MedWorm.com provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest items from the 'the underwear drawer' source. Thu, 08 Jan 2009 11:39:56 +0100 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2009/01/some-things-i-had-forgotten-about.html some things i had forgotten about newborn babies1.) Their breath smells like melted sweet butter.2.) They are so soft that even when you see yourself touching them, it takes a while for the actual sensation to register.3.) Apparently, they need their diapers changed a lot. Or at least more than I've been remembering to. (Source: the underwear drawer) the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2086826 Wed, 07 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2086826 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2009/01/bros-before-hos-so.html bros before hosSo...we're home! It took a little while to get things moving in the morning (as with anything in the hospital, there was no shortage of people who needed to sign this and complete that before we were allowed to walk out the door), but we managed to extricate ourselves from the machine relatively unscathed, and with an emesis tub full of freebies to boot. Freezy ass-pads, I love you.Cal made it to school today, and when he came home, I was glad to see him of course, and excited to start settling into our new two-kid household--but I have to admit that when he walked in that door, one of my first thoughts was, "Oh man, there isn't enough hand sanitizer in the world for this moment." Preschoolers. whose snot haven't they touched?Anyway, more updates later, but for now, just loo... the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2086825 Wed, 07 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2086825 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2009/01/mack-wei-ping-walrathjanuary-6th-2009.html and introducing...Mack Wei-Ping Walrath
January 6th, 2009, 1:09am
8lbs, 5oz, 19.5 inches
Worth the wait (Source: the underwear drawer) the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2083920 Tue, 06 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2083920 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2009/01/winner-of-staring-contest.html the winner of the staring contest (Source: the underwear drawer) the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2083919 Tue, 06 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2083919 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2009/01/already-planning-trying-to-convince-joe.html already planningTrying to convince Joe to run out to the one good sushi place that we've found in Atlanta and see if they'll make a take-out lunch for me for tomorrow. Come on, I haven't eaten since 7am! Don't make me eat hospital lunch! (Source: the underwear drawer) the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2080995 Tue, 06 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2080995 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2009/01/worrying-about-cal-1.html worrying about cal 1.0I wonder if he actually went to sleep at a reasonable time tonight without me or Joe there. If not, screw it, he can skip school tomorrow. Hell, he's already missed two and a half weeks for vacation, what's one more day? (Source: the underwear drawer) the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2080994 Tue, 06 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2080994 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2009/01/we-are-go-for-launch-i-had-ob-visit.html we are go for launchI had an OB visit this afternoon after work, and at the end of it, the OB asked, "So...do you want to go to L&D now?" Friend, you do not have to ask twice.Sitting in L&D now, 5cm and 50% effaced, head at 0 station. Let's have us a baby before tomorrow, shall we? (Source: the underwear drawer) the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2081003 Mon, 05 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2081003 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2009/01/on-homefront-they-havent-started-pit-to.html on the homefrontThey haven't started the PIt to augment things yet, so I sent Joe home to take care of our extrauterine kid. Hopefully he'll at least have a chance to stuff in some dinner and get Cal at least ready for (if not into) bed before anything real starts happening here. Cal's first day back at school is tomorrow, and to say that he's been off his schedule is...something of an understatement. I told Joe I would call if things looked like they were going faster than expected, but I think we'll be OK. We live a fifteen minute walk from the hospital--two minutes by car. (Source: the underwear drawer) the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2081002 Mon, 05 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2081002 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2009/01/like-some-damn-martyr-or-something.html like some damn martyr or somethingPeople keep walking in here all surprised that I'm just chilling here at 5cm without an epidural. Believe me, my pain threshold is not that high, it's just that I'm not that uncomfortable right now. And they keep asking me if I want my epidural now, for fear that I "won't be able to sit still" if I wait too long. Dude, I got wet tapped last time. I CAN AND WILL SIT STILL.They just started the PIt, though, so I might be changing my tune soon.