Thursday, August 28, 2014
Helloooo Michigan!
From the previous Match post we learned that we would be moving 2,000 miles across the country to Michigan. We were simultaneously thrilled and rather terrified of such a big move. Given that the other option was no match at all, we were mostly thrilled. :)
Due to my type A nature, the planner in me kicked into overdrive and I started researching and stressing about all the "to-do's" on our ever growing list. We needed to secure housing, sell our present AZ home, figure out how all of us were going to travel out there, pack, pack, and pack some more! And on and on and ON!
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Match Week
Good gravy. Over 4 months overdue and the details are beginning to fade so I need to get cracking!
This is going to be long but important to our family history.
The third week of March is dubbed "Match Week" in the medical world. It is the time that the medical student finds out where they will be completing their residency and it is a BIG deal. Basically, you spend the first half of your final year in medical school narrowing down programs that you are interested in. You send in your application and wait to hear back from them; if they offer you an interview, GREAT! If not, there isn't much you can do. Hopefully one gleans a good handful of interviews to increase their odds of matching. Competition is fierce, especially with certain specialties, but overall you don't want to be unmatched. It is your future, your job, the next step to becoming a licensed physician and without a completed residency you cannot be a practicing physician.
The match works this way: (taken from the NRMP website)
"The process begins with an attempt to match an applicant to the program most preferred on that applicant’s rank order list (ROL). If the applicant cannot be matched to that first choice program, an attempt then is made to place the applicant into the second choice program, and so on, until the applicant obtains a tentative match or all the applicant’s choices on the ROL have been exhausted. When all applicant rank order lists have been considered, all tentative matches become final."
Phil had garnered 9 interviews; 7 M.D. and 2 D.O., and we were feeling pretty comfortable with this number, it would have been great to have more but we were feeling confident; he interviewed wonderfully and always had positive feedback. As a D.O. student he could participate in both matches but if he matched D.O. first, then he is automatically pulled from the M.D. Match. Since we had more M.D. interviews we decided to forgo the D.O. match and throw everything into the M.D. match. Seven chances to match. All of them were in the West so we could be closer to family.
March 17th came and I was scheduled to work. I was nervous and wishing that I had taken the day off to be available and supportive to Phil if things didn't go our way. On this day we only found out IF we matched, not where. I finally got a text from Phil saying that he didn't match and I was devastated. Panicked! I quickly stepped away from my patient and texted him back asking if he was joking. He was not. He called me and I could hear the defeat in his voice. I felt terrible and more so because I was not home to help him in the next critical hours. Since we were unmatched we had a few chances to "scramble", basically try and find an open residency spot. The NRMP released a list of programs that had open spots and Phil had 2 hours to submit his application to these programs and after that the window closed. You could not contact them in any way other than through the secure application site; any other communication is forbidden and can get you thrown out of the match. You have 30 applications to submit and then you wait, and wait and pray that someone, anyone!, contacts you. The program must make the first contact.
We had our babysitter there to manage the kids so Phil could work without interruption. Poor guy was totally flying blind; stressed to the max, depression and fear eating away at us. We had worked SO hard through school and then to go unmatched was a cruel slap in the face. He was a great candidate! What happened?! We will never know. We just had to focus on the present and make it our sole focus to secure a residency position.
Monday: We did not match and submitted our applications to programs across the country. Gone was the notion and desire to stay in the West. We just wanted to have a job.
Tuesday: The first day that programs were allowed to contact applicants. We heard from a hospital in Livonia, Michigan. They seemed to really like Phil and gave us positive feedback. They were pretty aggressive in recruiting; Phil spoke to the program director, current residents in the program and the program coordinator. We were happy to have any options at this point but Michigan? We had specifically avoided the D.O. match because we felt that we would have matched to a program in Grand Rapids and the cold winters scared us off. Foolish? Probably.
Wednesday: We still had only heard from the Michigan program and Phil was feeling pretty low. I took Kate to dance class and while we waited for her, the boys and I played at the park. Phil hung around home and the computer waiting for contact from programs. While at the park Phil called me with exciting news. He had received another call from a program in Georgia. We researched it online and were really excited about it. Phil's mood improved and he just felt good about it all. We were pumped to have 2 possible offers!
Phil communicated several times with the program in Georgia and he enthusiastically made it known that he wanted to go there. The program could not let us know if they were ranking us but they did say that we were on the list. Fist pump! We were stoked.
