It is bright and blue and sunshiny outside, and it looks like Spring, but still feels like winter. I find yet another week of perpetual motion stopped dead upon the couch in sheer exhaustion. Life is just *flying* by me these days. I guess this is true for everyone. I'm on call this weekend, fielding call after call from OtherDoc's patients seeking pain meds. I'm not quite sure what to make of the sheer volume and clumsiness of the requests that I get the weekends that I am on call for him. I'd like to think that his patients are just testing the waters to see if the little naive covering doc will buy in to their tales of woe long enough to get a few pills here or there, but I'm more than a little concerned that he is a candyman kind of doctor. This bothers me on more levels than I can enumerate. Regardless, my answer is patent, "I'm sorry, but I will not call in narcotic pain medications to patients that I have not seen and examined. I'd be happy to call in Naprox.en until you are able to be seen in the office." Funny, but I don't get any takers on the offer for non-narcotic meds. Ah, well.
So it is the season of Lent. A relatively new concept for me, as I was not raised in a particularly religious household, is the "giving up" something for Lent. Mr. Whoo was raised in a fairly observant Catholic family (no meat on Fridays, the whole nine yards) so Lent is the norm for him. We do not attend a Catholic church, but our church does observe the Lenten season, so this is my first official foray. We have decided to give up watching television on weekday nights. *gasp* Shocking, I know, especially for this TV-phile, but the logic behind it is that we spend too much time on weekday nights vegging in front of the TV instead of doing productive things like laundry, cleaning, talking, or projects. We have also been going to bed way too late, simply because we are watching certain shows. It is not the shows, themselves, that we are giving up (because, come on, that *would* be crazy) but rather the time we waste on TV. All of the shows are being safely Tivo'd for consumption on the weekends, so I'm not missing out on Lost, American Idol, Grey's Anatomy, The Office, or anything else that I want to watch. I'm just a little delayed in catching up. Now, we started this on Wednesday (most difficult) and only had to do it for two days before being able to watch the shows, so we will see how it will go during a full week. I think it is going to be a good thing. We are doing things we need to get done, and going to bed earlier, which my body appreciates.
This week was a relatively quiet week for deliveries. I did have a primiparous patient that came in for a post-dates (41+) and LGA induction that received Cervidi.l at midnight that had a 9 pound baby boy a mere six hours later. That was pretty wild, but I was really happy for her that her super-long pregnancy culminated in a super-fast delivery. Hmmm, what else happened of note this week? Oh yes, we did find a little something out about the bean. It looks like we are going to have a little....
BOY!
Color me surprised! I guess I didn't realize how much I had been psyching myself up for another girl until the tech put the unmistakable evidence on the monitor. It was interesting because the tech did not know that I was a physician, and she was really great about explaining all of the anatomy that she was documenting. I just kept mum, because Mr. Whoo didn't really know what he was seeing, and it was nice to be treated just like another pregnant person. I was particularly happy because the anatomy looked spot-on perfect. The tech kept commenting about how "beautiful" the baby's anatomy was, which was pretty darn cool. Also funny was a shot of our son-to-be reaching down towards his nether regions during the scan. Ha. Definitely all boy. I'm still trying to register that we are going to have a son. It was just so much easier to picture us parenting a girl, since that is all that we know. All that matters is that the baby looks healthy and happy, and that is all that we would ever want. Now I have to come up with a clever name for the bean that goes with Whoo. Any suggestions?
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Weepy and Lazy
That pretty much sums up the mood for the weekend. To say that I am uninspired would be an understatement. I have a to-do list half a mile long, and all I want to do is laze about on the couch, watch all of my TiFauxed shows, read Television Without Pity, blogs, and watch the snow fall outside. Is that so wrong? I did deliver 9 babies this week, gestated one of my own, and spent my Valentine's day in the hospital (taking care of patients). Never mind that I desperately need to go through eighteen stacks of unread magazines, junk mail, and medical journals. Never mind that I cannot see the floor over half of my bedroom. Disregard the fact that, while it is clean (thanks to Mr. Whoo), the laundry is unfolded in multiple different baskets from which we have been fishing all week long. I don't wanna work, I want to play online all day.
