good bit of phlebotomy job postings in the area, but I have a feeling there will be a large amount of people applying for only a few positions, based on the posts I have seen on Linkedin.

So. I came here to ask...does having clinicals give me a leg up in being hired? Does this count as "some" experience, as I have been drawing, charting, etc as a regular, working phlebotomist would? As a working mom, I want to ensure I will be able to secure a job after my clinicals within a timely manner (life is expensive out here). I went with a school that provided clinicals after, as I had a friend go with PTS who did not provide externships after and she has had an incredibly difficult time looking for work (she has been looking for an upwards of 4 months now and nothing). Just curious because I have been having really bad job anxiety, and I don't want to feel like I have put in 8 hours of a months long clinical experience for nothing. I do love this profession and have been really enjoying my time in clinicals as I received a great placement. Thanks all!!

Well guys, it finally happened. I got shamed for combo feeding/choosing to switch to formula. This happened in a tiktok comment section (stupid, don't judge me lmfao) on a video where a mom was talking about how we should not shame moms for choosing not to nurse, as many might be unable to or simply don't want to (which is completely valid as well, it is our body for God's sake). I 100% agreed with the creator of the video and decided to comment my own story and how I began combo feeding.

*For context on what my comment entailed, here's my journey with combo feeding*: I was not able to nurse because at birth and the days in the hospital/after we got home, my son could not latch and was very tongue tied, so I chose to exclusively pump to give him breastmilk. My body did not produce enough at first, less than half an ounce a day pretty much, so I was advised by my pediatrician to supplement with formula so my baby's glucose levels would not continue to drop, he could get enough to eat, and he could properly gain weight. I was devastated at first because everyone around me pushed so hard for only breastmilk, so I felt like I failed. However, after doing research and reading other mother's stories, I discovered that formula is fine, fed is best, and as long as my baby is eating, why the fuck does it really matter.

I was able to successfully pump for the first 4.5-5 months of my son's life and I supplemented as needed with formula. However, I decided to make the switch exclusively to formula around 5 months because my supply was drastically dropping and it was beginning to wear on my mental health. I was much happier after switching and could actually spend more time being present with my baby, rather than stressing over pumping schedules and pulling my hair out over how many ounces I was making each day. I concluded my comment by saying that as long as our babies are happy, healthy, and well fed, it shouldn't matter if they are eating breastmilk or formula.

Well, here comes a BF mom (which no hate to BF moms at all, but this one was particularly rude) coming to comment the longest paragraph I have ever read in a tiktok comment section lol. I'll just give y'all bullet points because she had A LOT to say:

• I should immediately stop giving formula and focus on getting my supply up/switch back to breastfeeding as it has "so much more" health benefits than formula (like yeah, thanks i never thought about that!)

• Explicitly said it was MY fault I was not producing enough to feed my son, because I "gave up" and decided to supplement with formula, which ultimately led to my supply to drop/the switch to formula.

• I am doing my baby a disservice by only giving him formula now, rather than breastmilk since it is linked to more health benefits (which not sure why she said this, he still got breastmilk the first 4-5 months of his life so like?? correct me if I am wrong, but the formula doesn't cancel out the breastmilk benefits)

• Said she was able to breastfeed her 4 children who she exclusively nursed to the age of 3.5 (which like congrats? happy that was your journey but every woman/baby is different)

• told me to look up supply/demand of breastfeeding (as if I am an idiot who never has looked into that or knows what it is lol) and implied that i was not properly emptying my breast, so SURELY it was my fault that i was not producing enough

This probably isn't that big of a deal and seems silly, but it did upset me. I get it's a comment section and people can say whatever they want, but it is so disheartening to see moms shaming other moms for just trying to ensure their baby is getting enough to eat. I struggled with mom guilt for months at first and felt like an utter failure that my own body was not doing what it was supposed to in order to feed my child. I wore myself to the bone trying to pump to at least give my child something so I could feel "better" about not being able to nurse. I finally have gotten to a place where I am okay with not being able to adequately produce and am very happy with my decision to switch to formula. Hearing a stranger who doesn't know me imply I am somehow lazy or less than for choosing formula just brought up all of those negative feelings again.

Sorry for the long (and probably confusing) rant/vent, it is late where I am but this has been bothering me all evening ):

hi all! my son, Kieran, was born 6 months ago and i was in love with his name. i thought itd be pretty recognizable to people (kieran culkin etc) and went with the anglicized spelling because i am American and was afraid people would butcher the traditional Gaelic spelling. my family advised against it and said no one would know how to pronounce or spell it. as a teacher, i didnt think it was that crazy. ive even had a Kieran at a daycare i used to work at, which actually inspired me to name my son that.

however, ive come to find out that hardly no one pronounces it right outside of my immediate family. he is frequently called "kay-ran" or "key-rahn" or "k-eye-rahn" like at the doctor's office etc. i even had someone call him "Kirstan" lol. one of my coworkers even joked and said he will be jokingly called "Karen" as he gets older since the spelling and pronunciation can be misconstrued.

i'm just sad because i was/am still in love with the name. i was firm on it only 4 months into my pregnancy, but am afraid i have doomed my child lol. id hate for him to grow up hating that i gave him a somewhat "uncommon" name. i didnt think it's that uncommon.

i guess this is sort of a vent? has anyone else come to slightly regret their child's name? i would never change it, but now am wondering if i should've went with something "easier" like my family suggested.

EDIT: I am from the United States, located in the Deep South region. it is not common here at all. I have only heard the name twice in adulthood in my teaching career and many people in my life were unfamiliar with the name. Just for clarification as I see many in this thread are from overseas, and are shocked to see it being mispronounced/unheard of here in the US!

Hello! I am working on my resume as I am heading into clinicals soon and going to begin applying to phlebotomy jobs. To be honest, it has been a few years since I updated my resume because I was at a long term job.

I am transitioning from teaching elementary education (1st grade and 5th grade) for 3 years to phlebotomy. I was wondering if I should include my teaching job under work experience. Ive seen mixed advice online ranging from including it to leaving it out since hiring managers won't care if it has nothing to do with phlebotomy. However, it is the only "professional" job Ive had (aside from Starbucks and other retail jobs that I had in college and high school) so i feel like if I leave it off my resume will look bare. I also feel like there can be some skills that can be transitioned into phlebotomy.

I also unxerstand not wanting to include it, since it is an education job vs. Healthcare so I don't want to add any unnecessary experience and skills to my resume. Can't decide!

So, I am coming to this sub for advice lol. Should I include my 3 year teaching job? or leave it off and just have my clinical experience on there? Any advice is appreciated and thanks so much!