Wednesday, June 29, 2011

My little guppy

In which I write....

No pictures in this one, just some words. I can't believe it's almost July already. My first academic year as an attending behind me, and another one ahead with new residents. There's an excitement about July, the nervous energy of new docs wanting to do their best. And there's a nervousness on my part about being the bottom line on a list of new docs!


I have a new position: Inpatient Medical Director. Really, it's the Inpatient Medical Director of Children's Hospital at OU Medical Center. Sounds fancy, doesn't it? I'm still learning what it means. So far, it means a lot of meetings.


A family friend died 2 days ago after a motorcycle accident. He leaves behind a stay at home wife and 3 kids under 4. My heart is broken for his family, and I feel helpless to do anything of any significance for them. He was able to done his liver and kidneys, so 3 people will hopefully have new life because of him. Please keep them in your prayers, and think about being an organ donor if you aren't already!


We finally sold our old house...yeah! We close on it next Friday. I spent today turning off utilities and canceling HO insurance, etc. I'm excited to not be making 2 house payments anymore, although there's a bittersweetness to selling our first house where we brought home 2 babies.


We have a cute little brown bunny that likes to live on our backyard. I like him even though I can't get close to him.

Peds Research Day

My "scholarship" requirement fo the year....check!

One of the best things about being an attending: the residents do most of the work! I just get to edit and approve.

End of the Year Banquet

Our pediatrics end of the year banquet was earlier this month-- it was nice this year to just get to go as an attending and NOT have to be a presenter or plan the event like last year!


Best part-- I found a cute dress for $23! Here I am with one of our residents, Angela. We've worked together several times, and we both have little Abby's (although hers is an Abi). I'm excited to meet baby #2 this fall!

And my friend Adrienne, who graduated. Luckily for me, she's staying put in OKC!


And, shock of the night for me, I won the Attending of the Year award, as voted on by the residents!! I think I've peaked my first year out. :) And even better, I found out yesterday it comes with a monetary bonus too. A nice perk, even if it'll likely go towards paying taxes!


This little munchkin was supposed to be in bed when I got home, but obviously she was still awake and waiting for me. It was fun to go to the banquet, but more fun to get home.


Saturday, June 11, 2011

8 months

Better late than never. And it was almost never!

Olivia's Surgery

Many of you know we've had trouble with Livi's ears for the past couple of months. After 5 rounds of different antibiotics, including daily shots for a while, we all made the decision it was time for tubes. I struggled with the decision, but after testing of her hearing revealed moderate hearing loss, I knew it was best for her. So on Tuesday, we loaded her up for an early morning surgery at Children's. The pics are backwards again-- I know what I did wrong but don't have the energy to fix it!

Here she is post-op...bottle's empty and she's ready to go home!
Daddy with his girl...he was pretty nervous too!

Pre-op, waiting to go back. She was actually a very happy baby, especially considering she hadn't eaten in 10 hours. However, when she did fuss, it was "mamamamamamama". Guess she knows where her bread is buttered!




In the waiting room after we arrived. Such a happy girl!



And at the house just prior to leaving.


So surgery went very well. She had really thick, glue-like pus behind both ears, and we've been giving antibiotic drops the last few days. She's happy, smiling, and talking more than before surgery. We go back for follow up in early July, and they'll retest her hearing then. The hope is that she couldn't hear well because of the pus, and now it'll be all fixed. I'll keep you updated!

Sleep

I wondered why it got so quiet. I guess I didn't get her to the crib fast enough!

Defect

In the words of my husband, the Olivia 2010 model forgot to come with reverse gear.



Her Many Faces

Happy.

Ecstatic.


Serious.

Beautiful.

Myrtle

This is Myrtle. She's a turtle. A baby turtle, to be exact. She showed up on our driveway one morning a couple of weeks ago, and Abby was concerned I was going to squish her. I was not, but agreed to let her hang out with us for a day.

All hands were thoroughly washed after this pet experience. I did let Myrtle come inside for a bit during the afternoon because it was pretty hot outside. The cat was not pleased and definitely tried to make her an appetizer.


She is kind of a cute little thing. For a turtle, anyway, who aren't very cute by nature.


So we kept her for a day, and then sent her on her way back to the neighborhood pond.


As Abby says, she needed to go back to her mommy and poppy. Not sure how she knows the word Poppy, but that's for another day.


The next morning I saw a BIG turtle on the sidewalk when I was leaving the neighborhood. I did not, however, point that one out to her. It might have eaten our cat.