Pilgrims at Oak Ridge

My rushed delivery on Friday was probably the oddest and in some ways the saddest delivery I've ever been in on. The mom came in with little prenatal care. She told us she was moving from Illinoise to Florida, and was just passing through. (Though Greenwood is not exactly on the way...) She had lost her insurance and so could only go to a free clinic, where she was told her due date was at the end of July. She also told us almost immediately that she wanted to give the baby up for adoption, she thought, but she and her husband (who was there with her) still needed to talk about it. In between the every 2 minute contractions, I tried to talk to her about some of her options - since she hadn't yet made any arrangements about adoption. She and her husband thought they had more time before the baby came, so they hadn't really decided on anything. I even mentioned that I know someone who wants to adopt and has their paperwork ready, but they said they just couldn't make a ...

I was tagged for a meme by Totally Scrappy ! I've never actually been tagged for a meme before, so this will be fun. 1 ) LAST MOVIE YOU SAW IN A THEATER. Prince Caspian - It was rather different than the book, but I still thought it was a great movie. Jeff and I don't really see many theater movies, but last night we watched The Bee Movie on DVD. I do still want to see Indiana Jones, Kung-Fu Panda, and Wall-E before they leave the theater. 2) WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING? I'm in the middle of re-reading The Poisonwood Bible (on my all-time favorite list) and also reading The Nanny Diaries, which is certainly entertaining. And also a little sad, that some kids have the kind of existence where they get pawned off on a Nanny while Mom goes to Junior League meetings all day. I also just finished The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane and The Tale of Despereaux by Kate Di Camillo, both of which I loved, and will definitely be bought at some point for our future children's libr...

Remember this delivery ? I do. But today I realized just how far I've come this year. Because basically it happened again. A lady came in in labor, with almost no prenatal care. (More on that, later.) She very quickly progressed from 6cm dilated to complete and pushing. So quickly, in fact, my attending couldn't come. I was the only doctor in the room. I was even wearing a skirt and had to pull on booties over my shoes, throw my gloves on, and gown up, just in time to catch the head. Then there was a small shoulder dystocia (when the shoulder gets stuck after the head comes out). And the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby's neck - just like last time. But I guess I've really learned something this year. Even though I was still sweating bullets, I no longer thought, "Where is the doctor??" My heart was still racing, but I was able to calmly tell the nurses what to do and quickly get the baby delivered. And this time, he quickly let out a strong yell. I...

Except that there's no parsley, instead there is basil, dill, and oregano. But Basil, Sage, Rosemary, Thyme, Dill and Oregano doesn't a catchy tune make. This is the corner of the garden reserved for herbs and spices. And despite the fact that the picture makes it look like there is a lot of empty dirt, it is actually going pretty well. We started all of them from seed, except for the rosemary. None of my rosemary seeds germinated, so I just bought a little plant from Lowe's. We've already gotten quite a bit of use out of the basil, rosemary, and sage. Anyone for some homegrown basil on a homegrown tomato with fresh mozzerella? Mmmmm...... And tonight we are going to use a bunch of the delicious smelling fresh dill in some tzaziki sauce. The little white pot in the middle of the dirt is the oregano. So far it has been a magnificently slow grower, so we're letting it get a bit bigger before digging in. Every time I smell it it reminds me of pizza. In the...

When we lived in Charleston, it was very easy to bike around . Since we lived right downtown, I could bike to work in about 5 minutes. Moving to Greenwood this became a seemingly much bigger task. After all, it was Five. Whole. Miles. With Big Hills. to my wonderful job . (Well, at least one big hill.) All winter long I talked about how I should bike to work. Then I'd just hit snooze one extra time and drive. For the last three weeks, though, I've biked to work at least one day. This has been great, and I think I'd like to try to keep this up. 1. Instead of waking up early to go run, I can still sleep in a little and get my exercise in two chunks of time - on my way to work, and on my way home. 2. It saves gas. We don't have to drive around our little town a ton, but I'm still using less gas by biking. 3. I feel much cooler by biking to work. But here are some good tips for biking: Wear a helmet! All the time! This is especially important for parents since you need...

I love ultrasound . I really do. I used it several times today on OB visits. Yesterday, though, I was reminded that sometimes it's sad to use ultrasound. Sometimes it tells us sad things. A patient came to clinic for her first OB visit, but was having some problems. I was called to see her to make sure the baby was ok. She was supposed to be about 9 wks pregnant. I used our machine at the office, and could only see the gestational sac. I couldn't see any baby. We sent her for an official scan at the hospital. They couldn't see a baby either. But this couple doesn't speak English. So then they were sent back to our office, where I had to tell this couple that she had miscarried, and that there was no baby. It was the first time I'd ever had to tell someone this. She cried. Her husband cried. I felt like crying. Being a doctor is great. But so often hard.

Here we are, the proud gardeners with our first tomato. We were quite excited. We've been using various herbs from our garden for a while now, and lettuce and spinach, but the tomatoes have been the one thing we've really been waiting for. I guess this is a roma tomato? Or a grape tomato? I dunno. It's small, and it was really really good. We sliced it up and ate it on barbeque sandwiches. Oh, did I mention Aubrey and I stopped at J.I. Baldwin and Sons on our way out of Nashville and bought five pounds of pork barbeque to bring home? Its the best barbeque in the world. Come visit, we'll share. Several more tomatoes are on their way to turning red, including one of the big heirloom tomatoes. Apparently they go a little slower. But if I can fend off the rabbits, caterpillars, and any other natural predators, they should be ready soon. We also picked these five squash. We ate one last night and it was quite good. They are a variety of spaghetti squash, which i...

