Halfway there!

I am currently 21 weeks and 5 days today. We had our level II ultrasound on Wednesday. We had a horrible experience that I don't even want to rehash, but further showed me that I will not be delivering at our hospital. We did find out for sure that we are having a girl! I have been feeling really good with much less back pain than I had last month on my rotation. However, I have definitely been having some daily leg swelling, which is just super attractive! The pic below was taken after I got home from work and took off my socks. Here is a picture of my belly on 20 weeks exactly. To compare the baby is now about the size of a banana, approximately 10.5 inches long and she weighed ~ 14 ounces at the ultrasound.

This rotation has been interesting. I am working inpatient pediatric psychiatry at OSU. The kids range in age from 3 to 12 and mostly have behavior, anger and aggression problems. I have yet to find a child whose biological parents are still together and most have been physically or sexually abused at some point in time. The other day we admitted two different patients that both had five brothers and sisters. So six kids and both families there was five different fathers each! I have had really good hours (9am to 3-5pm) and no weekends. We have to work the 22nd, 29th and 30th, so this is a wonderful rotation for the month of December. It is funny the other day one of the little girls was having a screaming tantrum and the baby was going crazy doing flip-flops. I have been talking to her and letting her know that she should not learn any habits from these children! The month has not been bad, but I know with 100% certainty that I do not want to do this for the rest of my life!

In loving memory of Gus

Last night was Mike's work Christmas party in Stillwater. It was really fun and we stayed at his parent's house afterwards so we didn't have to drive home late. This morning Mike stayed in Stillwater to get the car's oil changed and I came on to Tulsa because we had a lot on our to-do list. When I got home Gus was laying on the porch. I knew something was wrong because he always jumps up when I get home and meets me at my car door. I could tell he was dead before I even got close to him and I called mike hysterical, scaring him to death. He was just leaving Stillwater, so it would be an hour before he got home. I covered Gus up with a towel and cried and cried and cried. When Mike got home we built a little coffin and buried him in the backyard. Mike carved a little "we love gus" in the fence above his grave. We buried him with a cheese cracker, because he loved anything cheese flavored, and a pen, because no matter what toy I bought him he always chose to steal my pen, highlighter or pencil I was using.

I got Gus the end of my freshman year of college when I moved out of the dorms and into a one-bedroom apartment. I brought Chloe from Ponca and wanted to get her a companion. I looked on petfinder and found 3 year old Gus at the Stillwater pound and knew he was a perfect fit. I got him the next day and although he was shy he loved it there from the start. This is a picture from his first day home.
My ten dollar cat ended up costing me about a thousand dollars those first two years. First, he got an infected tooth that had to be extracted. Then, he got urinary stones and had to have bladder surgery. For the rest of his life, he could only be on wet food. I remember after his first surgery I took his medicine and bills to the car and was coming back for him in the cage in the front of the office. The second I walked out the door he started freaking out thinking I was leaving him. When I came back in, both the vet techs had tears in their eyes at how sad that had made him. Gus loved to snuggle and loved to get right in the middle of whatever I was doing, especially studying. Here are a few pictures from the years we lived at the apartment.

Mike is allergic to cats, so we couldn't have the cats in the house when we moved to Tulsa. I started with them in the garage and they HATED that. I then gave them supervised visits outside and worked up to being outside all the time. They had outside beds and would come into the garage if the weather was bad. I missed having them at the foot of my bed, but I loved not having cat hair in the house and I think they were happier outside. I studied outside any time it was nice my first two years of med school and Gus would always come hang out with me. He sat in my lap when I would read outside, "helped" me weed the garden and was always there to greet us when we came home. Chloe has kind of decided to do her own thing and we see her every once in a while when she needs some attention, but Gus rarely left the porch.

He would have been nine years old in a couple of months and I was so excited for him to be our baby's first pet. He was so gentle and loved everyone and I know that he would have taught her the love of animals that I have. He will be sorely missed and our house just won't be the same without him.