Finally, Wednesday afternoon the offers were to come in from the 2 programs that had called us. If an offer was in the system we had 20 minutes to accept or deny. Once the time limit passed then all offers were off the table and we would then participate in a second smaller match with the very limited remaining programs. It's pretty much "do or die". We signed into the system and waited for an offer to appear. At first, nothing. We kept refreshing the screen and stressing.
After a few tense minutes an offer came through. Michigan! I'll admit we were slightly disappointed it wasn't Georgia. But good grief! We had just been through hell and who were we to look a gift horse in the mouth? We quickly accepted the offer and set in motion a legally binding contract with this program.
We matched! We were thrilled. Emotionally and mentally spent, humbled and in awe of the Lord's hand in our lives. We strongly believe that we were meant to come to Michigan. We prayed mightily to the Lord for the opportunity to continue on this medical journey and we know that He is mindful of our desires.
While this was going on we were also actively helping our dear friends who didn't match either. I was calling programs to verify that they had open spots and together we would compare our lists so that not one precious application was wasted on a program that did not have any open positions. I am thrilled to say that after much work and prayer that they also matched into a great program.
This experience is one that I would never want to repeat but as with most trials we came out stronger on the other side. Our faith was renewed and we certainly felt the love and support of our friends, family and most importantly our Heavenly Father.
I saved the text group message that I had sent out during that week to keep our family aware of the happenings of that week.
This is going to be long but important to our family history.
The third week of March is dubbed "Match Week" in the medical world. It is the time that the medical student finds out where they will be completing their residency and it is a BIG deal. Basically, you spend the first half of your final year in medical school narrowing down programs that you are interested in. You send in your application and wait to hear back from them; if they offer you an interview, GREAT! If not, there isn't much you can do. Hopefully one gleans a good handful of interviews to increase their odds of matching. Competition is fierce, especially with certain specialties, but overall you don't want to be unmatched. It is your future, your job, the next step to becoming a licensed physician and without a completed residency you cannot be a practicing physician.
The match works this way: (taken from the NRMP website)
"The process begins with an attempt to match an applicant to the program most preferred on that applicant’s rank order list (ROL). If the applicant cannot be matched to that first choice program, an attempt then is made to place the applicant into the second choice program, and so on, until the applicant obtains a tentative match or all the applicant’s choices on the ROL have been exhausted. When all applicant rank order lists have been considered, all tentative matches become final."
Phil had garnered 9 interviews; 7 M.D. and 2 D.O., and we were feeling pretty comfortable with this number, it would have been great to have more but we were feeling confident; he interviewed wonderfully and always had positive feedback. As a D.O. student he could participate in both matches but if he matched D.O. first, then he is automatically pulled from the M.D. Match. Since we had more M.D. interviews we decided to forgo the D.O. match and throw everything into the M.D. match. Seven chances to match. All of them were in the West so we could be closer to family.
March 17th came and I was scheduled to work. I was nervous and wishing that I had taken the day off to be available and supportive to Phil if things didn't go our way. On this day we only found out IF we matched, not where. I finally got a text from Phil saying that he didn't match and I was devastated. Panicked! I quickly stepped away from my patient and texted him back asking if he was joking. He was not. He called me and I could hear the defeat in his voice. I felt terrible and more so because I was not home to help him in the next critical hours. Since we were unmatched we had a few chances to "scramble", basically try and find an open residency spot. The NRMP released a list of programs that had open spots and Phil had 2 hours to submit his application to these programs and after that the window closed. You could not contact them in any way other than through the secure application site; any other communication is forbidden and can get you thrown out of the match. You have 30 applications to submit and then you wait, and wait and pray that someone, anyone!, contacts you. The program must make the first contact.
We had our babysitter there to manage the kids so Phil could work without interruption. Poor guy was totally flying blind; stressed to the max, depression and fear eating away at us. We had worked SO hard through school and then to go unmatched was a cruel slap in the face. He was a great candidate! What happened?! We will never know. We just had to focus on the present and make it our sole focus to secure a residency position.
Monday: We did not match and submitted our applications to programs across the country. Gone was the notion and desire to stay in the West. We just wanted to have a job.
Tuesday: The first day that programs were allowed to contact applicants. We heard from a hospital in Livonia, Michigan. They seemed to really like Phil and gave us positive feedback. They were pretty aggressive in recruiting; Phil spoke to the program director, current residents in the program and the program coordinator. We were happy to have any options at this point but Michigan? We had specifically avoided the D.O. match because we felt that we would have matched to a program in Grand Rapids and the cold winters scared us off. Foolish? Probably.
