Intern Year: Week One

The last week of June Steve and I both felt the clock start ticking down toward that ever approaching D-day: the start of the dreaded intern year.

If you're not up on your medical lingo, "Intern Year" is the first year of a doctor's residency. Bottom of the doctoral food chain, if you will. "Residency" is the stretch of years when you get a paycheck, and you are a doctor, but you are also supervised by other, more experienced residents, and an "attending physician," who has been in the field for a long time and is in charge of making sure things go smoothly as you get accustomed to doctorhood. They mentor you, teach you, have to sign off when you write prescriptions, etc.

So right now, the hubs is an Emergency Medicine intern. This year is sort of similar to his third year of med school, in that he will have to "rotate" through several different services in addition to spending time in the Emergency Department. He'll alternate between Emergency and other relevant services (like OB/Gyn, the Medical ICU, and Trauma Surgery) so he can continue to learn how to treat all the crazy things that come in to the ER. (Which, actually, is called the ED, for Emergency Department. Sorry, George Clooney.)

This month he is on trauma surgery, which is rumored to be one of the worst (most work and time-intensive) rotations he will have. While it hasn't been a cakewalk, he is excelling. He gets up most mornings at around 4:30am, and usually gets home from work around 7:15 or 7:30pm (his latest night so far he didn't get back until 10pm). He works his tail off, and keeps a smile on his face, both of which make me really proud. So many people have warned us about their horrible intern year experiences; I am thankful for Steve's positive attitude and enthusiasm. It isn't so bad to send him out into a world of hard work when I know he's got his head in a good place.

The kids and I have been slowly easing back in to the swing of life with a working Daddy, and they've each struggled a little with his being gone when they wake up in the morning (sad) and not getting home until after dinner. Last week, when Steve started going to work just 9-5 for orientation, Charlie would say, sadly, "I go work with you? I go hah-pital with you?" to Steve as he left each morning. Heartbreaking! Then he woke up on Monday morning and Daddy was already gone, and we couldn't go get him to play no matter how many times he asked, and he was a bit of a wreck.

Even pizza for dinner didn't help very much. :(

The first few nights his sleep was disrupted (he kept getting out of bed to see Daddy, I think) and he every heartbreak (his truck running out of batteries, any dropped piece of food) turned into a lament for Daddy time. But he's doing much better now, but he definitely looks forward to Steve getting home each night. Gracie told me not to worry that "Charlie likes Daddy better. He still loves you."

While we are all still struggling with the limited together-time, I think we will all hit our stride the longer we're at this. The kids and I are already settling in to a new routine with art time, book reading, errands, and trips to the gym.

Here is a photo of my belly in gym clothes as proof. Charlie is about to check on my belly button.

Steve leaves the kids notes on styrofoam plates every morning, so they have a little Daddy moment to enjoy at breakfast.

And even though dinner prep is crazy again because Charlie just can't seem to deal with not being fed the moment I begin to cook, the rest of the evening is actually pretty sweet. I've reinstated bath time, which became kind of a weekly tradition in the winter and spring haha. Now we do one at least every other night, mostly because it is good filler--kids in the water are happier than kids on dry land. Bubble bath helps, too.

Saturday I decided we should all watch a movie, because not having Daddy home on Saturday is the worst. We love him. :) Plus, the kids endured three long errands with minimal whining that morning. Well done, kiddos. Thanks for being adorable.

Steve makes sure to call if he can get home so the kiddos get a little Daddy time before bed, so once everyone is bathed and pajama'd we sit on the couch by the front window and read books so we can watch for his car. The calamity that erupts when he pulls up makes the "Beliebers" at a Justin Bieber concert look tame. We love this doctor guy.