The first thing you should know about me is that my real name is not Anita Knapp. This was a name that I penned for myself during residency interviews, and it describes how I feel most of the time. If only my daughter would sleep in once in a while!
This intro has been difficult to write, mostly because I am going through a time of huge transition in my life. My husband, N, and I just made a 15 hour move from our home state to our new home where we will complete our residencies. And we made our move just one day after graduating from med school! My residency will be in radiology, while N's will in ophthalmology. However, for the time being, we will be interns in the same transitional year program. Yay for working with my husband! Sort of :)
If you would have asked us five years ago what we imagined for ourselves in the next five years, becoming parents would not have been on the list. Nevertheless, we became proud parents to our daughter, A.K.A. Itty, at the very end of our third year of medical school. Itty has changed our lives, certainly for the better, although the daily stress we feel has been multiplied exponentially!
I am so honored and excited to be an MiM contributor this year. During the past 2-3 years, I have relied so much on this blog as I have forged my own path as a MiM. The path has been very difficult at times, and I find myself in my darkest and most difficult place as a mother right now. The sadness and loneliness I feel over moving so far from my family is great, but the guilt that I feel from moving my daughter so far from her extended family is overwhelming, as mine and N's parents have played such a large role in Itty's life so far. I am worried about finding childcare, spending time with Itty, and spending time with my husband, all while trying to figure out how to be a physician.
I am looking forward to getting to know all of you this year. It is sure to be an exciting one for me! Any encouragement that you could throw my way would be greatly appreciated :)
Wow, you are going through some big changes. It must be so hard to move away from your family right now, but maybe think of it as a "fortification" period for your nuclear family. Best of luck to you - we are cheering you on.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on graduating, and best of luck with the start of internship! I'm looking forward to reading your posts, as you are one step ahead of me (I'm entering my fourth year of medical school). I'd love to hear about your experiences of interviewing for residency while mothering a young child, since I'll be in that boat myself come interview season. I also like that your daughter's name is "Itty Knapp"...which aptly describes most of the naps my daughter takes!
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