(Is this weird that I'm blogging now? Maybe this is weird. But I have nothing left to do. I could watch CNN, but all they're showing is stuff about John Travolta's kid. I ordered some books from Amazon this weekend "for the hospital" but I guess I didn't order them early enough because they're not arriving until tomorro... the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2081001 Mon, 05 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2081001 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2009/01/my-goal.html my goal......is to have this kid before midnight, by the way. Did you hear that, kid? No more free ride. You're breathing air tomorrow.The contractions are definitely stronger on PItocin. I don't think I'm on the placebo arm of the study.Also, my blog and my Twitter stream are apparently becoming one. (Source: the underwear drawer) the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2081000 Mon, 05 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2081000 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2009/01/updates-from-joe-apparently-cal-is.html updates from joeApparently Cal is shoving down that corned beef and cabbage like some sort of Irish kid. If I'd known he liked sodium so much, I would have been lethally salting all his vegetables long ago. He (Cal, that is) will be in the bath and hopefully pajama-ed up by nine, so Joe can get back here and be bored along with me.On a completely unrelated note: you know the benefit of having an anesthesiologist as a patient? That they instinctively untangle and pass back all the monitoring cords and whatnot under the IV tubing. I knew all that training was good for something. (Source: the underwear drawer) the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2080999 Mon, 05 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2080999 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2009/01/maybe-i-should-sell-tickets-overnight.html maybe i should sell ticketsThe overnight resident just came in the the intern and two medical students "to say hi before we started doing anything to you." I know it's possibly hypocritical to say this, since I was a med student on OB seven years ago, but...four people? This better not be no damn peep show. (Source: the underwear drawer) the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2080998 Mon, 05 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2080998 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2009/01/epidural-in.html behold, anesthesia!Epidural in. Hey, these things DO work! (Source: the underwear drawer) the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2080997 Mon, 05 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2080997 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2009/01/so-maybe-it-wont-be-before-midnight-hi.html so maybe it won't be before midnightHi, still here. Sorry to leave you all hanging, we were watching "Batman" (the Heath Ledger one) on my laptop. It was good getting that epidural. Aside from the obvious reasons, it's nice being reminded what it feels like on the other side of one of those needles. We've also been AROM'ed (you know, they ruptured my membranes), so hopefully we'll see some pickup in the pace here and squirt this kid out already. Contractions anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes apart, hoping they will get organized and move the mail already.Wow, my legs are really numb. (Source: the underwear drawer) the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2080996 Mon, 05 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2080996 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2009/01/brick-prison-in-news-fairly-amusing.html brick prison in the newsFairly amusing piece in The New York Times about kids cramming for the admissions exam to my old high school. Given how hard these kids are studying, I have a sneaking suspicion that if I had to take the test today, I wouldn't get in. (And I don't mean if the 10 year-old me took the exam. I mean even if the 30 year-old me took the exam.) Nonetheless, I feel privileged to have been schooled among such academic titans. I mean, just look at us. Clearly, we were geniuses.Best line in the article?  Though probably only hilarious to those of us to went to high school in New York City?And what if they were not among the fewer than 200 students who gain seats out of a pool of up to 2,000 test-takers?“I’ll be sad,” said James Lee, a student at Intermediate School 119 ... the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2078696 Sun, 04 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2078696 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2009/01/unwisely-braving-horizontal-stripes-at.html unwisely braving horizontal stripes at 39 weeksAt this point, with prospects of a 2008 debut dashed and the weekend half over, I figure I'd almost rather just work most of this last week and have Cal 2.0 wait until our induction date (Friday, January 9th) to meet us. There are a couple of reasons for this, foremost of which is the fact that while the hospital at which we are going to deliver is pretty close to our house (a fifteen minute walk as a matter of fact, close enough that my preferred mode of transport home after my OB appointments is on foot), it is pretty far from the hospital where I work. If something happened while I was at work, I have been assured by many that someone would be freed up somehow to drive me into L&D, but the fact of it is that I have no concrete contingen... the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2077671 Sat, 03 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2077671 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2009/01/youre-birthday-boy-or-girl-fine.html you're the birthday boy or girlFine, endlessly gestating gigantic fetus. Just stay up in there. Just stay up in there FOREVER.(Reverse psychology, see.)Today, lacking anything else entertaining to do (the weather outside was sunny, but a bit cold to stay at the playground for anything more than half an hour or so), we decided to take a family trip to Chuck E. Cheese. That's right, Chuck E. Cheese. Remember when we used to live in Manhattan and, like, went to museums and street fairs and crap? THOSE DAYS ARE OVER. Now we go to the equivalent of a kiddie casino and eat pizza while watching animatronic mice sing cover versions of 80's pop standards. Stay classy, Atlanta!Cal was excited to go initially, but as many of you know, three year-olds are not quite sane, and because we offended him in... the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2073817 Thu, 01 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2073817 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/12/hopefully-last-meta-post-for-while.html hopefully the last meta post for a whileDespite my long-held reluctance to shut down or screen the comments section--what is hell do you think this is, Au, Nazi Germany?