Third Trimester Here We Come!

This pregnancy is FLYING by...I was so happy that the nausea had abated in trimester two and I was really feeling good and hitting my stride. Sadly, the nausea has returned. Not as bad, but I'm definitely back to popping Zofran like it's a prenatal vitamin. I'm super sleepy again too. And this week I reached the "I feel HUGE" landmark. I'm waddling, walking slow, short of breath, and I am sooooo sore everywhere - so much so that little Nate has decided that his "hips hurt" these days as well...hahaEven my doc thinks that I am measuring on the bigger side of things (2-3 weeks bigger actually), so I get to see Baby J at my next visit! I'm eager to find out if my due date is the same or if we need to make some adjustments :-DThe best part about this stage is that everyone can tell I've popped and is asking when I'm due, what we're having, and then saying how cool it is that we aren't finding out - but most people say they couldn't do it lol... Honestly, the hardest part is not being able to buy pink or blue stuff yet. I'm getting really excited about finding out if we are having a boy or girl on the big day! 

I guess I should start working on the nursery!

         

        

  

     

Music Monday

This is one of my favorites :-)

Night Float & Life Decision Updates...

So I wish I could brag about how that now, after four days on night float, I am a creature of the night. Not so much...but I am increasing my tolerance of staying up late. The fact that I am writing this blog post at 11PM when a month ago I was asleep by 7:30PM is a huge step for me ;-)

3 Years & Counting!

Overall, I have been able to see my family everyday. I get home in time to take Natey to school and talk to the hubby for a bit before he heads out to work. I am usually back at the hospital by the time they get home, so mornings have become precious for family time. Today was kind of a bummer because it is Nate and I's third wedding anniversary, but I only got to spend all of 30 minutes with him. WOMP. I'll just have to make it up this weekend... ;-)

Aside from that being a bummer, I am in LOOOOVE with OB. As soon as our orientation started last week I felt like I was surrounded by my people. My mom told me to at least give it a week LOL. My first day on nights I scrubbed into a C-section and then got to cut the umbilical cord! Maybe it's just me, but I felt like this was a huge deal haha. This was in addition to all the other medical student jobs like holding retractors and cutting suture ties...

I have gotten to triage a few patients coming in for induction and it's such a good feeling to be able to answer questions about labor and help to set some of the anxiety at ease. I think that school has definitely taught me a lot, but I can tell that my words carry a little more weight when I interject a personal note about my own experience with labor into my "Relax. This is totally normal..." talks.

Photo Credit

I am so excited to finally find something that I absolutely think I would be a great fit for. I've literally been waiting all year for this. OB gets a bad reputation for a number of reasons - one of which being hours worked because babies aren't born between the hours of 9am-5pm. My family and personal time is a huge priority to me, so even though all year OB has been in the back of my mind, I tried my hardest to see if there was anything else I could see myself being passionate about.

Nope. Nothing else.

Despite the hours, all of my attendings and residents seem really happy with their chosen field - which says a lot right?

I think there may be more room for flexibility than I initially thought. I just need to maximize my time on service by talking to everyone about how they find balance....

Music Monday

This is my jam right now... Happy Monday ya'll! Get Hype!!!

Reflecting on My Clerkship Experience: General Surgery

From the AAMC Careers in Medicine Clinical Evaluation

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1. Name and Location of Clinical Rotation: Pediatric Surgery, Riley Children's Hospital

2. What did I like most about this specialty?
- The pediatric patient population
- The variety of general surgery; they operate anywhere from the neck down just about...

3. What did I like least about this specialty?

- The hours. We were in at 4:30AM to round at 5:30 and usually stayed until 4:45PM. The residents usually would stay later than that because they had more work to do.

4. Did this clinical rotation give me a good sense of what practice in this specialty would be like?
Yes, I think I got a good feel of not only the variety of general surgery within the OR, but I also got to experience a number of clinics - both general surgery and multi-disciplinary. Surgery is involved in a lot more primary care than I previously imagined.

5. Did my interests, values, skills and/or personality "fit" with this specialty? If yes, in what way did they "fit"? If no, why might they not be compatible?
I think that this was a great experience for me because I realized that I do have an interest in doing something surgical, but I do not think I am interested in a career of majority surgery. I also felt like my personality wasn't really a good fit for the surgery life - where you have to be extremely assertive and very thick-skinned. Both of which I could be, but I think I am high-strung enough where an enviroment like that would not be a good one for me.