16 and a half weeks

Well, we had our latest ultrasound today. Last appointment my OB said that we would most likely be able to tell this appt the sex of the baby. Mike has been really excited and counting down. I have been trying to curb his enthusiasm that we will hopefully be able to tell the baby's sex, but sometimes baby doesn't cooperate. Yesterday my OMT attending said that he can predict with 99% accuracy what the sex of the baby was by the feel of the woman's stomach. He said that he has only been wrong once (granted he didn't indulge how many times he has been right!). He predicted that I had a boy growing inside me.

So today we go to the appt. and baby has the umbilical cord between his/her legs so it made it difficult to see that area. However we looked at a bunch of angles and no boy's parts were discernible. So, we are most likely a girl! Mike doesn't want to wait to be 100% sure and wants me to sneak into the OB department and get a resident to find out. Now the difficult part starts. We had a name picked out for a boy, but we cannot seem to agree on a girl's name!

Now I don't know about you all, but I am pretty sure our child is doing the Go Cowboys! pistol with her hand in the second picture. The baby weighed 6 oz. For comparison the baby is about the size of an avocado this week!

15 weeks

I started my new rotation yesterday in osteopathic manipulative treatment. It is three weeks in the clinic and one week in the hospital. We have to be there about 8:30 and get out usually between 3 and 5. Today and Friday we have half-days. It has already been amazing how much I have been able to accomplish when I am not at the hospital from morning to night. This rotation concentrates on the non-medicine aspect of being a D.O., getting comfortable touching patients and learning how you can use OMT in your future practice. It is really rewarding when patients come in with extreme pain and stiffness and they leave feeling so much better.

I finished my ICU rotation on Friday and this past month has really bumped internal medicine up on my list of what I want to be when I grow up. I am so thankful to be done with core, the long hours, the every other weekends, even though I have really enjoyed the rotations. I think in the next five or six months I have to work one Saturday and that is it!! I won't know what to do with myself! We went to the OSU game on Saturday and had a blast!

Well I have pretty much overcame the morning (all-day) sickness. I had one unfortunate episode yesterday when I thought maybe I could up my work outs to pre-pregnancy levels and failed miserably. Here is my 12 week ultrasound. The baby was wiggling around so much. It was
amazing how the baby actually looks like a baby now.

Here is my 15 week belly bump. I have really started to pop recently. Oh and I decided to go brunette last week. I just randomly decided that I was going to try it. I didn't tell Mike I was going to do it. I walked in the house and his mouth seriously dropped. It was pretty funny. I am basically used to it now, though I am not sure how long I will keep it like this. It is amazing how many people are not recognizing me!

ICU rotation/ 11 weeks

I started in the ICU on the first and am really enjoying it. The first week was crazy with a bunch of codes and very sick patients. I cried basically everyday along with families as they had to make tough decisions. The ICU feels like the emergency room without all the non-emergency people ("I've had a toothache for two weeks."). I have learned so much. I never realized how complicated ventilators actually were. I really have no idea what I want to do when I get done. At first I was thinking Family/OB, then thought OB and now I have no idea. I like everything too much!

I had to work the last weekend of last month and the first weekend of this month, so after 20 days straight I finally had this weekend off. It has been wonderful! We went to Ponca for the Stillwater game and spent the Saturday watching football (Go Pokes!). Two of my good friends from class that are doing all their rotations in OKC are coming today for lunch and we are planning on decorating some pumpkins this afternoon.

Tomorrow I will be 11 weeks and have my second OB visit. This past week I ran out of my anti-nausea meds, so I thought I would do a little experiment on if I still needed it. I am not as sick as I was before (nothing can beat the day of seven times), but I still have my moments. I have a little bloat bump that makes wearing scrubs everyday so nice.

Maison is here!

Maison was born on Thursday, October 4th, six days past his due date! I didn't get to go on Thursday because I didn't get off until late, but Mike got to go and then we went and saw him on Sunday. He is a doll, but is giving his parents heck with all his nighttime crying. He had basically lost his voice the day we saw him. Jenne and Bryan did an awesome job on his nursery. They used removable stripes and dots from Lowe's that give the room character without the annoyance of putting up and taking down wallpaper or borders. Here are some pictures Carla sent me.

We're having a baby!