I hate being sick. I was expecting that I'd get sick a lot this year, especially since I spent October and December on pediatrics, seeing all manor of crusty-nosed kids with vomiting and diarrhea. Thankfully, though, I really haven't been sick at all this year, except for one bad call night back in December with a 24-hr GI bug. The only thing worse than being sick is being sick on call. Now I've got some kind of nasty head cold that is just making me feel like crap. It's easy to forget why everyone comes to the doctor when they feel like this. But now I can remember. A little empathy is a good thing, I guess.

My first two weeks of menu planning went great. There are lots of benefits to this whole "meal planning" thing. One is that it is nice to not have to worry about what to make for dinner, since I already know. Also I've planned ahead well enough to make some good meals . Another benefit is that I love hospitality and want to open my home more to others. It is a lot easier to invite people over when I actually know what I'm having for dinner that night before 6:30pm. And with the new interns starting orientation tomorrow, I can definitely try to serve them by inviting them over as much as possible during the busy and long months of intern year. I did realize, though, that Jeff and I always have lots of leftovers and so I need to plan at least one night each week to eat leftovers. Since I didn't do that this last week, I had some meals planned that we didn't eat. They'll just get plugged in this week. Monday: Jeff's veggie sandwiches Tuesday: CALL, eat ...

My mom called me last night to say that my grandma, her mom, had died. She had been slipping away for a long time, really -- sinking into herself as the pathways in her brain became more and more disordered, and she was like a child, lost somewhere in the tangled branches. The first time I remember noticing her forgetfulness we were visiting her and Papa Neal in Florida. She kept asking me what grade I was in. My smile would falter, but I would tell her. That was only the beginning of a long, downward spiral as she sunk deeper and deeper into the murkiness. Today, though, I do not want to remember that. I want to remember her ever-present cheerfulness. A smile the sparkled in spite of the abandonment, poverty, and tragedy that characterized her childhood. The love she found in the Father, and around the table at the Mitchell House. I want to think about how she was artistic - the beautiful Santas she painted and gave away to us all. It is from her, through my mom, that I think I got t...

I recently started doing a little menu planning . When I made the first weekly menu, I knew exactly what I wanted to do first: I wanted to make pizza on the grill. I've been wanting to make this for a while because I had heard this crazy rumor that you could, in fact, make pizza on the grill, but I was somewhat skeptical. My doubts faded just as soon as I'd had my first bite, though - this was some of the best pizza I've ever made. I used frozen bread dough, because that was what I had on hand, though making homemade dough would probably be even better. First of all, it works best to make smaller, thinner pizzas than normal so that you can manage them easier on the grill. Work the dough into a roundish (or possibly squarish) shape. Take some olive oil and brush it on one side, and also spray or brush oil onto the grill. Put the oiled side of the bread directly onto the grill, heated to medium heat. Soon it will start to rise up a bit and cook. While it is cooking, brush oi...

Last night was a good call. Good because I got to help a nice girl during her labor. Unfortunately for her, I also accidentally missed the baby being breech, and she ended up getting an urgent c-section. (I knew that head just didn't feel right.) The nurses told me she was breech because once she started pushing, they could see the part coming down the ...er.... pipeline and let's just say that it was not a nice round baby head. Oops. Also good because I actually brought my sewing machine, fabric and even an iron to the call room. Yes, that's right. I'm the dork who brings her iron and sewing machine to work. But I recently started one of the larger projects I've had and since I had the entire day to spend at the hospital, I figured I might as well get some work done on it. It was great - in between delivering a baby, doing an ultrasound on a newly pregnant lady, and eating with my husband, I got a LOT of work done. Also good because I got in bed at 11:30, went to...

We took a brief jaunt to Charleston last weekend for a wedding. And since it is spring, the season of weddings, we're going back next weekend for another one. It was great seeing old friends and watching a dear friend get hitched. Here are the photo highlights: Lucy interacting with Alfie, a friend's puppy: Sadly, most of my wedding shots did not turn out. Erin was a beautiful bride, though, and the ceremony and reception were lovely. (And yes, that is a huge painting of a somewhat feminine Jesus floating the air. It's a really old church and when our church took over the building, that had to stay.) It was great being back in our Charleston church and seeing the town. Mostly, every day I'm thankful for where we live and really enjoy living in Greenwood, but I do miss this: Of course then we hit bad traffic, and had to hunt for a place to park. Ahh...big city life.

I am not, by anyone's estimation, organized. I think sometimes people think that everyone who goes to medical school is a type-A, uber-controlled, checklist-making robot who plans down their days to the last half-hour. That's not me. If you don't believe me, just ask my husband. Or my mom. Or any one of the residents who walk by my desk every day. That said, I do recognize that it is a problem. Although I do sometimes enjoy being a fly-by-the-pants, spur-of-the-moment kind of person, I realize that there are times when that does not really work. Case in point: Every day recently, Jeff and I have been playing this game: Me: What should we eat for dinner? Him: I don't know. What do you feel like? Me: I don't know. What's in the fridge? Him: Um...eggs, spinach, and mushrooms that are brown and moldy. Me: oh. Well, I'm tired/post-call/don't feel like cooking. I'm eating cereal. I realize that I'm tired of a) eating cereal (though it is the perfect p...

I think I can finally see it. On our walk after church today, we passed by two houses in our neighborhood that now have real, live, in-the-flesh, soon-to-be interns living in them. When I see them, it is a little hard not to cry with joy at the thought of being on call only two nights in an entire month. As good as this year has been, spending every fourth night at the hospital can make you feel a little exhausted. Just 29 days until they start. But who's counting....