6. What are the possible practice settings for specialists in this field? Which of these settings interest me and do I know enough about them?
General surgeons practice in both community and academic settings. I think I would like an academic setting the best because I enjoy teaching and working with multidisciplinary teams.

7. What information do I still need to find out about this specialty? None

8. Has my perception of this specialty changed based on my clinical rotation experience?
Yes! I did not think I would enjoy my surgery rotation as much as I did. I learned so much!

9. Did my clinical rotation experience influence the likelihood of choosing a career in this specialty? If yes, how did it influence me?
I do not think I will be pursuing a career in general surgery, but I would like to have some surgical/procedural aspects to the field I choose to go in. Maybe OB?

10. Right now, on a scale of 1-10, how interested am I in this specialty as a career option? 5; even though I had a lot of fun on general surgery, I think that I would enjoy a field with more balance between OR and clinic with a longterm patient relationship focus... 

11. Other comments or reflections about this rotation or specialty:

• I really liked the procedures on general surgery more than ENT. I think mainly because it was a bigger working area and the anatomy is so clear
• Even though there was a ton of variety on pediatric surgery, I have heard that adult general surgery is mainly in the abdomen - think stomach, gall bladder, appendix, intestines, colon....
• Knowing when a patient had a bowel movement is VERY important...I might go as far as to say it's as important as the vital signs...haha
• During my last week on service, I was in two really big cases (a Wilms tumor and a neuroblastoma removal). Some parts of the case were really challenging, but it was so cool to see all of the OR staff working together to get things done - surgeons, pathologist, anesthesiologists, nurses, surgical techs, the blood bank... It was definitely the epitome of teamwork

I Made It!

Tuesday I took my general surgery exam which means I'm doooooone with gen surg!!! :-D I missed blogging so much...

Anyway, all-in-all it was not bad at all. Granted the hours were redic (I am NOT going to miss that 4:30AM start time), I absolutely loved my patients, our residents were cool, the attendings were all great teachers, and I saw some AH-MA-ZING things.

I really gained a new-found respect for Riley on this rotation. I already knew it was considered a tertiary care center for Indiana, but until you see how many families and physicians statewide bring/refer their kids to Riley so that they can have the best of the best care, you can't fully understand what that means. It is so impressive and I am honored to be able to learn from all the great doctors here.

Oh, and everything I was nervous about because I am preggers didn't happen. Like:
- I didn't pass out during long surgeries.
- I didn't need to eat every hour on the hour.
- Long days on my feet didn't induce contractions...just swollen feet lol
- The attendings/fellows/residents were all super understanding if I did need to sit down for a moment during the longer cases and didn't get upset about it.

Here are some of the past 5 week's highlights:
- My first full day on service, I had an 8 hour procedure: choledochal cyst excision
- My second week I had a 5 hour Whipple procedure
- I spent some time in the NICU
- I did some routine things like hernia repairs, circumcisions, port placements and removals.
- I had my first overnight calls - i.e. 5PM-7AM in the hospital (basically 5AM-7AM on a week day)

It was all very cool :-)

Yesterday I had my OB orientation and tonight is my first day on night float (i.e. 5pm-8am shifts)!! And not a moment too soon, look at all this BELLY!

My attire for the last 5 weeks: Scrubs + Bump 

Headed to church for Resurrection Sunday (24 weeks)

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In other news....

Pumpkin was on spring break for the last two weeks of my surgery rotation, and I missed him so much. It's like he got bigger and more mature while he was gone... I can't take it! Now all three musketeers are back in the mix of things...

In other, other news... last week we got the assignments for our three required clerkships for fourth year. I'm so geeked! My preliminary outline of my year will look like this:

June: Elective - SubI in what I want to go into
July: Elective/Give Birth - Something low key would be good here...lol
August: Vacation month with baby
September: Radiology
October: Medicine SubI
November: Elective/Interviews/Maybe Vacation Month
December: Elective/Interviews/Maybe Vacation Month
January: Elective/Interviews
February: Emergency Medicine
March: Elective
April: Elective
May: Graduation!!!!

Okay, hope that wasn't too many updates. I am so happy to be back! Hope you all have a great day! I need to get back in bed so I can be fully functional to deliver babies all night ;-)

P.S. GO BLUE!!! So proud of how our boys did this year!!!