Might make a playlist
In this special Mother's Day issue: diaper banks, mammograms, IUDs, interview with author and psychiatrist Saumya Dave
Hello, happy Mother's Day Weekend and happy Teacher Appreciation Week!
It seems like everyone I know has had something either destabilizing or truly terrible happen over the past couple weeks, and yet, outside there are flower buds and bird nests and kids shrieking on their bikes. I was sitting on my neighbor's side walk the other night and she said she had started volunteering at the Austin Diaper Bank where she learned that around half of parents are ‘diaper insecure’ meaning they need to ration diapers or can't afford them at all. I then remembered that we had a few sleeves of diapers in our house (why??? I have no idea) and got to send those with my neighbor for the bank. One teensie good thing.
For Mother's Day weekend I'll be at the hospital, intermittently doing an exercise I like to do when I meet an older patient, where I try to imagine the patient's mother who, in 1935, might have looked down at her little baby and said, "I'll name him Herbert" or "what an adorable Orlando" or "should Floyd's middle name be Norman or Earl?" There's something so hopeful to think about these people as babies, and, now, suddenly they are in their 80's, just played nine holes of golf and need their medications tweaked.
In other Mother's Day adjacent news, I dedicated April to health maintenance. If you are squeamish about medical things or despise millennial oversharing, just scroll down to Saumya Dave's interview!
Anyway, in April I squeezed in a mammogram (ha!), a gynecology visit, a dental cleaning, a PCP appointment, and, as a grand finale, an oil change for the car. (I’m on a different appointment schedule with my very excellent (and former co-resident) dermatologist.) I tried to incorporate tiny elements to make it feel celebratory instead of full of dread (
talks about this a lot in her wonderful newsletter). For the mammogram appointment I made a playlist of women singing duets (get it???) to listen to on the drive there and back. For the gyn visit I added some songs to the mammogram playlist to give it some gynecological flair: WAP, Guess, Paint the Town Red, etc).Actually, come to think of it, the grand finale will be in June, when my Mirena IUD turns 10 years old and I get it switched out for a new one. "Ten years old, Grace?" Yes. When I sheepishly went to see my new Austin gynecologist a few years ago I was under the impression that I had let my Mirena remain in place for far too long, but she told me it's now FDA-approved for 8 years. Recently, though, I’ve noticed that it’s lost some of its hormonal oomph, as I’ve started to have more officious spotting, usually preceded by 24 to 48 hours of loathing and despair. Message received: time for a new Mirena. Well, that wraps up my health maintenance discussion! None of this is medical advice, but, wow, I always forget how unpleasant it is to be on the patient side of the equation.
Speaking of patients and doctors, I have a great Weekend Mom interview for you! Saumya Dave is a doctor (psychiatrist), author, and mom of two kids (ages 5 and ten months) in NYC. Her third novel The Guilt Pill just came out, and I loved it! It’s a departure from my normal romance novel fare, but I think you’ll enjoy it.
I emailed with
about her Weekend Mom habits and medical school, and then, in order to prepare this illustration, spent a creepy amount of time on her Instagram stories and grid. This post made me LOL. Here is my interview with Saumya:What are the little things you look forward to on the weekends? Slow mornings, multiple iced coffees, a Pixar movie, extra books at bedtime
Do you have a Weekend Mom uniform? Beloved indie bookstore sweatshirt, leggings, iced coffee, cap with another bookstore
The Guilt Pill has some great NYC locations in it. What are your favorite restaurants to go to with kids? Favorite playground? Favorite day trips? L'Appartemente 4F for croissants, Books Are Magic for a new read, Fort Greene Park to play, and love day trips into Manhattan to the Natural History Museum
What lessons did you learn in med school that you still think about? Learn every part of the job, not just the part you want to make your career. Know and value the essential work of your team members. Always be open to learning more--medicine is ever evolving and there is always more to learn.
Did you like med school? I liked med school and I absolutely loved residency (I'm very lucky to have been around wonderful peers, colleagues, and teachers throughout training).
What medical tv shows have you enjoyed? Did you watch the Pitt? Love all medication television shows. The Pitt is my most recent favorite—I absolutely love how they show care teams working together and what it means to work in such a complicated healthcare system. I also loved Scrubs, Grey's Anatomy, and Private Practice. If there's a medical show, there's a good chance I'll love it, ha!
What advice would you give you someone who wants to be a doctor but also nurture their creative side? Creativity might look different in different seasons and that's okay! Remember that you can keep your creativity nourished in different ways. Keep a notebook or a note open on your phone for ideas. See what happens when you don't put pressure on yourself to make something. In my opinion, curiosity is the foundation of creativity, so if you are curious and seeking, you're nurturing that creativity even during seasons when making something may be more difficult.
I love this advice! Thank you Saumya! Here is another link to The Guilt Pill. Saumya will be in Austin at Book People on Monday, May 12! I’m hoping to make it to this if Maycember activities allow!
I hope you enjoyed this interview. I meant to include a link in my last email to this fun interview with my friend
I hope you have a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend, and I will see you again soon! In the next issue of this newsletter there will be a cover reveal! Eek!
WAP and Guess are ELITE song choices before a gyno visit. I'm totally stealing this idea the next time I have an uncomfortable, but necessary, health care appointment. Have I told you about my labor playlist for my daughter's birth and that Salt-n-Pepa's Push It was playing when she was born?? She knew how to make an entrance. Should we normalize musical accompaniment to life's events?
And thanks again for letting me interview you. I can't wait to see your cover!!!
Thank you as always!