--I realized I should have shut the thing down a while ago when, the day after I finally pulled the plug, I just felt like this huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. It wasn't so much that I couldn't take the comments myself (though of course I didn't love reading the more crack-potty of them, they did on occasion have a certain amusement value) but I did cringe at the prospect of other people, like Joe or his family reading comments critical of them, and thinking that I instigated or goaded the more extremist faction in some way. As it is, Joe has asked me more than once in the past year to not write about Cal anymore, ... the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2073818 Wed, 31 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2073818 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/12/boundaries-i-think-something-is-wrong.html boundariesI think something is wrong when you start to dread updating your own blog.It could just be me, but over the past year or so, I feel like the culture of the commenting readership on this blog has changed. This is a personal blog, not a craft blog or a political blog or a cooking blog or a celebrity gossip blog, so the things I write about here are selected personal details of my life--my kid, my family, my job. In opening up one's personal life to a public readership, it is (I think) only fair to be prepared half-informed analysis or attacks or judgement from people who read about that life, and over the past eight years I think I've come to expect and accept that. I don't think that the things I write about are so revealing or inappropriate or beyond the pale compared to most per... the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2073819 Tue, 30 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2073819 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/12/turd-fest-2008-edition-last-night-joe.html DISCUSSION. Of course, things worked out fine the last time, as I'm sure they will this time around too, but it's just more a sense of incredulity that Joe sees this as a case in which I once again am trying to prove that I'm always right (mostly, though not invariably true), so much as a situation where I can't believe I have to explain why I'm a little surprised that we're having this conversation at all. (Source: the underwear drawer) the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2073820 Sun, 28 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2073820 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/12/holly-jolly-like-thanksgiving-i-think.html holly jollyLike Thanksgiving, I think this is the first Christmas that we haven't spent with family--most of our family, I think, is saving the plane fare for after Cal 2.0 emerges (and this may be wishful thinking, but it could be ANY DAY NOW, right?)--but I think we made an admirable go of it with just the three of us.(That is to say: the four of us.)I don't know who "MOW" is, but I hope he doesn't mind that I opened his present.In a moment of weakness, and perhaps against my better judgement, I got Cal these "Yo Gabba Gabba" figurines. So now he will grow up to do drugs and join a violence gang.The obligatory cookies, milk, and letter for Santa. Cal wants Santa to know: "DLDHDILLDLLHL."Which apparently means, "I took the liberty of pre-sampling the Nilla for you, and don't worry, they'r... the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2065198 Thu, 25 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2065198 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/12/37-weeks-i-know-this-is-bad-time-to-be.html 37 weeks I know this is a bad time to be too busy for frequent updates, but believe me, if I'd had the baby already, YOU'D KNOW. I'm looking forward to my maternity leave like a kid looks forward to summer vacation, not just because of, you know, the baby and everything, but because dude, I'M GOING TO HAVE SO MUCH FREE TIME. So until then, you can interpret no news as a sign that Ling Ling is still percolating, though, having reached 37 weeks this weekend, I am at kind of the ticking time bomb stage of things. I should have also explained to those childless/non-medical among us that being dilated to 2cm and 50% effaced (as I was at my last OB exam) doesn't actually give any temporal indication of the immediacy of labor, but it certainly is not a bad sign that if, at worst, I need to be in... the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2060852 Mon, 22 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2060852 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/12/why-i-can-now-never-leave-this-job.html why i can now never leave this jobBefore I started working at [Private Hospital], my only knowledge of Tab soda was from that scene in "Back to the Future" where Marty, newly transplanted to the year 1955, orders a Tab at the diner and the wise-cracking diner owner tells him that he can't give him the tab, he hasn't ordered anything yet. I figured that Tab, much like Max Headroom and Ms. Pac Man (Pac Woman?), was an artifact of the '80s that no longer existed outside of the vaults of collectors and connoisseurs of rare discontinued sodas.Not until I started work at [Private Hospital] and opened the fridge in the physician's dining room for the first time did I ever see a real can of Tab. It was there, amidst the Cokes and Sprites and little cartons of milk. The Tab cans were packaged in a ... the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2032995 Thu, 11 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2032995 