Wednesday: We still had only heard from the Michigan program and Phil was feeling pretty low. I took Kate to dance class and while we waited for her, the boys and I played at the park. Phil hung around home and the computer waiting for contact from programs. While at the park Phil called me with exciting news. He had received another call from a program in Georgia. We researched it online and were really excited about it. Phil's mood improved and he just felt good about it all. We were pumped to have 2 possible offers!
Phil communicated several times with the program in Georgia and he enthusiastically made it known that he wanted to go there. The program could not let us know if they were ranking us but they did say that we were on the list. Fist pump! We were stoked.
Finally, Wednesday afternoon the offers were to come in from the 2 programs that had called us. If an offer was in the system we had 20 minutes to accept or deny. Once the time limit passed then all offers were off the table and we would then participate in a second smaller match with the very limited remaining programs. It's pretty much "do or die". We signed into the system and waited for an offer to appear. At first, nothing. We kept refreshing the screen and stressing.
After a few tense minutes an offer came through. Michigan! I'll admit we were slightly disappointed it wasn't Georgia. But good grief! We had just been through hell and who were we to look a gift horse in the mouth? We quickly accepted the offer and set in motion a legally binding contract with this program.
We matched! We were thrilled. Emotionally and mentally spent, humbled and in awe of the Lord's hand in our lives. We strongly believe that we were meant to come to Michigan. We prayed mightily to the Lord for the opportunity to continue on this medical journey and we know that He is mindful of our desires.
While this was going on we were also actively helping our dear friends who didn't match either. I was calling programs to verify that they had open spots and together we would compare our lists so that not one precious application was wasted on a program that did not have any open positions. I am thrilled to say that after much work and prayer that they also matched into a great program.
This experience is one that I would never want to repeat but as with most trials we came out stronger on the other side. Our faith was renewed and we certainly felt the love and support of our friends, family and most importantly our Heavenly Father.
I saved the text group message that I had sent out during that week to keep our family aware of the happenings of that week.
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Carson's 1st Haircut
Who needs a serious haircut at just 3 months old? This guy. His hair was seriously out of control. It stood up on it's own accord and looking back on these pictures I can't believe we let it go as long as we did. It's laughable! April 24th, 2014 we took the plunge and trimmed these awesome hairs.
Given Carson was 3 months old he did great. Phil had a steady hand and Carson sat well in the Bumbo. I was a bit anxious and instructed Phil to not take off too much. Dad did a great job!
Gorgeous baby blues.
Scrummy baby toes! I'm writing this post 6 months after the fact (sneaking it in it's proper blog order) and it's crazy how I miss this age already and Carson is still most definitely a baby. I will always miss my kids as babies, all 5 of them. It's a tangible ache.
The finished product!
Given Carson was 3 months old he did great. Phil had a steady hand and Carson sat well in the Bumbo. I was a bit anxious and instructed Phil to not take off too much. Dad did a great job!
Gorgeous baby blues.
Scrummy baby toes! I'm writing this post 6 months after the fact (sneaking it in it's proper blog order) and it's crazy how I miss this age already and Carson is still most definitely a baby. I will always miss my kids as babies, all 5 of them. It's a tangible ache.
The finished product!
Thursday, April 17, 2014
It is FINISHED!
Hooray! Phil officially completed his last rotation for medical school at noon today, April 17th. A.maz.ing!
His last rotation was a research/reading rotation with an internal medicine doctor. He read 2 books, created a power point presentation on a topic she gave him and wrote a short essay reflecting on his career path. He submitted it all today to her and when he pushed that little "send" button it was done. Wahoo! Phil was giddy and just plain relieved. FINISHED!!!
I am so proud of him. He was worked incredibly hard, has persevered in the face of so many challenges and we have come out on the other side stronger. I can only imagine how it is going to feel when we finally walk away from residency, 4 more years!
His last rotation was a research/reading rotation with an internal medicine doctor. He read 2 books, created a power point presentation on a topic she gave him and wrote a short essay reflecting on his career path. He submitted it all today to her and when he pushed that little "send" button it was done. Wahoo! Phil was giddy and just plain relieved. FINISHED!!!
I am so proud of him. He was worked incredibly hard, has persevered in the face of so many challenges and we have come out on the other side stronger. I can only imagine how it is going to feel when we finally walk away from residency, 4 more years!
Carson's Blessing
Sunday, March 23, 2014 we blessed our sweet Carson Grant Gunnell. Phil gave him a nice blessing and
after sacrament meeting we gathered with our immediate family members in our home for a luncheon. Gramps Gunnell was incredibly generous and catered the meal from Honey Baked Ham. It was delicious and such a lovely gift to be able to not worry about the food and prep and just enjoy the party. We are grateful for his foresight and kindness.
