The Home Stretch...

I am once again a creature of the night. I just finished week three of four on my second (and final) nights rotation of intern year. It is hard to believe that one year ago we were just moving down to North Carolina, and in a few more weeks I will be a second year resident. It has been a difficult year to say the least. As always, I am amazed at how much I have learned. I think, over the last few weeks, I have felt more like a legit doctor than ever, and it feels great.

When it's almost second year, you postpartum round like a BOSS!

I must admit, I am definitely feeling emotionally, mentally, and physically fatigued. I have done little to nothing in the self care department. On May 1, I finally decided to stop eating all the junk that has led to my intern year weight gain. I refuse to look like what I am going through...ugh

The littles are doing great! Per usual.

Natey graduated from kindergarten last week. Being on nights finally was a plus and I got to go to his award ceremony. I was beaming when he was presented with the Principal's award for all A's all year, excellence in music, excellence in technology, excellence in Bible verses, and excellence in math.*** his most recent accomplishment, besides growing up too fast, is riding a bike without training wheels! I feel like just yesterday he and I were best buddies in Indy - me studying for the MCAT and he, a sleeping baby, laying in the middle of my books.

Isabelle continues to blossom. When I am on nights, I really do not see the family from Monday-Thursday, and when I finally see her again she seems so much older. She is definitely in that in-between-baby-and-wants-to-be-big phase that involves lots of crying and fall-outs, but she is also so sweet! I love to hear her try out new words, or when she does her big-eyed "I'm so excited!" Pure joy.

 

My little brother graduated from college this month so had a *really* quick getaway back home to Indiana, and it was great to see my fam. We hadn't all been together since my med school graduation. It was so great to have that time together and hopefully, once second year comes along, I can do it more than once a year :-/ 

We spent Easter weekend in Wilmington, NC. It is a little piece of heaven only 2.5 hours away by car. I absolutely love being by the water. It was the perfect recharge to get me through this last leg of the year....

 

Well, I think that's all of an update I have for now! xoxo

Yo!

Happy Spring!

Things have been stable over here...Still working...a lot. LOL

This week is my last week at Wake Med and my last rotation here as an intern. It's so hard to believe that I am almost a second year resident! My second time out at Wake has been so much better than the first. Mainly because I know a lot more than I did in August. I am starting to really feel like I have a good grasp on this OB thing. And in preparation for second year, I got to even do some GYN surgery - which was a huge change of pace from our OB heavy first year. I think my heart is with obstetrics, but I must admit that laparoscopy is pretty cool!

Below is a video of a tubal ligation. You use a camera and instruments in one tiny incision to clamp the fallopian tubes and preventing pregnancy.

We finally managed to get some family photos taken around Valentine's Day. I thought it would be poor form to send out Christmas cards that late, so we will try again next year haha...

 

If you follow me on Instagram, you know that we also had a couple of "winter storms" in Carolina. One of which, caused me to have to stay in the hospital in between my night shifts...still bitter about that one. Everything shut down for multiple days, but you could still see grass!!

My Midwest kid was pretty excited about building a snowman :-)

HA!

The littles are doing awesome. It hasn't gotten any easier being away from them so much, but we are all taking this crazy life in stride.

Happy Match Day! I cannot believe it's been one year since The Match. Such an amazing day... I hope all you fourth year med studs out there get to go to the program of your dreams! So ready to hand off my pager to the new interns ;-)

#FBF Headed to UNC!

Happy New Year & Happy MLK Day!

Happy New Year!

I hope you are all having a great day "on" to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The kids and I are spending some cherished time together - sadly, Daddy Nate had to work today :-(

Despite the Carolina sunshine, absurdly warm climate down here, and the lovely week off during Christmas, the "winter slump" has not evaded me and I am feeling, yet again oh-so-run-down.

I went back to work the week of the New Year and was stationed on Labor and Delivery for the second half of our program's holiday schedule so that the rest of my coworkers could get their much needed vacation as well. The thought crossed my mind that we might not be so busy because it was still the holidays...HA!

Since then, I have been on my OB1 rotation which means I manage the laboring patients on the floor (you may remember when I was OB2 in October and was responsible for L&D procedures). I absolutely love obstetrics but I would be kidding myself if I didn't admit how mentally and physically exhausting my days are. I get up around 4:30 every morning and leave the hospital around 6:30PM each night. Some days definitely get to me more than others, but I am learning so much and still so thankful to be at UNC...

