the dizzy dance.

Okay, so it's not Monday anymore. But the fabulous ladies linking up for Medical Mondays have written some pretty great stuff, so any of you readers who are med students, spouses, medically inclined, nursing students, or someday-midwives, check out their stuff! 

I don't have tons of time to write these days, but I figured explaining the dizzy dance that is our lives these days would be a nice update for friends and family readers as well. I'm going to answer some questions we get pretty frequently from people we bump into and haven't seen in a while (which is almost everyone because we don't see much of anyone these days). 

1. How far are you guys? Where are you at in school? What do you do all day?

Mrs.

Mr.

Well, that's a fabulous question. I think sometimes we lose track ourselves. Chris is on the tail end of MSIII, meaning he is in his final semester of his 3rd year of medical school. He no longer spends his days in the classroom, but instead is doing clerkship rotations at many different hospitals in most of the main branches of medicine (surgery, pediatrics, OB/GYN, psych, etc.) He is enjoying the being back in the hospital so much and truth be told, he's killing it (as in doing great....not the patients....). I don't want to brag BUT he's such a smart and compassionate person and he shines in the clinical setting. He will be finished May of next year, 2014 (I CAN'T BELIEVE WE CAN TYPE THAT NOW).  I, on the other hand, am actually nearing the end of my midwifery education (GULP). I'm in my second to last semester and will be finished in August (hopefully taking comps/boards/etc. in a similar time frame). My peers and I will walk for our master's degree graduation in May (because it was either walk 3 months early or 9 months late). I am currently on my intrapartum rotation, meaning after two semesters of all prenatal/GYN visits I'm finally attending births! And it's thrilling and terrifying and wonderful all at the same time and I'm totally in love with it. I've been in this clinical 2 weeks and I've caught 2 babies. I'm hoping things pick up soon. Most of the skills I need to learn the most can only improve with experience so I just sit and wait for the babies to come. I still have three classes I'm taking this semester as well, so there's plenty of work to be done as all these babies decide they're not ready to be born. 

Babies and pelvises!

My lovely sutured chicken breasts, practicing vaginal and perineal repairs.

2. Do you ever see each other?

Yes and no. It depends on the day. Now that my schedule has turned to call instead of scheduled clinic hours, some days I'm around a lot and some days I'm not (I was at the hospital from 1AM to 4:30 AM two nights ago to go catch my second baby!). Conversely, it also depends on his schedule. Certain rotations have been more time intensive for him (ex. surgery, OB) whereas other have been less so. Pediatric outpatient was a fun one with a nice schedule. On OB he was taking call overnight at the hospital. The past few weeks we've been having our evenings together which is nice. We've also carved out some time to take a few little trips within a few hours of home and attempted to catch a few movies (we got a bunch gift of cards for Christmas and my birthday...best gift you can get us!). It's been nice spending some good time together. I've also made an effort to meet him at the hospital for dinner. The food is usually super cheap.

Date night at the children's hospital.

3. What kind of doctor does Chris want to be?

This one is easy! Since his undergrad days working as an EMT he has wanted to be an emergency medicine physician. I think this is such a fabulous fit for him. During his rotations he has also enjoyed internal medicine and OB. 

4. What kind of midwife do you want to be?

Well, I'm going to school to be a certified nurse midwife (CNM) meaning I was(/am) an RN before going back to school. There are many different credentials for midwifery for varying entry into practice and education levels and it can be quite confusing. To learn more about midwives and our philosophy/model of care you can read about us here. For definitions of the different midwifery governing organizations and different types of midwives click here. CNMs tend to work in the hospital setting but may also practice in attached or freestanding birth centers or at home births. I hope to have an opportunity to pursue birth center practice in the future but am also really enjoying my time at my current hospital clinical site. We'll see where this path leads me.

5. WE WANT PICTURES OF VIESA, DANGIT.

Okay, that's not a question but our dog is really cute and awesome and is the perfect med dog. She is patient with us and forgiving when we both spend long days attending to our respective patients. She is the best stress reliever and gives us a great excuse to get outside. 

We love you, Vies. I don't think we'd be able to survive all this without you!

There's a tiny glimpse at what's going on with us. I can't go any further because I have a study guide and an assignment due tonight and I'm on call tomorrow! Happy reading, friends.

Love,

Ash