Happy Anniversary!

Happy 2 years (and a week) to my wonderful husband! Last week was our 2 year anniversary. Rather than celebrate then we (by we I mean I) fell asleep on the couch after eating frozen dinners. We did manage to change out of scrubs and go out Saturday night to a nice dinner and drinks afterwards at a wine bar. Cheers to a great 2 years, and many more to come!

Rose Bowl 2011

Go Frogs!! We had a great time in Passadena cheering on the Frogs as they won the Rose Bowl. Wisconsin definitely had more fans there but they weren't so loud after the game!

New Years Eve we hung out with fellow frogs at the hotel bar.

Tom and Tim Bates

Julie, Mary, Lauren

We found Santa at the hotel bar...naturally he is a frog fan!

We went to the TCU tailgate on New Years Eve at the Staples Center

TCU tailgate on Game Day...no Red allowed!

Stole this picture from the web but the fly by was awesome and you can see where the red and purple divide!

Wisconsin had an amazing showing of fans but thankfully fan numbers didn't matter!

It was SO awesome after we won!

For those that couldn't make it, here is a really (poor quality) video after we won!

Go Frogs!

Merry Christmas from a Snowy St. Louis

Santa came! And he brought my parents! We had a wonderful few days with them. They cooked, they cleaned, and they brought wine...what more could we ask for!

Mom made a wonderful Christmas meal.

Santa brought us lots of goodies!

Mom and Dad face-chatting with Cate on Christmas day.

The dogs loved the Christmas Day Snow.

Turkey Day...

Happy Thanksgiving!

So I have to tell you all what a great husband I have. I had to work this Thanksgiving (booo) so I told John that he was in charge of Thanksgiving dinner. He kept telling me that he was going to get Imo's pizza, which is the absolute worst pizza in all of St. Louis. I thought maybe he would surprise me and get a dinner from one of the nice grocery stores but I never thought he would cook an entire meal. So I was absolutely surprised to come home to a table set with our china and crystal and a house smelling of turkey! John had texted with my mom and gotten the recipes to all my favorite Thanksgiving foods including turkey, dressing (my grandfather's recipe), green beans (the best!), mashed potatoes, and more. I couldn't believe it!

Thanks John for making a crappy work day a great Thanksgiving!

Work, work, work...

Sometimes a certain patient just gets to you heart. You're not sure why that particular patient does, but she does. I've had a couple in particular that I will never forget. One was a patient that I took care of for 16 days post partum last year as she struggled to get better. She always had a good attitude and was a pleasure to see everyday. She did finally improve and she went home to take care of her baby. I saw her a few weeks later and she was smiling from ear to ear as she talked about how much she loved being a mom. Her kindness I will keep forever.

I have another special patient right now that has been such a trooper and managed to smile despite a rough few weeks. On Friday her condition worsened significantly (very scary) and we had to deliver by C/S. This will likely be the only baby she has (another pregnancy would be to risky for her health) and was only 420g at birth (less than 1 lb). The baby was 3 days old today when we were told she needed to get to the children's hospital as soon as possible because the baby had taken a turn for the worse. Once she got there they withdrew care and the baby died in her arms. Her sadness I will keep forever.

Sometimes our job is amazing. Sometimes it just sucks. Wonder which tomorrow will be.

Ok, so it's been a while...

A long while! I'm going to try and get back into this whole blogging thing again. We'll see how long it lasts this time! Round 3!

We got back last week after a wonderful long weekend in Utah. Thanks to the Bate's for inviting us and welcoming us into their home. Thanks to a random friend of Amy's whothat got us moved from Row 58 to Row 15. And thanks to TCU for kicking the crap out of Utah!

"Hail all hail, TCU..."

Sad Utah fan sitting in the TCU section, I think at one point she was crying.

The stadium and surroundings are absolutely beautiful

My new boyfriend Luke.

Tim and Tom and all the boys. The kids were so much fun!

Hope to see everyone at the Championship Game!

The Good and the Bad

Wow! What a crazy year it has been. Obviously we haven't kept up our blog very well, but we mark the day a victory if we haven't cried or if we managed to sleep >7 hours. Intern year has been crazy busy but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I truly love my program, the people in it, the patients, the attendings, but maybe not the hours! I have been a part of some of the happiest deliveries and some of the saddest. I have sadly become an expert at telling someone they have had a miscarriage, an IUFD (intrauterine fetal demise), or are about to deliver a severely premature baby that won't survive. Looking back I'm not sure how I've had the strength. The stories are some of the saddest truths I've known. But yet I think they make each successful delivery to a happy family even more joyful. They make me appreciate the happy things in my life.

So here's to all those happy and sad stories in life. May your days be full of the happy ones but may we learn something from each.

Sweet Baby Cate

Lazy night in a hammock in Mexico

Our Pretty Girls