Every time we say, "Hey, we need to write for the blog," we then end that conversation with, "But what would we
say? Nothing is happening!" Well, here's what's not happening this year of medical school for us.
- James has done a lot of rotations. After radiology, he did internal medicine, cardiology, pediatrics, urology, family medicine, and he just finished one in the ER.
- James has officially decided that he wants to become a family medicine doctor. He says he likes not knowing what's behind the door, he likes the variety, and he likes using all of what he's learned at med school instead of mainly just one subject of it. He also is the type of person (as I'm sure you know if you know him) to appreciate a long-term doctor/patient friendship where he can get to know people and help them over time instead of only when they have one specific problem or emergency.
- I got another job doing some medical writing that keeps me busy in the afternoons during Henry's nap. Consequently, the dishes (which honestly weren't terribly up to date on an average week) have entered a sort of "let's play chicken" mode where James and I unofficially see which one of us will crack first and do them and clean the kitchen. But then the other one feels guilty and grateful, so it evens out!
- We found out we're expecting another baby! I'm due August 12, but since it'll be a repeat cesarean, it'll be a week earlier, so you can expect updates on that about August 5th. This will put it right between my birthday and James's birthday.
- My semesters this year have been the best I've ever had here. I don't know if it's that my students are getting brighter and more lively or that I'm just getting more comfortable as we go along, but I'm really enjoying teaching!
- Third year of med school is my favorite by far (so far!). James does rotations now, and while he's still gone from home more than if he had a regular 8-5 job, it's SO much better than the last couple of years. Obviously it greatly depends on what rotation he's on and what doctor he's with, but credit where it's due: rural doctors are great to rotate with! Many of the local doctors only do half days on Fridays, or work in another town that's too far away for James once a week and will give him that day off, or will let him set broken bones/clean out abscesses/do CPR/intubate patients. It was rough to be assigned to stay here in our rural area for these years of school also, but it's worked out for us.
- Henry is doing and learning lots of new things, but I think I'll do another post about some of those soon. He's almost two years old. TWO. My curly toddler baby is getting big!
- We're gearing up for the fall. That is the busy time (inconveniently close to this baby's due date!) when James will be doing audition rotations (spending 2 to 4 weeks at a time doing a rotation at a place we hope to do residency at, which in this case is almost exclusively out west and not with me! Oh no!) and interviewing at residency spots. We will find out next March(ish) where we will be going for residency. That will be an adventure of a season for us, I think, with him gone and me alone with the toddler and the newborn, but we'll make it through!
- Our 4 year wedding anniversary is almoskt upon us. My phone reminded me other day of a moment about a month before our wedding when James sent me a message on Facebook. He said that marriage was going to be like this scene from The Hobbit when Bilbo dashes off to join the quest and says, "I'm going on an adventure!" How true that was, and how fun the adventure has been so far. I have to remind myself sometimes in this school journey that Bilbo's adventure wasn't all fun (camping in mud, almost eaten by trolls, talking to sneaky dragons, etc) and that's all part of the adventure. In fact, you could say the hardships are the best part of the story.