Emotionally, I know the pregnancy hormones are starting to permeate the brain, because I can't watch a damn thing without becoming a boo-hooing, snotty, sobbing mess. Second to last episode of The O.C. ? (shut up, I know) Bawled like a baby. Grey's Anatomy? Blubber city (and I don't even particularly like Meredith). We even watched the Adam Sandler movie, Click, and I couldn't stop shudder-sighing for 10 minutes straight. Add that to the requisite crying in church, and I'm the queen of emotionality. I am becoming my mother. I am very afraid.
CindyLou has been ever the source of comic relief, however. This week she has told her class at daycare all week long that I have no less than 3 babies in my belly at this given moment (I know it is getting big, but 3???) Another gem, we were driving past the mall and she asked to go shopping. I remarked "You are quite the shopper, aren't you?" To which she knitted her eyebrows fiercely and stated in her most indignant tone, "No I'm not a shopper, I'm CindyLou Whoo!" She also sings Guster's "Careful" at the top of her lungs, and singsongs "CindyLou is cuuuute!" Well, she is cute, and I guess we tell her that a lot. She is so much fun (when she isn't being defiant), and I love listening to the way her mind works. We are truly blessed as a family, and, well, there go the tears again.
I have been lurking on blogs, but not commenting, because then you would know that I am not too lazy to read other people's blogs, just too lazy to write my own. I've been a little frightened of the keywords by which my site is being searched. If you want to be a voyeur (see hidden videos, etc.) in an OB/GYN office you have serious issues. Yuck. Get some help, please. For the record, oh person that searches "snow tubing while pregnant" every living weekend, in general, gentle sloping tube runs should be safe enough in your first trimester, after that the uterus is no longer protected by the bony pelvis, and you may risk injuring the baby if you have a fall or direct impact to your belly. I truly hope this helps. Well, now it is time to snuggle with the cats and check the snow report for tomorrow. CindyLou and Mr. Whoo have President's Day off, but I, alas, do not. My only hope is for it to snow so much that the patients do not wish to risk driving to the office. Hey, a girl can dream, can't she? Have a great week!
Emotionally, I know the pregnancy hormones are starting to permeate the brain, because I can't watch a damn thing without becoming a boo-hooing, snotty, sobbing mess. Second to last episode of The O.C. ? (shut up, I know) Bawled like a baby. Grey's Anatomy? Blubber city (and I don't even particularly like Meredith). We even watched the Adam Sandler movie, Click, and I couldn't stop shudder-sighing for 10 minutes straight. Add that to the requisite crying in church, and I'm the queen of emotionality. I am becoming my mother. I am very afraid.
CindyLou has been ever the source of comic relief, however. This week she has told her class at daycare all week long that I have no less than 3 babies in my belly at this given moment (I know it is getting big, but 3???) Another gem, we were driving past the mall and she asked to go shopping. I remarked "You are quite the shopper, aren't you?" To which she knitted her eyebrows fiercely and stated in her most indignant tone, "No I'm not a shopper, I'm CindyLou Whoo!" She also sings Guster's "Careful" at the top of her lungs, and singsongs "CindyLou is cuuuute!" Well, she is cute, and I guess we tell her that a lot. She is so much fun (when she isn't being defiant), and I love listening to the way her mind works. We are truly blessed as a family, and, well, there go the tears again.
I have been lurking on blogs, but not commenting, because then you would know that I am not too lazy to read other people's blogs, just too lazy to write my own. I've been a little frightened of the keywords by which my site is being searched. If you want to be a voyeur (see hidden videos, etc.) in an OB/GYN office you have serious issues. Yuck. Get some help, please. For the record, oh person that searches "snow tubing while pregnant" every living weekend, in general, gentle sloping tube runs should be safe enough in your first trimester, after that the uterus is no longer protected by the bony pelvis, and you may risk injuring the baby if you have a fall or direct impact to your belly. I truly hope this helps. Well, now it is time to snuggle with the cats and check the snow report for tomorrow. CindyLou and Mr. Whoo have President's Day off, but I, alas, do not. My only hope is for it to snow so much that the patients do not wish to risk driving to the office. Hey, a girl can dream, can't she? Have a great week!
