Friday, December 12, 2008

Scared of Santa


Heheee, this is really funny and cute. The Chicago Tribune asked readers to send in their "Scared of Santa" pics and got so many they made a book. Read more about it and see pics here. I wonder if Marisa will be scared. So far she smiles at everyone.
Side note: Yes, I plan on taking her for Santa pics. But I finally went to go buy her little red dress, and it was sold out. Ugh, I may have to go to the boutique where it is more expensive for the same thing. I can't help it! It's her first Christmas...and she would look so cute in a little red dress.

DISCOUNTS AND CONTESTS!!!!

Hi Everyone! Some quick updates:

Use Discount code "Jackie20" now when you check out at http://www.oohlalamama.com and get 20% off your purchase! Also don't forget, now ANY purchase enters you to
win a $500 Visa gift card.

"Mommy, were you and Daddy wrestling" One hour left to tell us how you explained what you were doing when the kids caught you in the act! Check out the post below.

We're still collecting gifts for 2 families that lost everything in the So Cal fires. Please see the post "
Christmas Charity Needed"

Thanks and Happy Shopping!

FUN STORIES IN THE ER, MY REAL LIFE JOB


Today started like a regular day for me. Woke up 10 minutes late (ignored the alarm) - hopped in the shower and threw on my scrubs. Read a few pages of the last Twilight series book while blowdrying my hair (what will happen to Bella and Edward?) and then kissed hubby goodbye and hopped in the car.

Traffic was super light today so even had time to stop at Starbucks - venti, sugar-free vanilla Brevee latte (my current fave) and got to work actually on time.

Here is the kicker - arrived to the ER at 0830 and not a soul waiting to be seen and only 2 people currently in the ER! This is insane.

So - thought I would spare everyone more details about our awesome kids' line (http://www.oohlalamama.com/) and hop on and share some of my favorite ER stories today.

These are some of my best stories of personal patients from over the past 10 years in no particular order. (please don't figure out how old that makes me - let's just say I was a child prodigy and went to med school at age 10).

*If you are squeamish - maybe don't read on. If this is you - if you were my patient - then sorry if you feel violated - no names or hospitals will be mentioned...

1) 38 year old male who was upset with his insurance company. They would not pay for a circumcision - they said it was cosmetic (that's what the patient said anyway) - so he decided to do it himself. Note - if you are trying to perform your own surgery, at least google how it is actually done first. No details here, but I will share that a circumcision does not involve removing all of the skin... This was a very interesting patient and multiple specialties were involved in helping this man (plastics, general surgery and urology). DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME, Kids.

2) 23 year old male - who said that he did "too much cocaine" and got a glass shot glass stuck somewhere quite unpleasant. This - by itself - is not too big of a problem - however, friend of this patient decided to try to help him out. Pliers were used, glass broke and patient bought himself a ticket to the OR where I happened to be on duty for my geneal surgey rotation. What did we find? A broken shot glass, an orange, a small shampoo bottle and yes, an olive (maybe it was in the shot glass?) So - purchased a colostomy bag as well. Happy trip to the hospital. Hope the cocaine was worth it.

3) Baby 7 months old - brought in by mom with complaint of "multiple seizures." Baby was not breathing and lost his heart beat upon arrival to the ER. This was during my moonlighting in the middle of nowhere. Very, very small ER and I am the only doctor in the whole hospital. We put the baby on a ventilator, start an IV - doing CPR, giving meds and we get a heartbeat back.

OK - baby on ventilator, pseudo-stable, and doing better and I am calling on portable phone to the closest pediatric ER/ICU. Obviously this baby needs to get to a center - FAST. Helicopter cannot fly, weather too bad. We call 911 and I hop in the ambulance with the baby (don't worry, we called in a backup physician to take over the ER). Lights and sirens - scariest 20 minutes of my medical life - this little person depending on me to keep him alive. Upon arrival to other ER baby has a lethal arrhythmia, so now we are shocking baby and this is like the real thing - just like you see on ER (the TV show - I mean).