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/12/benign-neglect-sometime-last-week-our.html benign neglectSometime last week our nanny asked me if it would be OK for her to keep an overnight bag at our house, in the event that the baby suddenly and precipitously decides to make an appearance and she needs to stay overnight with Cal while Joe and I were at the hospital. I told her that the overnight bag was a great idea, but it took me a full few days afterwards to realize that huh, with all this thinking ahead that other people are doing on my behalf, I should probably pack an overnight bag of my own at some point. Not really overly prepared for this baby, me. I noticed while getting dressed for work this morning that Ling Ling's position seems to have dropped somewhat, which is good news for the old breathing (increasing FRC is one of my favorite things, how about you?) but whic... the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2026830 Tue, 09 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2026830 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/11/thanks-so-i-was-originally-planning-to.html thanksSo I was originally planning to detail the makings of our First Family Thanksgiving (not that we haven't celebrated Thanksgiving before, but usually we're with a bigger group of family, with little or no cooking involved)--in my frenzied over-ambition, I even had a notion of live-blogging our preparations--but then I noticed that the food wasn't looking very beautiful and that we had somehow forgotten to include in our preparation any green vegetables, giving our entire meal a sort of beige palette reminiscent of institutional cooking, minus the styrofoam partitioned serving trays. So that's why, with the exception of that one picture of Cal mixing the cornbread stuff, and some pictures of Joe basting the half-done turkey, there are no pictures of our meal. Pity. I took most of the l... the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1998854 Sun, 30 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1998854 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/11/all-he-needs-is-bucket-and-shovel-cal.html all he needs is a bucket and a shovelCal "helping" mix the dry ingredients for the cornbread. Though I suspect this was less for the love of cornbread and more for the novelty of having his own private sandbox.(Incidentally, Thanksgiving culinary lesson learned, part the millionth: do not try to cook cornbread in a toaster oven. Unless you really love the taste of cardboard, in which case--save yourself the hassle, and just eat the box the cornmeal came in.) (Source: the underwear drawer) the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1996213 Thu, 27 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1996213 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/11/into-light-lets-talk-for-moment-about.html into the lightLet's talk for a moment about light.I don't have a lot of weird hang-ups (or so I'd like to think), but one that I am aware of is a sensitivity to light. Not in that vampire way, or like in that xeroderma pigmentosum Nicole-Kidman-in-"The Others" way, but just to the quantity and quality of light in my living space. Namely, I like a lot of light, and it has to be warm light. If it were up to me and I had no conscience or safety reservations or knowledge of our electricity bill whatsoever, I would outfit our entire house with 150 watt bulbs and keep them blazing all day long.There are some lights in our new house that I hate, though. This is one of them.It is a single bulb over the sink that Joe got to replace one that blew. He maintains that he got the same kind of power-save... the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1990560 Tue, 25 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1990560 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/11/33-weeks-first-pictoral-update-biggie.html 33 weeksFirst, a pictoral updateBiggie Smalls is getting more biggie, less smalls, and, I can only imagine, a little disgruntled at the increasingly cramped conditions of his living quarters. As, frankly, am I.Cal's third set of grandparents came to visit us this weekend, which was fun. Cal got to do his cute act (like many kids, I imagine, he is always much more cute with adult guests than he is with his parents) and got to natter on about all manner of topics, each only tangentially related to the last. This last exchange amused me, though.CAL(lifting up Grandpa Bart's shirt)Why is your belly big?GRANDPA BART(Patting Cal on the head)Too many good meals.CALDo you have a baby in there?GRANDPA BARTNo, just too much food.CALDoes the doctor need to fix your belly?MICHELLE(Explaining)Cal's oth... the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1984710 Mon, 24 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1984710 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/11/cals-birthday-will-involve-beer.html cal's birthday will involve a beer exchangeCal just got invited to a birthday party for a kid in his class at one of the local bouncy-house indoor inflatable playgrounds. The invitation stipulated that in lieu of presents for the birthday girl, all the guests are to bring a book, and at the end of the party all the kids will do a "book exchange," so that everyone can go home with a new book. Which, I have to say, is a really nice way to do things, and a cool way to send everyone home with a little something instead of a bag full of goody bag junk, promote non-materialism with respect to the birthday kid, all that good jazz. (Yes, it would be EVEN BETTER if we all brought toys and books to donate to ORPHANS or something, but hey, you can ask people to do that at your party.)But another part... the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1974903 Wed, 19 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1974903 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/11/100-steps-kinda-some-time-ago-i.html 