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Reasons Why I Suck and Clinic Gems
So yes, I suck. I suck at keeping my blog updated, I suck at keeping in touch with my friends, I suck at keeping on top of paperwork, and I suck at keeping my house clean. I feel like I have been trying to play "catch-up" for the whole month of February, and the month is nearly half-over! I just feel like I am sprinting to stay in place. Over the last week I have updated my delinquent dictations, caught up the majority of my clinic charts, did a few surgeries, delivered a handful of babies, sat on my couch, and slept (I mean, I even fell asleep during LOST this week). What I have *not* done is talk on the phone to friends with whom I haven't spoken in ages (these people don't even know I am pregnant yet!), clean my house, do laundry, blog, get my hair cut and highlighted (it is getting ugly, people), given Mr. Whoo his wedding anniversary present (our anniversary was at the end of January), put CindyLou's baby pictures in albums, bought valentines for CindyLou's class party, and a half a million other things on my ever-growing to-do list. Mr. Whoo has been picking up the slack as best he can, but I know he must be growing weary of his slovenly wife.
I was hoping to really kick into high gear this weekend, but I have been on call, so I was at the hospital until almost 2 am on Saturday morning doing a delivery. I slept in until 10, went in for rounds, and then my whole Saturday from noon until midnight was spent at the hospital watching over one of OtherDoc's VBACs. It is hospital policy that the physician be on site the entire time a VBAC is laboring (with good reason, of course). I am always up for a good VBAC, and the patient seemed like a good candidate with a few vaginal deliveries, then one emergency section for fetal distress. The frustrating part is that the patient got to completely dilated, pushed twice, and then simply refused to push anymore and demanded another section (a mere 8 hours after she had been offered an elective repeat C-section in the first place!) The baby was low, but not quite low enough to put on forceps or a vacuum, so off to the OR we went. Since the baby was so low in the pelvis at the time of C-section and the lower uterine segment was paper thin, the uterine incision extended into the broad ligament on both sides, causing lots of bleeding and venous oozing, and the bladder was pretty traumatized as well. To add fun to the surgery, the patient seemed to be feeling everything we did to the uterus, despite anesthesia's best efforts, refused to be put to sleep, and instead kept a running commentary throughout the entire surgery about her discomfort (despite a truckload of fenta.nyl and verse.d). Her urine was blood-tinged prior to and immediately after the surgery, and I checked the bladder integrity prior to finishing, but I'm still fretting over an occult injury this morning. Sigh. I'm keeping her Foley in until her urine starts to clear and keeping my fingers crossed.
I also had a few notable moments in clinic this week. The grossest of which involved one of my young, teenaged OB patients. We had done her GBS swab and checked her (closed) cervix because she was complaining of irregular contractions. Her blood pressure had been slightly elevated on our automatic cuff, so, as per routine, we had her relax on her left side, and planned to return to take a manual blood pressure. When my nurse returned to re-check her pressure, she and her boyfriend were *having sex* in the exam room on one of the chairs! Squick! My nurse kicked the boyfriend out, pulling up his pants as he went. Needless to say, the patient's blood pressure was even *higher* on re-check. The real kicker is that we sent her with orders for labs and a 24 hour urine to check for protein, and her mother (a nurse) called, concerned about whether we should pull her daughter from school since her blood pressure was climbing. I couldn't tell her mother that I expected the elevated pressure was more due to the girl being all hot and bothered in my office than to pre-ecclampsia! At any rate, the last thing she needs is to be out of school so that she can fool around more. SuperNurse swabbed the whole room down (including the chair) with alcohol, and closed that room to patients for the rest of the afternoon. What is wrong with people?!
Honorable mention clinic moments include the school teacher that complained that she had to work on Thursday and Friday (essentially a two day week) after the schools had been closed due to weather issues on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. "They should have just given us the whole week off!" she whined. I teased her and told her we should switch jobs. She then said, "Oh I would much rather do what *you* do!" Hm, so you are complaining about *having* to work a two day week, and you want to trade time off for bad weather (not to mention summers, holidays, and weekends off) for being on-call 24 hours a day, up to 14 days in a row? Call me crazy, but I think not. The other came from a patient on whom I am planning a tubal ligation. She wanted to be certain that her fiance was not told that she was having her tubes tied. Of course, it is none of his business what she does with her body, or how she chooses to practice contraception, but it seems like a suspect way to enter into a marriage. It is a sticky ethical situation, and while I know the proper thing to do with respect to the patient's right to privacy, I still can't help but feel odd about the situation.
