It's almost time...

Spent the weekend with Zach, Mosley and friends in NYC. Also spent the weekend getting residency applications together for submission this week. So far I am applying to 55 programs across the country and most states are included. I am scared, excited and nervous about this process but ready to move forward with the next phase of my career!!

Also worked on a wedding website so be on the lookout for that!

I start my final 2 weeks of OB/Gyn this week. I have 2 weeks of Gyn surgery including mostly hysterectomies and oophorectomies....taking out the uterus and ovaries. I'm very excited to be heading back to Baltimore for good in 2 weeks!

For now I leave you with the picture of our cute pup...he is almost 5 months old and we love him so much!

Terrible Day

My days are quite long in OB right now. I have to wake up at 4:30am to be at work by 6:00am and usually don't get back home until 7ish....and then I have to try and concentrate on studying for 2-3 hours. Anyway...this morning I wake up and head out to my car (which is parked 200ft from the apartment building) and my drivers side window is smashed in and the contents from my glove compartment and center consol are thrown about my car. Someone had decided to break into my car between 6:30 last night and 5:00 this morning. Not a great way to start the morning! Luckily I don't keep anything of value in my car so they didn't steal anything. Maybe a couple quarters from my ash tray?

So I spent the morning filing a police report (because I am sure it will do so much good) and calling places to get my car fixed. Thank goodness I found a place that could do it right away and have it done in an hour. I had tried the Lexus dealership and they had said it would take 2 days just to order it! I don't have two days to sit around with no drivers side window!!!

So $300 later my window is fixed and I head off to the hospital. I'm hoping that once I submit the reciept that insurance will reimburse it.

The day did get slightly better when I found out that I passed the second part of my board examination and I got to be on the labor and delivery floor all day! I love labor and delivery where there are always patients coming in and you never know exactly when they are going to deliver. Like yesterday I went to check on a patient who is a multip (she has had more than one baby) and her cervix was 5cm when she came in. 10 minutes later when I checked on her she said she had to pee and when I took the sheet from her legs she had broke her water and I could see the baby's head! Baby arrived 20 seconds later after she pushed one time!! We didn't even have time to put on sterile gowns or masks! Exciting and adrenaline pumping for sure!

All about me....

I'm not sure who reads my blog (and my dad might be the only one? and of course my grandma when my dad prints it off for her) but if there is anyone else out there who reads it I thought I would give a little background of my life....

I was born in raised in small town, I mean REALLY small town Iowa. There were 300 people in the town and I went to school in a town about 20 minutes away that was right on the Mississippi River. I had a great childhood and spent everyday at my Grandma and Grandpa Till's house. I never went to daycare or preschool and everything I learned before kindergarten was purely from Sesame Street and Where in the World is Carmen San Diego at my grandparents house. My cousin and I were very imaginative and had numerous games/activities that kept us occupied for HOURS!!! I have many, many fond memories of that time.

Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it...my parents divorced when I was 13. I love them both dearly but if you've ever meant them you would understand that they are clearly not meant for each other! My mom got remarried to Steve and we set out to Georgia. This is one of the hardest things I have ever done...yet one of the most rewarding. I was moving away from the only home I'd ever known at 15 years old, about to start my sophomore year of high school at an unknown place with 1500 students. Keep in mind my graduating class in Iowa would have been a mere 26!! Moving was a huge culture shock not to mention the sadness associated with leaving my dad and all of my family. My dad's side of the family is super close and I had grown up within 20 minutes of everyone!

However, moving opened so many doors for me and I can definitely say that I would not be where I am today, nor the person I am today if it weren't for my Iowa upbringing and the subsequent move to Georgia. I am incredibly blessed to have the most amazing parents and the bonus now of having a really spectacular stepdad and stepmom!

I'm gonna leave it here for now because I need to get back to studying for the second part of my board examinations and I'm on 24 hour call at the hospital tomorrow....I hope there are many babies to be delivered!!!

Until next time....

Sad....

I miss my fiance and my puppy....and I won't see them for another 2 weeks :(

First Call

Started OB/Gyn rotation last Monday. It is split into 3, 2 week rotations. We do 2 weeks of clinic, 2 weeks of Labor and Delivery and 2 weeks of Gynecology surgery. I started off in clinic which is not too bad. The problem with the hospital that I am at, is it is in the middle of Queens, NY. I bet 9/10 of our patients do not speak ANY English. This was a problem in Peds clinic as well and the frustration has continued. When your job is to help and educate these patients, it is extremely unsatisfying to do it through an interpreter on the phone! It is very unrewarding and I feel sad everyday that I leave. Most of these patients are poor, uneducated, illegal immigrants which makes them what we call "high risk." Meaning there labor course and delivery has a higher risk of complication and the baby has a higher risk of being compromised. So not being able to communicate with them is crucial!!!

Other that that one small (major) glitch I really do love OB. I have my first 24 hour call tomorrow and we take call on the labor and delivery floor so I'm hoping to deliver many babies and even see some C-sections!

On a really fun note, tried on wedding dresses Friday and it was great! Now I really can't wait for our appointment at Kleinfelds on September 12th!!! Mom and her best friend are flying up and my good friend Britt is coming along as well....it makes me so excited for May 14th!!!!

Military...

This is a pic of my brother Dan, he started school last week at The Citadel, a military college in Charleston, SC. He is playing football there and running track and every incoming cadet has to go through hell week. This is his "matriculation" picture...he survived!!!!! I am so damn proud of him!!!
http://www.citadelphoto.com/proofing/photocart/index.php?do=photocart&viewImage=6903

The Not so Great Weekend

I decided to head down to Baltimore this weekend despite the fact that Zach was on 24 call Saturday and would be gone from 6am Saturday til 9am Sunday. I booked an early flight out of LaGuardia thinking I could get down there by 6 and we could spend Friday night hanging out. Unfortunately weather got in the way and a 6 hour delay later I finally landed in Bmore around 10:30...ugh just in time for Zach to go to bed. Saturday I spent all day studying and took Zach dinner at the hospital...which is HUGE by the way!!! I'll do a seperate post on the Univeristy of Maryland.
He got home Sunday morning and slept most of the morning/early afternoon. Well I was supposed to leave at 5:15 on the bus, yes that's right, the bus. Unfortunately I couldn't fly back to LGA because I waited to long to book the return flight and it went from $51 to $145 in 1 hour...double ugh! So I decided to forgo the expensive, albeit much more comfortable train ride, for the weirdo infested bus ride. Well due to traffic, accidents and an assortment of other issues I finally arrived back at the apartment in Brooklyn at 10:30....not my idea of a great travel weekend! It was worth it to see Zach even if it was for less than 12 hours the whole weekend.
We were looking forward to him coming up here this weekend, however his call schedule changed and now he has to work Sunday :(
I also started OB/Gyn today....these next 6 weeks will decide if this is for sure what I am going to spend the rest of my life doing....after Day 1...so far so good!