Where Are They Now?
Tedra Zmeskal has been a labor and delivery nurse at Granbury Medical Center for seven years, and loves her work and her patients. “I get to help moms, I get to see all the babies — I probably have one of the coolest jobs ever,” she said.
When she graduated from high school in 2004, Zmeskal started college at Tarleton State University. “I went into accounting at first, but once I sat back and realized how many family members did some sort of caregiving, [that career path] just made sense to me,” she said. “My mom has been in home health care for like 30 years, and I had aunts, grandparents, so many people that did it. It just felt natural.” So Zmeskal switched her major to nursing.
In 2006, she married her high school sweethead Tommy Zmeskal. Tommy enlisted in the military and was stationed in South Texas, so Zmeskal transferred to Del Mar College in Corpus Christi to stay close to him while she finished her degree. Zmeskal graduated in 2009, the same year her husband finished his four years in the military, and the family decided to move back to Dublin. Zmeskal found a job at an orthopedic surgical unit in Brownwood, where she worked for four years.
In 2013 she transferred to Granbury Medical Center to another surgical unit, and then in 2015 moved to the labor and delivery unit at the same hospital, where she’s been ever since. The unit usually handles around 60 deliveries a month, although last month they had a record-breaking 74.
Zmeskal’s job is to help women prepare for the labor process, and then assist them through it when the time comes. “Typically, I will manage a mom’s labor and help them with their birth plan, whether they want to do a natural delivery or they want medications or epidurals,” she said. “[I serve] as a really big advocate for helping them get through their labor with the plan that they want and of course what is the safest delivery for them.”
On a typical week, Zmeskal works three 12-hour shifts. Her work days change from week to week depending on need and on Zmeskal’s family responsibilities. “[My favorite part of the job is] being an advocate for my patient and helping them succeed with their birth plan,” she said. “It’s all about education and supporting them.”
At some point in her career, Zmeskal said she could see herself pursuinganeducational position, either at a college or at a hospital. “I really do enjoy education, but I’m not quite there yet,” she said.
For the time being, Zmeskal is happy to stay at Granbury Medical Center in the labor and delivery unit. “We work really hard at continuing education and keeping up-todate with the most current evidence-based practice, and I really do feel like we have one of the coolest little units around here,” she said.
When she’s not working Zmeskal’s three children, Trenton, 13, Tripp 10, and Teagan, 7, keep her busy. “Sports are a big part of our lives,” she said. “We do baseball, football, gymnastics. So that’s currently where our free time is.”
The Zmeskals live in Dublin, where they have a small farm with pigs, goats and chickens. Zmeskal’s husband Tommy Zmeskal (also a Dublin graduate) is the head baseball coach in DeLeon.
Her parents, Bryan and Heidi Craddock, still live in Dublin as well. Both her parents are inspirational to Zmeskal, and especially her mother. “When we were younger, she worked really hard to give us the things that we needed, as well as things that weren’t needed but that they could afford,” Zmeskal said. “And then watching her become a grandma has probably been one of the most amazing things.”
Both her parents have been essential to Zmeskal being able to balance her job at the hospital with her three children. “Between me and my sister we’ve got five kiddos, and I think my parents’ weeks are as busy as ours with taking them to practices when one of us isn’t available because of our work schedules, or just going to support them at their games,” she said. “My parents are the best Nana and Papa out there.”Zmeskal’s advice to Dublin graduates is to appreciate and value their hometown. “Go out and do the things you want to do, but don’t be afraid to come back and settle down in small-town Texas,” she said. “It is really wonderful to have all the support of your family and friends that you’ve grown up with, and then getting to watch your kids become best friends with the children of your best friends growing up.”
Editor’s Note: This column chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@dublincitizen. com.