100 steps (kinda)Some time ago, I remember seeing a photo project on the internet called "100 steps" (or something like that) which challenged people to take a camera with them on a routine walk, and take a photo of something, anything interesting every 100 steps of that journey. I thought the idea was pretty cool, but at the time, I never really got around to it, because honestly, I am always in a big fat rush.I don't get to pick up Cal from school that often, maybe once every week or two as my work (and OB appointment scheduling) allows, but every time I walk there to get him, it always seems like the weather is perfect and the light is just right and I always wish that I had a camera with me. So today I was walking to get Cal from school and thinking those same old thinks, when I realiz... the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1968658 Mon, 17 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1968658 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/11/big-guy-ok-i-know-that-this-may-be.html a big guyOK, I know that this may be pushing your tolerance for Cal stories to post this right after yesterday's post, but seriously, this school art project that they sent home from school just cracked me up, partially because it reminded me of this. (This is supposed to be a self-portrait with commentary, I assume. The teachers asked all the kids the same questions and then they typed up the answers.) (Source: the underwear drawer) the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1947030 Mon, 10 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1947030 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/11/babys-first-prank-yesterday-morning-i.html baby's first prankYesterday morning, I heard Joe telling Cal from downstairs, "Go show Mommy!"  Thump thump thump.Cal materialized at the top of the steps, holding a cup from the local coffee shop.  "Mommy, look what I'm drinking!" he said, taking a giant swig from the spewing hot lava hole that coffee cup makers seem to think will somehow prevent coffee enthusiasts from burning their tongues off."Cal...what are you drinking?  Coffee?  Coffee isn't for kids, right?"A small pause.  "It's juice!  IT'S JUICE!  I played a trick on you!"Joe's voice from downstairs, "I rinsed out the cup and put juice in it."Cal again, delighted, "I tricked you!  I played a trick on you!"I have to say, it was pretty good.  Not quite as good as that time in med school when Andy and I pranked one of the ... the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1947031 Sun, 09 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1947031 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/11/mo-money-mo-problems-interesting-thing.html mo' money, mo' problemsThe interesting thing about having a blog (and I say this with some perspective, having been at this game for a little more than eight years, since the days people called these things "online journal" and when I thought that writing with yellow text on a royal blue background showcased my IMPECCABLE DESIGN AESTHETIC) is that people really feel like they know you. Sometimes it's nice, like when people refer back to old entries from med school, or remark on how fast Cal is growing up, that sort of thing. And sometimes it's a little strange. One has to understand when reading my blog is that though I talk about my personal life, and to a lesser extent my work life, what I write about here is about 25% of the picture, sometimes even less. Not everything is for sharing, a... the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1943284 Fri, 07 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1943284 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/11/come-for-credits-stay-for-grandchild-so.html come for the credits, stay for the grandchildSo my mom is flying in tonight to visit for a few days! Of course, I would like to think that she would have visited us anyway, and the fact that the American Academy of Ophthalmology annual meeting (with all its magically delicious CME credits) is in town this weekend is just a COMPLETE CONICIDENCE. (Source: the underwear drawer) the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1938914 Thu, 06 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1938914 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/11/brand-new-day-for-all-thrilling-and.html brand new dayFor all the thrilling and historic aspects of this election, and there were many, the thing that excites me the most is the idea that years from now, when Cal is my age, he may not understand why it was such a huge deal to us old geezers that way back when, we managed to elect as our nation's 44th president a man named Barack Hussein Obama.Today is a good day. (Source: the underwear drawer) the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1938915 Wed, 05 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1938915 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/11/done-and-done.html Done and done. (Source: the underwear drawer) the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1933024 Tue, 04 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1933024 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/11/triumph-of-five-minute-costume-ladies.html the triumph of the five-minute costumeLadies and gentlemen, meet Captain Lightening Bolt.I came home from school to be told that Cal refused to wear his butterfly wings for the Halloween parade at school, so I knew that we were in some trouble if we wanted to try and go trick-or-treating that evening. So we just started randomly grabbing at stuff. The black shirt and pants, Cal already had on. To that, we added Cal's rainboots. A red stocking cap of Joe's that he got for a "Lust in Space" party in med school. Some construction paper. And thus, Captain Lightening Bolt was born. Not as cool as being bitten by a radioactive spider or being accidentally exposed to the blast from a gamma bomb of his own invention, but whatever. Captain Lightening Bolt, he is the Joe Six-Pack of the superhero wo... the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1926360 Sat, 01 Nov 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1926360 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/10/first-cosby-sweater-now-this-it-hit-me.html first the cosby sweater, now thisIt hit me suddenly at 3am last night (whatever, this morning) why Cal may have suddenly reversed his position on the wearing of Halloween costumes. Earlier last week, I let him watch "Little Bill," which is one of the shows on Noggin that I actually think is kind of cute and has some mild redeeming value. So far this list is short and just includes "Little Bill" and "Blue's Clues" circa The Steve Years.  