So anyway, there is your latest installment of whining and moaning. Don't you feel better? I know I do. On the bean front, I am 16 weeks and 2 days, and I just had my Quad screen drawn this week. I'm still puking most mornings, and still taking Z.ofran every day. I think I may have felt movement this week a few times, but I am not certain. We find out in a couple of weeks what we are having. I'm still not sure what I think. I can't imagine not having another girl, but everyone else around me seems to be getting the "boy vibe." We shall see. Thank you guys for coming back to check on me, I will try to be better about updating the blog. I really do enjoy it when I get the chance. Have a great week!
I was hoping to really kick into high gear this weekend, but I have been on call, so I was at the hospital until almost 2 am on Saturday morning doing a delivery. I slept in until 10, went in for rounds, and then my whole Saturday from noon until midnight was spent at the hospital watching over one of OtherDoc's VBACs. It is hospital policy that the physician be on site the entire time a VBAC is laboring (with good reason, of course). I am always up for a good VBAC, and the patient seemed like a good candidate with a few vaginal deliveries, then one emergency section for fetal distress. The frustrating part is that the patient got to completely dilated, pushed twice, and then simply refused to push anymore and demanded another section (a mere 8 hours after she had been offered an elective repeat C-section in the first place!) The baby was low, but not quite low enough to put on forceps or a vacuum, so off to the OR we went. Since the baby was so low in the pelvis at the time of C-section and the lower uterine segment was paper thin, the uterine incision extended into the broad ligament on both sides, causing lots of bleeding and venous oozing, and the bladder was pretty traumatized as well. To add fun to the surgery, the patient seemed to be feeling everything we did to the uterus, despite anesthesia's best efforts, refused to be put to sleep, and instead kept a running commentary throughout the entire surgery about her discomfort (despite a truckload of fenta.nyl and verse.d). Her urine was blood-tinged prior to and immediately after the surgery, and I checked the bladder integrity prior to finishing, but I'm still fretting over an occult injury this morning. Sigh. I'm keeping her Foley in until her urine starts to clear and keeping my fingers crossed.
I also had a few notable moments in clinic this week. The grossest of which involved one of my young, teenaged OB patients. We had done her GBS swab and checked her (closed) cervix because she was complaining of irregular contractions. Her blood pressure had been slightly elevated on our automatic cuff, so, as per routine, we had her relax on her left side, and planned to return to take a manual blood pressure. When my nurse returned to re-check her pressure, she and her boyfriend were *having sex* in the exam room on one of the chairs! Squick! My nurse kicked the boyfriend out, pulling up his pants as he went. Needless to say, the patient's blood pressure was even *higher* on re-check. The real kicker is that we sent her with orders for labs and a 24 hour urine to check for protein, and her mother (a nurse) called, concerned about whether we should pull her daughter from school since her blood pressure was climbing. I couldn't tell her mother that I expected the elevated pressure was more due to the girl being all hot and bothered in my office than to pre-ecclampsia! At any rate, the last thing she needs is to be out of school so that she can fool around more. SuperNurse swabbed the whole room down (including the chair) with alcohol, and closed that room to patients for the rest of the afternoon. What is wrong with people?!
Honorable mention clinic moments include the school teacher that complained that she had to work on Thursday and Friday (essentially a two day week) after the schools had been closed due to weather issues on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. "They should have just given us the whole week off!" she whined. I teased her and told her we should switch jobs. She then said, "Oh I would much rather do what *you* do!" Hm, so you are complaining about *having* to work a two day week, and you want to trade time off for bad weather (not to mention summers, holidays, and weekends off) for being on-call 24 hours a day, up to 14 days in a row? Call me crazy, but I think not. The other came from a patient on whom I am planning a tubal ligation. She wanted to be certain that her fiance was not told that she was having her tubes tied. Of course, it is none of his business what she does with her body, or how she chooses to practice contraception, but it seems like a suspect way to enter into a marriage. It is a sticky ethical situation, and while I know the proper thing to do with respect to the patient's right to privacy, I still can't help but feel odd about the situation.
So anyway, there is your latest installment of whining and moaning. Don't you feel better? I know I do. On the bean front, I am 16 weeks and 2 days, and I just had my Quad screen drawn this week. I'm still puking most mornings, and still taking Z.ofran every day. I think I may have felt movement this week a few times, but I am not certain. We find out in a couple of weeks what we are having. I'm still not sure what I think. I can't imagine not having another girl, but everyone else around me seems to be getting the "boy vibe." We shall see. Thank you guys for coming back to check on me, I will try to be better about updating the blog. I really do enjoy it when I get the chance. Have a great week!
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