It was a full house! We had almost 30 people present; Phil's sister Wendy and her family, brother Reed and his family, brother Jared and family, my parents, Phil's parents, Gramps Gunnell and the Rapier grandparents. Our favorite neighbors/family the Whittaker's joined us as well. Kendra came armed with her apron and helped in the kitchen like a saint. The family also pitched in with the meal, bringing gorgeous strawberries, Susan made a lovely chocolate cake, Andrea made cookies and I made a lemon blueberry cake.
We had a nice time just visiting and eating delicious food. We are so blessed to have wonderful family and friends who love us and love our children. We are going to miss having them in such close proximity after we move for residency.
We love our sweet boy.
Friday, April 11, 2014
Carson: 3 Months
Wahoo! Posting in real time here, for this post at least.
Last week Carson turned 3 months old. Little love is growing entirely too fast. His little body is filling out nicely and he is getting stronger and sturdier with each passing month.
The glorious hair is getting longer and is still soft and smooth. I can't bear to cut it at this point but he will certainly need a haircut or two before his first birthday.
Carson is not a fan of tummy time but we try and get a few minutes in each day. I admit I am not very good at making sure it gets done but he is able to lift his head without a problem. He LOVES interaction and when we talk and coo at him. He readily responds in turn and will mimic our sounds. He also will blow raspberries and thinks it is fun when we go back and forth playing motorboat with our mouths and sounds.
He has discovered his hands this month and will suck on them. He also will pull his hair and ears while nursing.
The kids fight over who can sit by him and they get grumpy and whiny when they feel slighted.
Freshly bathed and I put some gel in his hair, it gets a bit of curl when wet and held with product.
He loves to sleep on his belly. I am conscious of rotating his head to keep it beautifully round and of course to preserve his hair.
Carson is now moving into size 2 diapers and is solidly in 3 month clothes but we are still working the 0-3 month onesies too.
I have started singing a little diddy to the tune "We love you Conrad" from Bye Bye Birdie to him and he loves it, big grins, lots of kicking and cooing:
I love you Carson, oh yes I do
I love you Carson, and I'll be true
When you're not with me, I'm blue
Oh Carson, I love you
Carson: 2 Months
Carson turned 2 months old March 3rd. Yes, very behind over here, story of my blogging life... BUT at least I take the images on their respective time frame, I just don't get a chance to sit down and document.
This sweet boy continues to bring us so much joy. We love him so much. His eyelashes really started filling in during his second month and his hair only continues to grow, he hasn't lost a bit of it. This makes me very happy, I love his hair.
At two months Carson was wearing size 1 diapers, size 0-3 month clothes. He eats every 2-3 hours and has the happiest disposition. He cries when he isn't pleased that you have put him down or is tired. At his well visit his stats were: 24 inches in length and 11 pounds 4 ounces in weight.
Sleeping babies are the best, aren't they? This picture makes me want to smooch on his fluffy cheeks.
Kate continues to dote and love on him. Constantly. She always asks me to put him down so she can play with him. She loves to hold him or have him sit by her on the couch. She is the first responder when he cries, running to fetch his pacifier and she genuinely gets distressed when he won't calm down and she will get upset with me if I don't come and rescue him promptly.
Max is also loving and kind to Carson but doesn't take the mothering interest in him that Kate has, probably because he doesn't have a chance with Kate around! Ha. He loves him very much and is also very helpful.
Rhett loves Carson too but is generally too busy to pay him much mind. He has gotten the brunt on the new baby changes but is taking it in stride. He has never shown any aggression towards Carson, he just gets sad that I can't hold him like I used to or that I am always telling him to go play.
The picture below was taken roughly 6 weeks ago, when Carson was 6 weeks old and here is the caption I posted on Instagram:
"My greatest struggle as a mother is striving for that elusive balance. Everyone needs everything from me, usually at the same time. This picture sums up my life right now: baby on my lap or in my arms, a sad toddler waiting for physical love and attention, Max needing assistance with his shoelaces. Not pictured is Kate waiting off to the side, the spit up on my shoulder, my unshowered and disheveled state and bleary eyes. I love my life and I love my kids but by golly I am tapped out."
Just after the 6 week mark Carson hit his smiling milestone. Below is the first image I have of the real deal. He is so beautiful to me.
Then later that week or so he unleashed and he has been smiling nonstop since.
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