We even made the news last week!

The littles...

You are probably sick of reading this, but I am truly in awe of my children and how much they have grown. Natey was talking the other day about his bottle being "waterproof" and I thought to myself, "who is this kid?" He is so smart, polite, and kind. So proud of him...

Isabelle is definitely a girly girl. She loves to wear dresses, bows, and to have her hair blow dried (LOL). I'm thankful for those moments when she still wants to cuddle because the baby I feel like we just brought home is walking into her toddler-hood faster than I imagined.

Where does the time go?

I decided I wasn't going to make resolutions for the new year...well, mainly because January 1st came and went with me writing down nan-goal... BUT I have resolved to be more positive and I think the best way to do that is to focus on all of the blessings in my life. Being so consumed with work has definitely tipped the scales away from my spiritual and family time, and I feel a lot more grumpy than I have been over the last year, so that is the first thing that needs to go.

I am thankful that no matter how challenging the road ahead may be, I have been given the opportunity to walk it. I am thankful that years ago incredibly brave men and women fought for equality and never backed down - when degradation, violence, and even death were the cost - so that decades later, little Black girls and boys could dream one day of being doctors, lawyers, executives, or even presidents. THAT is vision.

The racially charged and tragic events surrounding the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and Eric Garner (to name a few, but sadly, not all) have discouraged many of us and raises questions of how far our country has really come when it comes to racial equality. It would be remiss of me to say that we don't have work to do, but I am hopeful of the future, and committed to doing my part to get us there. I know the vision of Dr. King is still alive and well.

Check Out My Interview on Pregnancy Perfect Today!

Happy Hump Day Peeps!!!

Please go check out my interview on Pregnancy Perfect today!

I loved chatting with the Pregnancy Perfect creator, Anabell Ingleton, about my experience(s) being preggers - during what she calls the "9 Month Marathon" (So cute! Right?!) I did this interview a few weeks before starting residency. It's so funny to hear me talk about my own pregnancy experience now that I have 6 months of OBGYN-ing behind me. I mean, I knew this already, but there is so much I didn't know...LOL

Anabell has created this awesome online space where future mommies-to-be can revel in the awesome highs and oh-so-relate-able lows of pregnancy. If you know any expectant moms out there, be sure to share with them the greatness that is Pregnancy Perfect!

Have an awesome day!

xoxo

Ultrasound Scans and Holiday Plans...

Is anyone else amazed at how fast this year has gone by?! This makes no sense.

Our Thanksgiving weekend was so nice. I mentioned in my last post that I was working on Thanksgiving day. That wasn't as sad as I thought it would be. The Labor and Delivery team stayed in the spirit throughout the day - including a mini feast hosted by the nurses. The workload was steady per usual, but things picked up quite a bit after most people had eaten their dinner...haha

My first block of nights is behind me and this month I am on an ultrasound rotation. It has been great to finally feel like I know how to do more than check for baby's position when I stick a probe on mommy's belly. This rotation is outpatient and primarily between the hours of 8am to 5pm so I also have time to read, see my family more than two days per week, and sleep. I even straightened up my house a little bit. It has been GLORIOUS.

Now that I am 6 month's into residency - GASP - I think I am starting to feel more like a doctor. I am more efficient with my time, more confident with my clinical decisions, and as a whole I can see myself growing. It is not perfect by any means, and I have a long way to go, but I am definitely the happiest I have been this year thus far. I think it is a combination of increased work-life integration and not feeling like I am constantly just treading water so that I can breathe. The last 6 months have been exhausting.....but now Christmas is herrrreeeee!

It is my absolute favorite holiday. The music, the smell of evergreen trees and cinnamon, the lights, the time with family, the message of baby Jesus all, make this the most wonderful time of the year...no pun intended ;-)

Of course, in true intern-fashion I am behind on all things related to my personal life including decorating the house, sending out cards, shopping for the family, and actual Christmas plans. Ah well... I am starting to just accept things like this, and a lot of what used to get to me, like cleaning, cooking, meeting deadlines, etc. does not drive me crazy anymore. I could see how this may not be such a good coping skill in the long run, but we'll go with it for now LOL

Hopefully I can knock some more items off of my most dynamic to-do list today because I am working tomorrow. If not, it will all get done at some point ;-)

P.S. This whole December-without-Snow thing is so weird but AMAZING!