4 Years of Marriage, 1 Year of Residency, & 2 Kids Later....

Since it's been so long since I last blogged, I figured this "catch-up" post had to encompass a lot. I last left you mid-first-year-residency, as well as mid-second-pregnancy. Well since then I've finished first year (with the exception of two weeks of Emergency medicine which I have have to make up when I go back) and also gave birth to my second little boy, Finnegan. Now I'm on my last couple weeks of maternity and finally have a little bit of time to myself at my favorite alone time spot, Starbucks, to rejoin the blogging world.

It was on my maternity leave bucket list to get back into blogging, along with going to the beach, reading books non-medical related, and finally hang updated photos in my house. I've done all but the last now. I know it's not a very grand list, but as I'm sure any of you with children out there know, it's an accomplishment just to get a shower in when you have more than one kid at home (particularly a newborn).

Killian's 3rd birthday pirate bash. Yes, that's my
husband dressed as Jack Sparrow!

Speaking of which, Finnegan ("Finn" for short) is now six weeks old today. It's so cliche' to say this, but time really does go by so fast. You blink and your baby's already gained two pounds and is smiling at you. Even crazier is that my first little bugger has turned three. Three! I feel like it was just yesterday that I was a third year med student and pregnant with him. Now he's a little man, and the best big brother in the world. I was so worried about how he'd react to the new baby, but he's been so wonderful. He kisses him every day and asks to hold him constantly, and most importantly, fetches diapers when I need them.

Killian so happy to be a big brother!

Everyone has told me it'd be a big jump going from one to two kids, and of course it is. Trying to juggle a newborn and a very active three year old is certainly a feat, but it's truly not as bad as I pictured (maybe because I just envisioned total chaos). Though I am lucky enough to get 12 weeks of maternity leave, have an amazingly helpful husband, and parents who are close by to help out. Even so, it's all just so much easier the second time around. First off, I'm more comfortable in my role as a mom, breastfeeding wasn't nearly as difficult as it was with Killian, and Finn quickly went to only waking up once a night to eat.

In addition to all the kid hoop-la, the hubby and I celebrated our four year anniversary last month. It's so crazy to think that we've accomplished so much in the years we've been together (it'll be eight years this fall). We survived us both going through grad school, new jobs, and now two kids. I mean, how much more could we have possibly squeezed into such a small period of time?! And of course there's stressors for all the above said reasons, but we've managed to work through them and continue to do so every day. All I know is that I couldn't have asked for a better man to be the father of my boys. And for that I'm truly lucky.

Finn 5 weeks old. 

With only one month left until I have to go back to work, I'm trying to really enjoy what time I have with my (three) boys. Though I do miss being around my fellow residents and actually do miss my job. I know I will be singing a much different tune once I go back to working 70 hour weeks and crying in the on-call room after a long, stressful day on inpatient medicine. Thankfully Killian will finally be in the daycare at my hospital (after a year of being on the waiting list). And I'll get to drop him off, pick him up, and sometimes stop by during lunch. I'm sure it's going to be even more difficult juggling residency with two kids now. And the "mommy guilt" is going to come full-force once I go back to work, but as I've said many times before on this blog, I'm determined to have it all. Career and family. Hell, if I survived this much I'm sure I can survive two more years of residency with two kids.

7 months of residency and 5 months of pregnancy later...

Seven months into first year of residency and you wouldn't know it from my lack of blogging, but I am still alive. Yes, I've made it over the first year hump of my family medicine residency. Hard to believe. And boy do I have lots to catch up on!

I've pretty much gotten a taste of everything these last six months... OB, peds, inpatient medicine, ICU, and gynecology, all with a little time in clinic dispersed throughout. What I liked most (and why I chose family medicine) is that there's so much variety to it and you can really do a bit of almost any specialty as a family doc. I went into residency with a lot of different interests. Integrative medicine, sports medicine, OB, emergency... But the busier I get and the more I go along, I've realized that I can't do it all. But what my absolute favorite thing to do as a family doc is obstetrics. So I've decided to make that an integral part of my practice.

20 weeks along

And what better way to get more experience in OB than to be pregnant myself! That's right folks, we're having our second child! If you thought I was crazy enough to have a kid in med school, then I bet you think I'm even more crazy to do it again in residency. Like I've always said... being a doctor is my career and my family is my life. Meaning, I'll never put my job or anything else before my family. Because at the end of the day, they're the ones I come home to and the ones who support me and love me. So I didn't think much of it when my husband suggested we expand our family.

Much to my surprise, it didn't take long at all. As a matter of fact, the same month we started "trying" or better yet, not avoiding it, we got knocked up! I really shouldn't be surprised at all because the same exact thing happened the first time around. I just thought that three years later and under the stress of residency (and lack of along time with the hubby), it might be a little more difficult than "poof you're pregnant". Boy was I wrong. 

So I'm about 22 weeks along now, and I have to say that being pregnant in residency is way tougher than being pregnant in medical school. For one, I'm working way more hours. And I have way more responsibilities. My first four months were absolute hell. I was throwing up several times a day and tired beyond belief. All of which was so different from my first pregnancy, which led me to believe I was going to have a girl this time around. But to my surprise, we are adding another penis to this household! I'm completely outnumbered. Even our dog is a boy.

Killian proud to announce he's having a brother!

Well right now I'm doing my two week pediatric night float rotation. And usually I hate working nights, but this time around it's been quite enjoyable because I get to admit kids and take care of all the newborns. My pregnancy hormones are on overdrive seeing all the cute little babies. And starting next week I get to do another month of OB and pediatrics, which is even better. The hours are long, but I'll be seeing my favorite kind of patients. Plus it'll bring me back to third year medical school when I was 6 months pregnant on my OB rotation and I had made such great connections with my fellow pregnant mommies.


I make no guarantees, but I hope that I will start to be better about blogging and keeping you all up to date with how residency is going. Especially since I'll be on maternity leave in about four more months, I may have more time. Who am I kidding? With a three year old and a newborn baby, I'll likely have no time. But I'll do my best. After all, one of the reasons I started this blog was to show fellow med students/residents/physicians that you can have a life outside medicine.