Not that I won't let him watch the other shows too, because lord, how am I supposed to get anything done around here otherwise?  It's just that I'm muttering sarcastic commentary under my breath while they're on.  For the record, because I know you are keeping one on what I think about sundry children's television programming:"Little Bear": Boring, old... the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1924402 Fri, 31 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1924402 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/10/i-hope-you-understand-this-just-means.html i hope you understand this just means less candy for everyoneFor the past three years, Joe and I have chosen Cal's Halloween costume for him, OVER-CONTROLLING PARENTAL INCLINATIONS and need to live vicariously though our offspring aside, for the simple reason that Cal had no idea what Halloween was, nor could he care less about dressing up. However, this year, he is a three year-old man, so I decided to ask him for the first time what he wanted to dress up as for Halloween.CAL(Promptly)A butterfly.MICHELLEOh, a butterfly! That's a nice costume. What kind of butterfly?CALA pink one!MICHELLE(Not wanting to discourage the boy, though worrying somewhat about schoolyard mockery)Well, I guess that should be easy enough to do...CAL(Reconsidering)No, wait, a red butterfly. An orange butterfly.MICH... the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1917860 Wed, 29 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1917860 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/10/29-weeks-fetus-he-grows.html 29 weeksThe fetus, he grows.So we're at 29 weeks here, which means that we have somewhere in the range of about two and a half months to go before we launch Cal 2.0, a.k.a. The Do-Over.  In terms of my maternity leave, I am planning to use a mixture of vacation time, sick days, and unpaid leave to total six weeks, which is the amount of time I took off when Cal was born.  Again, it is hard to say this knowing full well that I am going to be stepping into a GREAT BIG PILE OF SHIT in telling you yes, I have decided of my own volition, pressured by no one, that I will be taking but six weeks off after the birth of my second child.  However, there are a number of constraints, both practical and financial, that have factored into this decision, the top two of which are that 1.) I am at prese... the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1911292 Mon, 27 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1911292 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/10/gold-star-so-today-was-cals-gold-star.html gold starSo today was Cal's "Gold Star Day." I know, I didn't know what that meant either. Apparently, it's this thing in his class where every kid gets a turn to lead circle time, which so far as I can ascertain involves something with pointers and calendars and talking about the letters and numbers of the week, not unlike on Sesame Street. There may be singing and hand movements somewhere in there. Oh, and by the way, your parents are encouraged to come for the morning to witness your GLORY.Joe and I could not go to Gold Star Day.I mean, I suppose we could have if we absolutely needed to, but it would have involved taking a day off work, and since I just started my job a few months ago (and am incidentally hoarding vacation days for maternity leave) and Joe is but a lowly serf fellow, it... the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1905779 Fri, 24 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1905779 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/10/morning-commute.html Morning commute. (Source: the underwear drawer) the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1894811 Wed, 22 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1894811 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/10/but-he-was-still-hungry-i-think-real.html but he was still hungryI think the real litmus test at work for separating out who has kids from who doesn't is seeing which people actually recognize the artwork on my scrub cap, and who just asks me, "Why do you have pictures of food on your head, and why does all the food have a hole in it?" (Source: the underwear drawer) the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1894812 Tue, 21 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1894812 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/10/home-improvement-we-unpacked-bit-after.html home improvementWe unpacked a bit after we moved, of course, but after the initial phase of unpacking of what we needed immediately (seasonal clothes, pots and pans, textbooks for work), our unboxing efforts kind of...stalled out. Sure, there were many moments where we would kick feebly at the moving boxes that still continued to line every wall, occasionally stopping to unpack an item or two before pronouncing ourselves way too tired from work, or (more often) willing the items to unpack themselves, but after a while, we started to get used to living in a shantytown, which is perhaps the most dangerous position of all. However, it was starting to get embarrassing, so these past few weekends, we've been making a little more serious effort at home improvement. Our bedroom and closets are st... the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1888967 Sun, 19 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1888967 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/10/new-toys-cal-is-getting-pretty-good-at.html new toysCal is getting pretty good at riding his new bike.  