We found out August 21 that we are soon to be a family of three. Unfortunately Mike was in San Antonio with the army and was out in the field where cell phone use was a no-no. We had decided before he left that if I find out while he was gone to wait to tell anyone until he got back. I had a feeling that I was pregnant and my parents were coming to Tulsa to help around the house. I needed to know whether or not a glass of wine with dinner was okay, so I took a test and it was positive. I sent a text to Mike and my parents pulled up literally five minutes later!

I was able to keep it relatively quiet while he was gone. I talked to one of my attendings who is going to be our OB. The first day of my third rotation we are sitting at a table "running our list" with four of my classmates, two interns and my head resident. We get to the second name on the list-a woman with disseminated tuberculosis and she's like "Anyone pregnant? Because you can not go in this room!" So I had to let the cat out of the bag, but I swore them to secrecy.

When Mike got back, we got our families together to "celebrate Mike's return, Mike's passing his boards and Dad's 20th anniversary with Conoco". We met in Stillwater for dinner. I printed out two pictures of Mike and I and had them framed. I wrote on a card: Walgreens digital photography- $0.19, picture frame from Target-$5.99, Cardstock-$3.99, Finding out there are three people in this picture-priceless. We gave it to both of our parents at the same time and it was fun watching there faces. The next day we got on the phone and started calling our friends. It has been like a weight lifted that I don't have to hide it anymore.

We went to the OB last Tuesday for the first time. We weren't as far along as we thought we were just based on my dates and we are now due on May 4, 2009. I decided to take April and May off and since I was core one I will have my most strenuous rotations done in about a month. Here are a couple of the ultrasound pictures.

I have been feeling okay lately, but definitely having morning sickness. I have learned that whoever named it morning sickness had no idea what they are talking about. The worst thing is the new superman power sense of smell, especially at the hospital. I am having a wonderful time adding new and exciting places to the list of places I have been sick. Last night I was in a wedding and got to add the Marland Mansion to the list.

Other than that my only other complaint is being super tired. I have to be at work between 6 and 6:30 a.m. and sometimes don't get off until 6 or 7 p.m. and I can barely keep my eyes open by 8:30. I have been enjoying my rotation, I have awesome residents and a great attending, but internal medicine is not what I want to do for the rest of my life. It is nice to be able to cross things off my list.

In other news Mike's sister Jenne is due on the 26th, Mike's still loving his job and he is just waiting some paperwork to come through to get his licence.

OB/GYN rotation

I started OB/Gyn in August and have absolutely loved it. Each week we do something a little different. The first week I worked nights 6pm to about 8am. Needless to say I was exhausted, especially since I ended up working 85 hours that week and that includes one day off. I have new sympathy for my dad working shiftwork the last 20 years. I was so confused all the time. I would walk into the hospital at night while most everyone is walking out and find myself telling them good morning! I got to assist with three deliveries during the week, a crash C-section and two regular deliveries. It is such a wonderful experience and I cried at all three. Mike spent the week in Chicago for a board review. The first day he had some free time and got to explore the city a little bit and really enjoyed it. After that he was really busy with classes all day and practice tests all night.

My second week was Gyn surgery, but unfortunately it was a slow week, so I spent my time in the clinic. I absolutely love clinic and can really see myself doing this for the rest of my life. The next two weeks are clinic and then Labor and delivery days.

Mike took his boards last Monday and found out Thursday that he passed. I am so proud of him and thankful that he is now officially a PA-C. We are currently working on getting all his license paperwork done and he will be able to start working when he gets back. He left on Wednesday to got to San Antonio for his 27 day officer basic course that he has to do to be a PA in the National Guard. He has been frustrated because it is a huge mix of different people from just enlisted, to him with 7 years army experience, to others with 20 years experience and of course they have to go at the level of learning of the newest people. I am glad that I am so busy during this time, but I sure do miss him.

Big Cedar Trip

My family took a trip to Big Cedar at Tablerock Lake the middle of July. We were unable to make it except for the weekend due to my schedule, but we were so excited to come and celebrate Grandad's 80th birthday! I was technically on call until 5, so we left right as the clock struck five. I checked online for my board scores right before we left. When I took my test it said I would get my scores in 4-6 weeks. Well at this point it had been 6 and a half weeks and I was going crazy. When we were about 30 mins away from the cabin, I got a text from one of my classmates saying that the scores were now online! I was freaking out...so so ready to know, but even more nervous that I was going to have to check them in front of my family (all 20 of them)! Anyway, I passed so I had even more reason to celebrate! When we got there we played a game of who could come of with the most uses for a handkerchief.

