What Dr. Elizabeth Goudie-DeAngelis is loving now

This May was Dr. Elizabeth Goudie-DeAngelis’ official first Mother’s Day.  Her daughter, Virginia Lillian, was born months before any of us had heard of social isolation or shelter in place orders.  Now this new mom is trying to make sense of the ‘new normal.”  That means making sure she has plenty of diapers and wipes on hand for baby Virginia.  But, Dr. Elizabeth is not your normal mom and she’s definitely not a stranger to stressful situations.  She’s board certified in veterinary anesthesia and analgesia…we know she’s got this!

We caught up with her to learn more about being a new mommy in these strange times: 

How I felt when my pregnancy test came back positive:

Like all women, I was excited and nervous, but, like a veterinary nerd I started reading research articles and started reviewing reproductive physiology.

The absolute worst part about working pregnant:

The toughest part was keeping my pregnancy to myself until I was ready to tell everyone while maintaining safe practices at work. Especially around inhaled anesthetics. Check this article out for a link of potentially harmful substances for pregnant women:  Operating room reproductive hazards for female surgeons

The absolute best part about being pregnant:

Virginia! I actually had a very easy pregnancy and was very lucky but I know a lot of women struggle throughout. It is worth it at the end, promise!

How did I thought my maternity leave would be like versus how it was in reality:

I had all these grand plans, I was going to finish stripping the wood wainscoting in the dining room and write hundreds of articles and attend all sort of events and lectures I had missed while balancing work with pregnancy. Oh boy, was I wrong! Being a mom to a newborn is a full-time gig especially when you are pumping.

 Why I biohacked breastfeeding:

Breastfeeding was something I thought long and hard about-in fact, it was another subject I nerded out with. Simply put, breastmilk is the best thing you can feed your child.  

However, I was surrounded by friends that felt so much guilt not being able to breastfeed their children and struggled immensely with trying to make it work. I also knew breastfeeding would be a problem with my personality, because I knew that if I couldn’t quantitate how much food I was providing my daughter it would stress me out. That is why I bypassed breastfeeding and went straight to pumping knowing that I would have exact volumes I could measure at each meal. Come on, I  am an anesthesiologist, we demand accuracy!

Finally, I also didn’t want to deal with trying to switch her to a bottle in the last week or so of my maternity leave, this way there was no confusion on her part and I can enjoy those last couple of weeks without any “nipple confusion.”  

The first rule of pump club is

Pumping is very time consuming!

Most challenging part of being a new mom:

The most challenging part of being a new mom is a combination of the sleep depravation and hormone changes that make you more emotional. As vets we are at an advantage, we already know about communicating with nonverbal animals that are distressed and most of us have dealt with the lack of sleep, having a baby definitely puts these skills to the ultimate test!

What was in my hospital kit for my stay in the maternity ward:

A PJ set that was comfortable and concealing enough to have guests and not be uncomfortable, my own towel, slippers for wandering the halls. 

 The best gift I received for my daughter:

We requested books as gifts instead of cards and this has been a wonderful choice for us. ,We read her a different book every single day.   I cannot wait until she is big enough to start picking her own bedtime story, there is a such a great variety and the notes inside them are so personal.

Three things I couldn’t survive without during maternity leave:

My husband! Daily showers (seriously make time for this!), and our daily walk with the dog.