I can tell his confidence is growing because last week, he didn't want to ride on any kind of downhill slope because he felt nervous going too fast, and now he is racing down all the hills.  I can't really run that fast anymore (really, I never could run that fast--I'm just using the pregnancy as an excuse), but honestly, I think that most people would have trouble keeping up with Cal on wheels now, unless they were riding alongside him on a bike themselves.Also, the new camera came!  It is rad.  I still have to learn about the features, and I haven't really taken any pictures that amount to anything more interesting than stupid family snapshots so far, but I do like what I'm seeing with the D90 so far.  New toys are fun.(Her... the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1888065 Sat, 18 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1888065 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/10/gravity-i-noticed-this-evening-that-cal.html gravityI noticed this evening that Cal had a bruise on the left side of his face, so I decided to ask him about it.MICHELLEHey Cal, did you hurt yourself today?CALNo, I didn't get hurt, just something fell down.MICHELLEWhat fell?CALMy cheek.MICHELLEAha. (Source: the underwear drawer) the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1883252 Thu, 16 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1883252 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/10/sweet-so-i-dont-have-gestational.html sweetSo, I don't have gestational diabetes! How was your day?I won't bore you with the details of how I had to chase down someone at my OB's office, and how I have some serious doubts, given that there was no action that needed to be taken based on the results, that anyone ever would have phoned me to tell me that I was in the clear, at least until my next office appointment. But never you mind about that. I passed the glucose tolerance test. Ling Ling is not a macrosomic sugar baby, he is just huge because he is a mutant. How comforting to us all.I guess it probably wasn't the best idea to have Carbs Ahoy for breakfast the day of my initial glucose screening test, but since they explicitly told me that I didn't need to be fasting, and since I didn't get to my appointment until the afterno... the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1879765 Wed, 15 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1879765 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/10/diabeetus-can-someone-explain-to-me-why.html diabeetus?Can someone explain to me why the serial glucose checks in the three hour glucose tolerance test can't be done by fingerstick?  Honestly, if there's a good reason I'll totally buy into it, but since there was no real-time readout of my results and the lab people refused to look the results up for me (despite confirming that the results were, in fact, back from the central lab) it just means that I just spent three and a half hours sitting in the waiting room with absolutely no answers to show for it.  So as for how the testing went, I guess it went...fine?  In that I didn't die and was kept moderately entertained by the metric ton of electronics I toted along with me (iPod, laptop, etcetera).  But in terms of how it went in a larger sense, stay tuned.  I am hoping for the be... the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1875941 Tue, 14 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1875941 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/10/now-i-will-have-three-children-i-know.html now i will have three childrenI know we are not supposed to be buying unnecessary things in These Uncertain Economic Times (and perhaps hunkering down in a bunker with our liquidated assets instead, waiting for the End of Days) but dude, with a new bike, a beautiful autum, a new baby on the way and three sets of grandparents due to visit all in the next few weeks, having a functional camera started seeming less and less like an unecessary thing. And after ascertaining that they don't, in fact, manufacture the Nikon D70 anymore, and that fixing our old D70 (whatever is ailing it--the camera version of leprosy, perhaps) might cost at least half as much as a new camera, we decided that we should upgrade and I ordered the Nikon D90, on the condition (per Joe) that this was to be our joint earl... the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1870537 Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1870537 http://theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com/2008/10/sugar-sugar-this-didnt-come-as-total.html sugar sugarThis didn't come as a total surprise to me--with the apparent hugeness of The New One documented on ultrasound and a passing knowledge of the physiologic changes of pregnancy, this was something I was on the lookout for--but I apparently didn't pass my glucose screening test.  (For those not in the know, this is a 50 gram glucose challenge that they give pregnant ladies at around 24-28 weeks to check for insulin tolerance that can be induced by placental hormone production.)  The cutoff for blood glucose one hour after the glucose challenge (essentially a slug of orange-flavored Fanta packaged to look all medical) for this initial screening is 140--some even more conservative practitioners make 130 the cutoff point--and I think that my blood sugar after an hour of chugging the... the underwear drawer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1870538 Sat, 11 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1870538