Baby is having seizures and we don't know why. Mom told me that all of her kids "have epilepsy" but still - something is not right. Baby has no fever so not meningitis and tox screen is pending... Could it be shaken baby? No other signs of trauma and too unstable to go to CT scanner. We keep guessing and trying to figure out what is wrong.

Turns out - baby has been given a tricyclic medication - overdosed by MOM! These drugs are often prescribed as sleep aids- in overdose they cause seizures. Official diagnosis: Tricyclic overdose, seizures and Mom gets a diagnosis of Munchausen by Proxy.
Definition by wikipedia: Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSbP), are insidious disorders in which injury is deliberately and gradually inflicted upon a person usually for gaining attention[1] or some other benefit.

This baby and all of the mom's other kids are taken away through the court system. This baby did fine (from a medical standpoint) - recovered completely with no brain injury or obvious problems so far. As far as how this baby, and the rest of the children from this family fared - well I just hope that they were placed with a loving family and that they will all be kept together. I cannot help every problem. But on this day - I do feel like I maybe made a difference, that I kind of saved a life - just basic training that every ER doctor has but I will never forget this little one or the crazy fear I felt trying to save this little one...

So - that's it for this morning. Hoping the rest of my day in the ER continues to be calm - I am truly loving it. It is so rare to have a day where I can answer emails and maybe even write a bit.
Someone recently asked me how my job in the ER relates to my job as owner of Ooh La La Mama - kids' apparel line http://www.oohlalamama.com/. Well - it really doesn't. Most days my ER job has nothing to do with making onesies. But - I must say that it helps keep things in perspective. When an order is late or a customer gets upset with us for something that maybe did not go just perfectly - I still get stressed but I can sit back and take a deep breath and say to myself: Well at least no one died today...

The Cutest Sock Monkeys Ever

Last year, while on vacation in Kauai, I visited this beautiful little boutique called Nest. It had precious little treasures in every corner. (If you're ever there, you MUST go find it!) I was five months pregnant at the time and wouldn't let myself buy anything for the baby yet, and I regretted it! One of the things that I wanted most were these adorable sock monkeys I saw in the store. I went online and found them! http://www.staceyjean.com/


I've been following the store for a while and they just make the cutest monkeys I've ever seen. These are not your regular sock monkeys, people! Stacey Jean combines stripes, dots, stars, prints, and has gorgeous color combinations. To top it all off, each monkey has a heart on their chest so you can tell it's made with love. Her Etsy shop only currently has four monkeys left! She used to offer DIY kits where she would send you the sock colors you wanted and everything you needed to put it together, but I don't see them right now. You can also request custom made items to go along with a nursery theme or your child's favorite colors. Hopefully she has more after the new year. I've been so indecisive about what color to get, I still haven't gotten one! I kind of want to just start a collection and get one for every holiday! See her flickr album for past monkeys. You'll want them all.







Happy 6 Months Baby!

My baby girl is six months old today! I can't believe how fast it's gone by. Marisa smiles all the time, loves to blow razzies, can roll over both ways - but doesn't do it too often yet, can sit up "tripod" style for a few minutes and loves to stand on Mommy and Daddy's lap. I'll be starting her on rice cereal tonight! We've got the video camera ready to go and eveything.

Last night I thought to myself, I've got to create a book or journal of some sort and write down all the cute things she's already growing out of that I will miss. Like how she rubs her foot up and down my arm when she's nursing, raises her arm like a ballerina and tries to suck her arm when she's half asleep, used to need a little help pushing those toots out!, used to have what my husband called "meow meow ears" because she had little hairs on her ears like a cat, and just how tiny she was. I love you, baby girl!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

WHAT'S WRONG WITH MY MIRROR?

Have you ever woken up and looked in the mirror and thought to yourself, "WHAT THE HELL?" Today was one of those days. I always imagined that I would be one of those super hot, sexy wives - a total MILF and soccer mom. I think I went to bed last night feeling like this picture of Brittany Murphy. I mean after all, I did just lose 10 lbs and that puts me only 15 pounds over my wedding weight but still - what the hell happened between last night and this morning?







