Valentine's Day Not Just a Day For Lovers

Next week happens to be Valentine's day, or National Single Awareness Day as I used to call it. Not only is it a commercialized day for chocolate shaped hearts and love notes, it also happens to be a day of great anxiety for any 4th year DO students. Valentine's Day this year also happens to be Match Day, the day DO's find out where they will be going for their residency. A long awaited day. The preparation for this day takes months!

Here's just a glimpse of what goes on before Match day happens. First off, after deciding what kind of doctor you want to be you begin researching out the residency specialties and programs, then start applying for your favorite programs, hoping you'll get offered an interview. Then going through numerous interviews, hospital tours, wining and dining, you begin reflecting back on each program and your interview experience and finally having to rank the programs you would like to go to. Meanwhile the programs that you have interviewed with are also ranking you alongside the other applicants.

The programs can communicate with you if you are "very likely" "likely" "somewhat likely" or "not likely" to match with them. You as the applicant can say the same thing back to the program but are not allowed to say where you ranked one another. Then the deadline day for you to submit your rankings (about a month ago) and a month of waiting for a computer generated formula to determine your future and medical residency.

This is not a perfect system. It's more like a lottery really. There is the possibility that you will not match with any of the programs you applied to. If that's the case they have what's called a "scramble" where you and the programs are scrambling to fill all the available spots. All this will take place on Monday when you find out your destiny.

I think we are really hoping we'll match with our nearby hospital and program as that would allow us to stay where we are for four more years. If we don't we will move. The hours that residents are required to work and the short time off some places its 30 hours on and 10 off, having to commute an hour and a half each way is not conducive to living or having a family. We will definitely move so Eric won't have to drive far. I really don't want to be a widow and have gone through this lovely process of medical school for nothing. Although as much fun as it was to move with a 2 month old last time, I'd rather not. So I think I'm REALLY hoping to stay put. But it's not up to me.

So stay tuned for our Valentine's day/Match day our destiny is in the hands of a computer post sometime next week!

Grateful

Today I'm grateful. Grateful that Eric is not in Utah on a rotation. So grateful for what a wonderful man he is and such a wonderful husband. I'm grateful for my neighbor who snow blowed my driveway before we were even up. Grateful to have a warm house with heat and stocked with food. Grateful that I can stay home and watch the snow fall and drift and wind whip around my house. I'm grateful for 2 beautiful daughters who have so much love and enthusiasm for life. I'm grateful this pregnancy is almost over. I'm grateful for dear friends who love and support me and my family. I'm grateful for family. I'm grateful for the power of prayer. I'm grateful for facebook as crazy as it sounds and the connection and ties it provides me with friends and family. I'm grateful for washing machines and dryers. I'm grateful for my new couches, who knew how much you'd love a footrest? I'm grateful that medical school is almost done. I'll be even more grateful after February 14th when I find out if we are going to move or not. I'm grateful for medical care and the knowledge and expertise of doctors. I'm grateful to have a brother serving a mission for our church in Minnesota. I'm grateful for all wheel drive vehicles that ease my mind while driving in winter weather. I truly have much to be grateful for. I'm so blessed!

Emotional Roller Coaster Ride

There's nothing like a little drama in your life. This past month has had way too much drama for my liking. Between waiting to hear on legal approval of medical school rotations for Eric, coming up with back-up rotations just in case that one doesn't work out, then finding out the first one can work out legally although you've already canceled it, to canceling the back-up so the first one will work, then finding out the first one really won't work, to going back to the back-up that you've canceled to see if you really can still do it, I'm exhausted. Did you follow any of that? Nevermind I'm 30 weeks pregnant and have enough estrogen already in my house. Sometimes I really wish that I was earning a degree for all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes of a medical student. Granted none of this has been my doing but I've been right along for the ride in my already heightened hormonal and emotional state. I just hope it all works out, if it doesn't that means Eric will be working when our new baby is born and not be able to be home like we had anticipated after the birth. GRRR!

It's been a long day. One I don't ever want to repeat.

Growing!

This is my current youngest Sadie. She is a little ray of sunshine, if you don't believe me just spend a few minutes with her. She has grown up a lot in the last year and will turn 4 in March. I still can't believe how old she is! I think one of the best ways to describe Sadie is "rough love." If you haven't been squished, wrestled, or patted to death, you haven't been loved by Sadie. She is full of love, life, and enthusiasm. If I had to pick her favorite dessert or treat it would have to be anything chocolate. She has been known to have chocolate Chex, Hershey kisses, and chocolate milk for breakfast, a girl after my own heart. You can tell she's mine. Time marches on much too quickly. Her favorite buddy has got to be my dad. Those two are hilarious and feed off each other and silliness abounds everywhere. It's fun to watch the two talk "Elmer Fudd" style.

I love the language development and description process. Sadie came in my room the other morning and says, "Mom? Where are the blow nosers?" I had NO IDEA what she was talking about, I mean how many of you have a blow noser just lying about? Turns out she wanted the bulb sucker to help ease the congestion and runny nose. Gotta love her descriptions and experiments with words.

This is my sweet Brooklyn who just turned 5 years old in December. She has grown so much! I just looked up her 4 year old appointment info and she gained 8.25 pounds and grew 4.5 inches in a year! She is in the 97% for her height with kids her age and it shows. She towers over quite a few of her classmates. She's growing like a weed! She's not much of a little girl anymore and certainly not a toddler. She loves preschool and loves to help me cook. She doesn't miss a thing nor does she ever forget. She keeps me in line and out of trouble. If I had to choose a favorite dessert or treat for her it would be chocolate chip cookie dough, she loves dough! Her favorite place to be in the whole world is Grandma's house. She ADORES my mom, although adore is not a big enough word to describe the love Brooklyn shares with my mom. They are two peas in a pod.

Brooklyn is excellent at describing things and giving directions. She has a remarkable memory. This was my first year getting an ornament from my kids from school. It was a precious gift, truly. It was Brooklyn's hand print with her picture in the middle, talk about heart melter!! I asked her how she made it and she described it so well I could probably make it here at home. She doesn't miss a detail, I love that about her, she's so precise and wants everything to be exact.

I'm always amazed at how fast little ones grow! Above are the most recent ultrasound pictures of our upcoming arrival. At this point she was 1 pound 4 ounces and doing great! I'm on the final count down just starting the third trimester also known to me as the downhill climb. I'm also grateful that I'm FINALLY feeling better! 2/3 of a pregnancy later and all seems to be well minus the normal discomforts that come from feeling like a beached whale. I guess that means I need to spend more time in the water to help alleviate the beached part anyway, not to mention start training for Alcatraz again...yes I'm still planning on it. :)

Recent Quotations

"You're not Santa guys, you're just guys," says Sadie after I tell her Santa's watching.

"Why was Joseph speaking spanish?" asked Brooklyn after watching the Luke 2 Nativity video.

"Oh my goodness gracious gracious!" ~Brooklyn

Well, it's not much, but it's a post nonetheless.