You gotta love a fresh baby

Even though they come out all bloody/cheesy/swollen/funny looking, there is just something about a newborn that makes me smile everytime. That first little cry is something else, and when it's your own baby, the whole thing sure is pretty special.

Meet Nathaniel "Thane" Bruce Kumor, born on the 24th weighing a whopping 6 lbs 13 oz. A little guy by Kumor standards, but sure a lot chubbier than Caleb was. He and Stephanie are doing great! I'll let Stephanie tell the labor story if she wants to, but suffice it to say that we went in at 7:30am to be induced and he was screaming by noon. It was a great performance by the wifey, but I can't say the same thing for the CRNA-in-training who did, or tried to do, her epidural! It all turned out well in the end, though, which is all we could hope for. Here's Stephanie and her two little boys when Grandma and Grandpa Quimby brought Caleb up for a visit.

Caleb is doing great with Thane and is uber-excited about him being around. The thing he is most excited about, though, is that "Mommy can crawl around on the floor to play and run around with me now!" Well, buddy, maybe in a few days. I know if I passed something the diameter of a human skull from my body, I'd be out of commission for a little while. Caleb does love to give his baby brother kisses and "gentle touches."

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers throughout this whole pregnancy! It has been quite a ride, and it is nice to be safely on the other side. There is not a greater blessing in the world than a fresh baby!

Hello Out There

So, an interesting thing happened to me the other day in my clinic. I walked into the exam room to greet a man I had never met and talk with him about his health. Now, I like to talk with my patients about other things and get to know them a bit. I think that's one of the really enjoyable things about Family Medicine. I have been assuming that they know as little about me as I know about them when we meet, but we all know what assuming can do! You see, the first thing out of his mouth was "So, has your wife had the baby yet?" I'm sure I had a pretty interesting look on my face. At first I was trying to think of any way I might know this man... church, a friend/relative of a friend, saw him before in clinic... nothing. Then I thought about who in the office might have filled him in... receptionist? nurse?... who knows? I'm not sure, but I think I just asked him point blank who told him. His answer?

It's all right here baby. Yep, turns out when he scheduled his appointment, he Googled my name and read my blog! Kudos to you, sir, if you're still reading! (By the way, feel free to comment on just how goofy I looked.) I really hadn't thought about it before, but Google-ing your doc is probably a pretty good move. You never know what you'll find, right? Anyway, he had read all about Caleb, Stephanie, little Thane, and also about our trip to PNG! Let's just say he had a definite leg up in the getting-to-know-you department.

So, I decided to Google myself and see just what I could find. Turns out it's a little suprising what makes its way into cyberspace. I was reminded of some pretty poor wrestling performances at the State Tournament, relived my exploits in Olivet intramurals, and learned that there's a guy with my name who was a helicopter pilot in the Korean War. There were also links to my Facebook and MySpace profiles (which haven't been updated in eons) and, of course, a couple of links to this blog, one via a story in the Olivetian.

Just how many of my patients have read about me? I really have no idea. This gentleman was the only one who has said anything. It really made me stop and think, though, about what I have written. I don't think I've posted anything I shouldn't have or don't mean, but I wonder what impression of me this blog gives people. Well, he didn't cancell his appointment, so I guess the picture of me and Caleb with pull-ups on our heads isn't too alarming!


In other news, Stephanie is still pregnant. She's a whopping 38 weeks and 4 days! Neither of us even dreamed she'd make it this far. I think for Stephanie, though, it's turned into more of a nightmare! The poor thing has been banging out contractions like nobody's business for a solid 2 weeks. Now, I've seen a few ladies in labor, and there were a couple of times, including Friday, when I thought we were in business. But in the end, it was 'Sorry folks, show's over.' All she had to show for it was some lost sleep and an appreciation for the epidural she's going to get. The good news is that she'll be induced at the end of this week if she hasn't popped by then (39 weeks!). There is an end in site! Who woulda thought we'd be saying that... We are pretty darn blessed.

Not a whole lot going on

The title pretty much sums it up. Sure, life is busy with residency and family stuff, but it sure seems like not a lot of life changing stuff is happening. My grandpa died a couple weeks ago, which I guess is a pretty big deal. My brother wrote a nice post about it. Funerals like his were, I think, about how things are supposed to go. Everybody gets together and has a good time, remembers an elderly guy who had lived a long, full life, and enjoys a nice lunch together. I hope that doesn't sound too cold. I feel badly for my dad and especially for my grandma, but I really think that in the grand scheme of things, this pretty much fits the ideal plan. Maybe I've just seen too much death in general and premature death in particular to look at it like a normal person. Maybe being in medicine does that to people, I don't know. Anyway, I really had a good time hanging out with my siblings and my grandma. I was also very proud of Caleb, who spent a good deal of time playing with his cousins without me anywhere near him. He's a pretty timid/paranoid/social-skills-lacking kind of a guy usually, but hopefully he's starting to come out of it. He is also pretty darn funny, saying lots of the kind of things that I guess kids say. Stephanie has written a couple of blogs about that, I think.

As far as residency goes, I'm now in my fourth month, and if nothing else I've gotten more used to people referring to me as "Dr Kumor." Still a bit weird though. After my orientation month (July), I spent a month catching babies on the OB service, then had a month of clinic and dermatology, which was a pretty good time. Now, I'm on a general surgery service at Methodist, and it's going really well.

I guess the big news is that I've got the clearance from my program director and the guys at Kudjip to spend another two months there in Papua New Guinea! We are still working out the details, but it looks like spring/summer of 2010. I'm really looking forward to it.

Sorry about the lame-o post. Read Stephanie's. Much funnier. She, by the way, is full term!!! Who woulda thunk it? She made 37 weeks last Thursday! So, everybody can quit praying... we're ready for him to come now!

At least I'll leave you with a picture. It's similar to the one Joe mentioned of all the Frank's, except this one has two Frank's, a Ben, and a Caleb. We'll miss you grandpa!