Here's what I think happened: First, Keirnan (our lovely 2 year old son who has already become our resident frat boy - fart jokes, burping included) woke up at 5am. This is soooo not fair! Second - dear hubby has started snoring like a train and this for sure interferes with my dare-I-say-it, dang-do-I-ever-need-it - beauty sleep. Especially because I could only find one ear plug and had to keep moving it from one ear to the next depending on which ear was on the pillow. Third - I spent the last 4 nights prior running around the ER like a mad woman. Which brings me to another thought: When I went to med school I always pictured that I would be the HOT DOCTOR - you know - that I would wear high heels, tight skirts and my hair would always be smartly pulled back in some super full pony tail or bun. Not such a great idea after I ruined several really expensive skirts on my OB and Trauma rotations - but I'll spare y'all the details (throw back from my residency days in Texas!)



So - here I find myself this morning. Walking around in my robe, hair sticking out in all directions, snotty/crying baby on my hip, 4 year old Max (our resident romantic one - yes - he even took a rose to school for Zoe last week, for their "secret anniversary") asking over and over why the TV won't turn on and if E.T. might be on right now. Only things missing at this point are the cigarette hanging out of my mouth and rollers in my hair...

This was truly a Calgon - take me away moment.

Just then though - hubby Scott walks down the stairs and sits down beside me. Max curls up with his "lovey" (blankie for all of you traditionalists) and Keirnan goes and lays next to Max on the floor. Max rolls over, kisses Keirnan and Keir looks at Max and says (in his oh-so-cute little 2 year old voice) "I love you a million." Hubby kisses me on the cheek and it all seems OK.

My messy hair and drooping behind all seem so very unimportant - at least for that moment. Luckily my other job, my "real" job - as an ER doctor - help keep me grounded. It takes a lot to shake me up in the ER these days. I think now I only cry maybe once or twice a week after work. Not bad when you think of where I work. But - funny how these little moments at home can do it in a second. Nothing like hearing your kids tell you they love you - or that they love each other.



That's all I've got for today - off to the gym to get this sorry butt of mine in shape! So - for a few moments I am fine to be the crazy cat lady from the Simpson's but I will be getting those last 15 pounds off - I will be the hot housewife soon! Y'all watch out for me - ya hear?


Tuesday, December 9, 2008

"Mommy, were you and Daddy Wrestling?"

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Monday, December 8, 2008

Christmas Onesie is here!!!

How cute is this!? Ooh La La Mama's new Baby's 1st Xmas Onesie is here! Get it here NOW in time for those pictures with Santa!

Special thanks to designer Lisa Johnston. Lisa grew up in Southern California and is a very talented and gifted artist and has been working with Ooh La La Mama for the past year designing really awesome, bright, unique prints for Ooh La La Mama. We feel very fortunate to have her as part of our team.

You can read more about Lisa Johnston and see more images of her awesome art on her website http://www.lisaharpjohnston.com/.



What do your kids call their... umm...

Best, most creative answer wins free stuff from www.oohlalamama.com! Answer in comments or by email - Cindy@oohlalamama.com.  

Just laughing about what my kids call their "stuff." 

What is the correct term for a 4 and 2  year old?

Here's the story: 
Max (our awesome 4 year old son) was teaching Keirnan (son #2, equally awesome) about their, ummm... parts.  

So - both boys in the bath while I am running around naked trying to hustle to get ready for work.  

Keir points to Max and says: "You have a junk and I have a junk and Mommy has a junk and Daddy has a junk."  Here's the kicker though: Max actually says "Mommy has only 1/2 a junk!"  

OK brakes on!  Being late for work just totally flies out of my head at this point.

I quickly respond, "No, Max - Mommy's junk is not 1/2 - it's just different." What do you say?

OK - yes, I am an ER doc and I say the word penis of course about 10 times a day - but this is all medical and as the doc I cannot really say to a kidney stone patient - "so, does the pain radiate down into your junk?" 

Lovin' my kids but the "JUNK" I am afraid, is here to stay!

What are you calling your kids "JUNK?"  Email your answers to Cindy@oohlalamama.com.  We'll post our favorite answers tomorrow.  Thanks!