Exciting stuff!

Locking keys in car
I managed to lock my electronic smart key in my Prius last week. Now, my parents, as well as Oliver, another Prius-driver, have told me that this is actually physically impossible (what I thought, too, before I went and did it!). Because the key supposedly "triangulates" position between the driver's, passenger's, and trunk doors, it is not supposed to let you lock it in the car; however, I somehow found a way to do this last week when Phi, Anika, and I stopped at Panera for lunch (I think by hitting the door handle lock before I exited the car... I seem to forget about the keys because, with keyless [in essence, touchless] entry, I usually enter and exit the car when on errands w/o ever seeing or using my keys!). In any case, those guys can verify that I could not, in fact, get into any of the doors from outside the car while my keys sat neatly in my bag in the passenger seat. I was very panicky and worried that AAA would not be able to unlock smart Priuses (Priii??), but indeed they came expeditiously to bail me out. Phew.

Billy Joel...
... was performing @ Arco Arena here in Sac on Tuesday night! Amy, Kate, and I had gotten tickets a long time ago, and he was fantastic! I almost didn't go to the concert (see below; this is also why I don't have pics), but am soooooo glad I did! He was not only a great performer (he played for nearly 2 1/2 hours!) but also a phenomenal entertainer, with tons of really funny and witty jokes throughout the evening! I have not really been to many (well, really any) *pop* concerts, but this one was worth every minute and penny! Amy also has amazing luck (this apparently happens all the time to her @ concerts-- she's a good person to take with!)-- before the concert started, a worker guy tapped my shoulder, pulled us aside (I thought we were in trouble for something!), and wondered if we were interested in moving down to the lower level, to better seats closer to the action ("yes, yes, yes!" Amy cried :)) that were worth double the price of our original tickets.

Another continuity delivery
I got an e-mail earlier in the week from an OB NP who followed the prenatal course of a pt I saw a couple times early in her pregnancy (i.e. the first week-month I was an intern!) but who transferred her care to this provider on a sister-in-law's recommendation. Since the NP doesn't do deliveries herself and the pt was very concerned about who would be there (i.e. no male providers, etc.) and remembered me, I received an email to see if I was interested/willing. Now, this was a very difficult decision because, in essence, I (as a FP provider with the goal to provide "continuity" prenatal care and do the delivery) was abandoned (we had multiple discussions about her continuing with me) in favor of the OB dept; however, I really did want to do the right thing in this situation. So I went to her appt. Tuesday morning and it didn't look like she, contracting already, was going to make it past her due date (Sunday) to where I would actually be scheduled to be on the L and D deck. The rest of the day was very anxiety-ridden for me, as I awaited the page that she'd come in in active labor.

Sure enough, around 5:00 p.m., after we'd made plans to meet up around 6:30 to head to the concert, I got a call from a fellow intern in triage saying that the patient was 4 cm, had SROMed (broken her water) at home, and so I went in to help admit her. Although she was a primip (1st baby, where things often progress very slowly), I was so nervous and planned to just stay there at the hospital to do her cervical checks, manage things, etc., so as to not even have a chance to miss the delivery. However, wiser and more experienced residents convinced me that there was no way I could not go to my concert and let things like this run my life (and virtually guaranteed that she would not deliver before midnight). Truly, I was struggling big-time w/ this decision which, in essence, forced me to choose between a commitment I felt I had made (by this time) to this patient and personal enjoyment which somehow I can write off fairly easily, although I wasn't sure that I could really enjoy the concert b/c I'd be so concerned about the baby coming in my absence!

I'm glad I went to the concert. I had my pager on the entire time, asking them to page me if she progressed to 9-10 cm, as I drove separately and could just rush back (Arco is about 20 min. from the hospital), but it didn't even go off! When I returned to the hospital after the concert, around 11 p.m., she was still at only 5 cm. Phew! Things progressed quickly from there (it was almost like she was waiting for my return!), and I got to deliver the little baby girl around 2:30 a.m.! It was incredibly rewarding, and it is always such a rush to get to do a delivery when you know the patient in this continuity sense, which reinforces the whole reason I decided on FP as a field; however, again, the kind of dilemma I faced is one that I know will plague me my whole career and which I need to learn how to deal with more effectively...

Speedy trips to the grocery store
This is very exciting news: about a week ago or so, I figured out (with Shomir's suggestion) that I could get from my house to the grocery store on Folsom blvd in about 5 minutes if I took hwy 50! For the last 8 months, I've been driving the 10-12 minutes through town, with stoplights, etc. It didn't even cross my mind that I should try the highway, as who takes the highway to the grocery store?! For someone who is (or chronically feels) short on time, this shortcut is an incredible time-saver!

California February
Picture this: 73 degrees and sunny, me running outside in a t-shirt and shorts. IN FEB. I don't even want to know what it is in MN.

The home stretch
Intern year is 2/3 done! I only have four months left! (OB, Cards ICU/consults, Family medicine wards, and OB again). Although I lamented that leap year had to fall during our intern year, we really don’t have much time left at all!

March in sight
I'm excited for March, as not only does it mean we are closer to the end of intern year, but it will bring visitors! My sister is coming into town around the 14th for a weekend, and Laura and Tony will be here at the end of the month! This will be so fun!

The Sierras
Yesterday, while driving east on Hwy 80 towards Del Paso Heights, I saw the snow-capped Sierra Nevadas in the distance and was in total awe. I had never seen them before like this from Sac-- not sure if it's because I don't usually drive that route, or because they’ve been obscured by the clouds/rain for much of this season, but I felt like I was in Colorado! It was amazing! And the best thing is that I will be there in approximately 72 hours after Erin, TJ, and Sylvia come into town to leave Saturday for a weekend of skiing up at North Lake Tahoe. A bunch of my classmates are coming, too, and we plan to stay overnight at Brenden's brother's cabin up there which will be awesome! I can't wait!