Two Little Monkeys

We have some exciting news! In a few short months our blog will be needing a name change. Lucas is going to be a big brother in April. We are excited and of course scared to be dealing with two little rascals. I hear it's a whole new territory. Our little (now big) man doesn't quite understand of course but so far likes the idea of having a baby (we haven't told him about the sharing he will have to do in the future) and has named him/her "brothersister."

I've been feeling pretty miserable and the combination of having until recently had an aversion to my computer when I'm not having to stare at it at work and going to bed with Lucas at 7pm every night has kept me from blogging. So I apologize for the 2+ months of silence. We also had our pediatric board exam Monday in Memphis (for those of you not familiar with the world of medicine ... it's a full day of testing whether you are ready to be a full fledged "board certified pediatrician") so I'm hoping now that I am three days into my second trimester and have the fun of the test behind me maybe my life can take on some sense of normalcy again. Here's hoping!

The proud big brother to be trying on clothes for his duty as a ring bearer. Those pics to follow another day.

Chief Camp and Coming Home

I just spent a week at "chief camp" in Jacksonville, Florida. Despite the worry of making it through four days of role play it turned out to be a very enjoyable experience. We had a group of 36 chiefs to be and 2 great facilitators who taught us a lot in a short few days. We learned a lot about self-awareness, personality types, our conflict styles, interacting with hospital administrators (those non-MD, MBAs), and feedback styles. All sounds Kumbayah but it was actually quite fun. I did incidentally learn that Matt and I are more or less the opposite personality type (not that it surprises us) as are I and my future co-chief. Luckily I think that there is strength in seeing things from different viewpoints. Matt and I are both I's or introverts so at least we can happily be homebodies together :). It's funny how the Myers-Brigg can explain some of the things you think are just quirky about you. Anybody taken it?

Despite it being a great professional week and I believe quite useful for getting through my next year, it was hard to leave my kiddo at home again. Just reminds me that I spend way too many nights away from him. It's getting harder now that his awareness and ability to communicate is getting better. He actually knows the difference between me being home and not being home. On my second night away he got on the phone and was telling me "Mommy, come home; need mommy" in this pitiful voice. Breaks my heart every time even though I know that he is well taken care of and that he probably forgot that he was sad as soon as he got of the phone. Matt handled his single-dadness wonderfully as he always does. He keeps it light with humor as shown by the text I got about half way through being away "... it's getting like Lord of the Flies here without you. No food, dished piled in the sink... I swear Lucas was hunting for dinner in the living room yesterday." It's never actually so bad when I get home but it gave me a good laugh. I'm lucky to have such a sweet, involved husband.

Who wouldn't miss this sweet face?

And the PICU begins...

I survived day #1 in the ICU. I got to the hospital a full hour after my co-resident and still managed to leave before her so I guess you could call that success. We have a sick bunch of patients. I am starting on the cardiac side of the ICU and will switch to the medicine side in about two weeks. I'm sure Matt would be loving these babies but me... not so much. Just to give you an idea of our kiddos: two of my eight patients this morning have their chests still open post-operatively, one has a Berlin heart (a device that acts as the left ventricle until a donor heart is found for transplant), and one is three days out from his heart transplant. So far things have gone okay, but we'll have to see how call goes tomorrow. I hear that's the crushing part. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

On a lighter note, I have lots of stories from memorial day weekend: getting stuck in the airport, seeing my favorite college girls, and celebrating India's upcoming wedding! Stay tuned for (selected) pictures and stories once I have time. It's only 8pm but time for bed so I can survive my 30 hour shift tomorrow. Boo.