Whirlwind; Worthwhile

I went to ACOG and didn’t attend a single lecture.

I spent the entire conference in the exhibitor hall, networking, seeing old friends, and hugging them in that very excited way one has when running into an old friend. I probably saw more than 30 people from my nearly-20 year career in OBGYN, spanning Emory, the CDC, my training, and my residency in Connecticut.

Whirlwind

Getting to ACOG had not been a picnic. I had originally registered to attend; then my boss had told me I wouldn’t have to go, to make my life easier. However, because I had registered so late, I couldn’t find a way to transfer my registration or get a refund.

I was coming off two 24-hour shifts that week, with one of the busiest I’ve ever worked on Monday (see “The Beauty of Small Gestures”). I could only hope that Thursday’s shift would be a bit more forgiving than Monday’s. It was not. When I got home on Friday morning, I packed in 30 minutes and raced to the airport. I was going to miss the closing speaker on Sunday (MICHELLE OBAMA!) in order to fly home with enough time to rest before yet another 24-hour shift on Monday.

Mullet Trip

But there are always ways to make a business trip a little more enjoyable if you’re creative. On a podcast recently, I heard a commentator refer to a “mullet trip”: a trip with a little business in the front, and a party in the back. I was determined to make this trip a mullet trip.

If I had to make this trip, at least I could spend it with my husband and my youngest child, so they came too. I had also made plans to meet up with my childhood best friend, who now lives with her family in the DC area. They were already spending the weekend in a hotel there, and their hotel happened to be right next to mine. Serendipity.

Our families met at her hotel for dinner. Her kids are similar ages to mine, and our husbands got along well. We were having such a wonderful time that after dinner, we had her eldest child babysit the three younger kids in the hotel room while we spent more time catching up.

It all went so well that we agreed to do it again the next night. (There was a work event that I would have attended, but I was no longer assigned a seat at the table, which was just fine with me!)

Lived Experience

After dinner, I came down the elevator into the lobby and I saw another person from Connecticut. This one, though, was maybe the most meaningful.

It was the assistant program director from my residency, Dr. Amy Johnson. I hadn’t seen Dr. Johnson since I completed residency 15 years ago. You may remember the story I told previously about the doctor who saved me from walking out of my job and diagnosed me with postpartum depression (see “A Mile in Her Shoes” Nov. 23, 2025). This was Dr. Johnson.

I was floored, excited, and emotional all at once. I told her, “You don’t know this, but I talk about you on my blog and in my posts, because that moment changed my entire career. My life.”

When I made that post in November, someone wrote a comment about how “Dr. Johnson may have recognized your PPD not just as a doctor, but as a mother herself. She likely had lived experience that helped her see it in you.”

That comment hit me like a ton of bricks. Dr. Johnson had PPD? That scenario never would have occurred to my young brain. I thought she was just giving me advice, but I realize now she was empathizing. She saw my pain and knew what I was going through.

When I saw her this weekend, I asked her if that was true. She is soft-spoken, and quietly answered, “Yeah.”

I had never gotten to thank her before. It was a very poignant moment.

So despite it being a whirlwind weekend, it was all worthwhile. The relationships we form with people define the kind of life we have, and if we’re lucky, we form lasting relationships with the people in our careers. They are what make whirlwind worth everything.

Dr. Braden’s Recommendations:

This may seem a little superficial, but this product did save me recently on a videoconference. I was exhausted from having been on call, and my hairdresser’s power had gone out. Rather than trying to reschedule an emergency session with her, she recommended over-the-counter Madison Reed hair color. I got some from Target and it worked great! It was easy to apply and effectively covered my grays, keeping me from having to use spray-on touch up. So if you find yourself in a home-hair coloring emergency, I recommend Madison Reed.