We took family pictures the next day. Here are some of the non-pro pics.

We really enjoyed seeing our extended family, especially everyone that we don't get to see often. It was great to relax for a couple of days and catch up with everyone. Oh and it wouldn't be a vacation for me if I didn't make an animal friend!

Happy 2nd Anniversary!

Last Tuesday was our 2nd anniversary. I know that everyone always says that time goes by so fast, but I can honestly not believe it has been two years already.I am so thankful everyday that God gave me such a wonderful man to spend my life with. He has truely gotten me through the tough times these past two years.
We couldn't do anything too big this year because I worked the whole weekend before and the weekend after we headed to Missouri for a little Ford family vacation. We went to the melting pot last year, so we decided to make it a tradition. It is a fun atmosphere and so yummy.

Since it was our cotton anniversary, Mike got me some pink socks, because I complain that he steals my socks. We got a little bottle of champagne to toast our year and had a wonderful time!

First week of rotations!

I started my rotations on Tuesday in Surgery in the OSU hospital in Tulsa. It has been so amazing and scary. The first day I felt like a deer in head lights all day and everywhere I went I ran into other third years that were also so lost.

Wednesday we had clinic, a couple of procedures plus the patients that we have in the hospital. It was a long day, 6am to 6 pm with very little sitting down, but it was great! I got home to late to go on the weekly get-together golfing trip. Mike got home at 10pm and I could barely keep my eyes open to say hi.

Thursday was my first day in the OR and it was great. I was nervous, but it went really well. Besides the early mornings and unpredictable hours I am loving being on rotations. We have to work two weekends this month and I am so excited I got the weekend off that my whole family is going to Big Cedar to celebrate my grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary!

Crazy weekend!

After living in a hole for the past two years, when I have a free weekend I am going to take advantage of it! Thursday and Friday we went to Country Fever in Pryor. It is a four day outdoor concert with 25+ bands and tons of people camp out all weekend. We went with Elizabeth and Tanner, Charley and Brad and Katie and Grant (an awesome couple that LA and T met at work). Thursday night we didn't get there until everyone else got off work and got to see Sugarland. They were amazing!

Friday Mike wanted to test out his new golf clubs and I had to go see my "little sis", so we didn't get out to the concert until 3:30. It had rained on and off in Tulsa all day, but nothing substantial. As we are coming in, we were warned by a worker that hail and 60 mph winds were coming. We spent about an hour in the Eckler's pop-up trailer playing cards while the heaviest rain came through. I had planned on rain, so I had my rain coat and didn't wear my boots, so they would not get dirty. I decided on flip-flops...bad idea! By the time we left that night I was covered in mud from my knees to the back of my head. Friday was red dirt night and the concert didn't miss a beat with the rain, mud and wind. We got to see Kevin Fowler, Stoney Larue, Jason Boland, Pat Green and Dierks Bentley!

Rain or shine, we had an amazing time and I hope that we get to go again next year!

Saturday, we had a wonderful Father's day lunch at the deVerges's. Then we immediately left to go to Norman for one of my classmate's weddings. Elise and Ben are an amazing couple and they had one of the most touching ceremonies that I have ever been to. A couple of the girl's that came had taken their Step 1 Boards that day and everyone else had just gotten done or takes it next week, so we were not a very lively bunch! That night we drove back to Orlando. We spent Sunday in Harvest-mode. Daegan loves the combines and he and I rode with Mike for about an hour. You know you have a future country boy when a 17 month old recognizes and can say wheat and combine. Mike was really glad he could spend a day helping his dad, especially on Father's Day!

Brooke and Billy's Wedding

May 23 was Brooke and Billy's wedding at Cedar Rock Inn, a bed and breakfast in Tulsa. We had stayed there before and knew how beautiful a place it was, but we had not seen the reception location called the Silo that is on the grounds. It was really neat with a high-class country kind of feel.

Daegan was a hoot dancing in his little suit. Brooke, Jenne and all the bridesmaids looked beautiful!