Silver Lining

Ahhhhh yes, life as the only orthopedic surgeon at US Naval Hospital Guam is soon coming to an end for Carlos.  It has been a unique experience, and at times rough, but overall, it's safe to say that being on call 24/7 since the end of May just plain STINKS!  Since he was the only ortho doc around, that also meant at times we were on call together.  For the most part we got lucky and it wasn't an issue, but in the past 1.5 weeks, it did become an issue for us...twice.  Fortunately, the first time was a surgery case we already knew would take place, so I was able to arrange for Reece to have a sitter.  The second time came out of nowhere so I was moderately panic stricken.  Reece was with me as I was on my way to join friends for dinner. Carlos was going to catch up with us after a "quick" consult in the ED.  Well that quick consult turned into a OR case.  He called me before I arrived at my destination, so I did a little U-turn and back to the hospital I went...with the baby.  The entire time I kept thinking "what on earth do I do with Reece?  I need to be in the room, but at the same time, can't leave him hanging out by himself!"  My first thought was to take him down to the MBU (Mother/Baby Unit) and just park him at the nurses station.  I know the nurses and corpsmen down there and knew they would watch him and play with him...besides, Reece had been there before...I'm sure he'd remember the place from March 7th :)

Fortunately, one of my surgical techs had not left for home yet and she offered to stay and take care of him for us.  So while Mommy and Daddy worked together in the OR, Reece was well taken care of 25ft down the hall in our break room.  This is the one thing I for sure love about Guam...small community of folks in the hospital so you get to know one another and genuinely care to help each other out.

So back to Carlos.  Well, since his new ortho colleague arrived last week and is now in the process of checking in and getting himself and family settled, Carlos and I are breathing a sigh of relief that hopefully we will never have to put Reece through that again (not that Reece even had a clue, but man, did we feel so guilty!).  Now the other guy can be on call when I'm on call and Reece will always have either his Mommy or Daddy to take care of him.  Oh yes, the joys of dual military/dual working parents/dual parents who both have jobs that require call...etc.  Trust me, I know what you are thinking and I've already started the re-evaluation of all things career.  Problem is, I like the Navy...most of the time...and by the time I leave Guam, I'll have 11 years in.  9 more years is a long time, but it's only 9 more years and then I get my pension...and did I mention I'll only be 42?  Carlos keeps saying he doesn't know if he will stay in, but I have to tell you, he will stay in.  I say this because he is like me and that we just don't know how to get out.  Sure we know how to file the proper paperwork, but this has become so ingrained in us, that we really just don't know how to walk away from it.

Man, I keep getting off on a tangent :)  BACK to Carlos again...I think finally getting a break from jam-packed clinics and getting the help with the call schedule will be good for his morale.  Even though he won't admit it, the poor guy is exhausted.  Is it as bad as residency?  Heck no, but to live every day wondering if you should do this or that out of concern your pager will go off is no way to live!  Yay for freedom from that annoying pager and to the boat he goes!  Speaking of the boat, according to Carlos it is just perfect.  He took it out yesterday and just motored around in the harbor so he was close by if he did get paged.  I think it is pretty safe to say that his first weekend of no duty, I might not see him as he will be out on the deep blue sea all day!  Good for him though, he deserves it!

So I believe most of you have seen the recent pic of Reece I sent out.  The baby push-up pic.  I have to tell you, I keep going back to that picture on a daily basis, sometimes even multiple times a day.  First, I can't get over how strong he is.  He doesn't just go up on his hands and feet for a second, he will hold the position as he tries to figure out how to make himself move (you can see his frustration...he knows what he wants to do (crawl), but he doesn't know how to make it all go together).  He'll bend his leg in and keep it there, but can't figure out that the hands need to move as well.  Second, I can't get over how much he has grown and all that he has accomplished in his soon to be 5 months of life.  He has one bottom tooth already growing in and the second bottom tooth has broken ground and started to poke through his gums.  Really?  Make him stop growing please!  Every day is an adventure with him, but he is the best part of every day.  You can't help but smile when he flashes his smile at you and his giggle is enough to make you start laughing too.  I'll try to capture the giggle on video so you can all smile/laugh along as well.

On that note, I am off to bed.  As I sat here typing this, Carlos got paged from the ED and is on his way in to work to reduce a fracture...at 9pm.  The fun never ends :)

The joys of teething

Serious conversation with Reece

all around happy baby

Room for Improvement!

If there is one thing the Navy has taught me, it is that we are always ALWAYS looking at PI (Process Improvement) with the way we do things.  I'm going to work on my own PI project at home titled "Keeping up with Blogging."
PI objectives:
*work on ways to improve my time management so that I allow myself more time to update the blog
*improve upon my lazy night-time factor (where instead of taking a moment to type, I lay around and watch stupid TV (oh how I do enjoy the Bravo channel) or stream on Netflix
*Actually post the videos/pictures that I take with the intention of putting them on the blog
*Employ my husband to type the blog while I dictate...we all know I enjoy verbal communication so much better :)

Hmmmm...I'm sure there could be more objectives/goals, but that will do for now.   I don't want to aim too high :)

A few things going on for us Kennedys:
Carlos FINALLY got the part he was waiting on for his boat so he can now set sail out onto the big blue ocean.  I'm sure I won't see him at all this coming weekend!  Reece and I are going to wait until after we know everything is a-ok before we don our life vests (yep, they make infant life vests and Reece is ready to put his on!).  Hopefully we'll be out there soon and when we do, I'll take pics...and post them!

Reece had his 4 month well-baby appointment last Wednesday.  I can't believe it has been 4 months already.  Sigh.  He weighed in at 12lbs 15oz and 24 1/2 in.  He was also given permission from his pediatrician to start on solids (and by solids we are just talking about baby cereal for now).  He babbled and smiled during his entire appointment and just charmed his doctor to death.  I swear we are in trouble when he is older.  He also made sure to do his traditional watering of the exam table.  I think it is his way of protesting being stripped down to his birthday suit for an accurate weight.  As soon as his naked self is put down on the table the weight comes up and he celebrates by peeing all over the table.  We do a repeat performance every appointment.  As for the solid starting, he does ok with the whole cereal on a spoon thing.  He knows where the spoon is supposed to go, but I really wish he wouldn't try to "help" so much as he usually ends up covered in his cereal trying to put the spoon in his mouth.

Today I discovered a couple uninvited house guests living in our garage.  Two little kittens have taken up residence behind our generator.  I'm assuming because it is our rainy season (and oh is it ever), their mama found them a nice warm, dry place to bunker down.  Mama Cat is still with them and I don't have the heart to drive her out into the rain and back into the boonie animal lifestyle that exists for so many animals of Guam.  Her babies need her.  So, for now, it looks like we will have garage guests until they up and leave on their own.  Not sure if that will actually happen since I'm such a sucker for cute baby faces (human and animal) and started feeding/watering the cat/kittens.  Someone should just build me an ark and let me put all the animals who need a home on it.  It breaks my heart how many animals need someone to love them.

On that note, I leave you with a video of Reece playing in his exer-saucer/bouncy thingy.  Till next time!

Beach Baby

Reece had a great time at Gab Gab Beach...his first time at the beach and in the Philipine Sea!

Ma, how am I supposed to work on my tan?

working on my Sports Illustrated swimsuit pose

Reece's smirk

Getting ready for to put his foot into the ocean for the first time

Just one giant bath tub...he loved it!