Willow Creek Spotlight- Dr. Waterhouse

Lu Lu Waterhouse

How long have you been at Willow Creek?

During my year as Chief Resident at Primary Children’s Hospital, I was able to work a few afternoons and weekends at Willow Creek to start getting to know the staff and patients. I started full time at Willow Creek in July 2011 and have loved every minute! I have wonderful physician partners, amazing nurses and support staff, and I love how it feels like we’re all family at Willow Creek.

What’s your favorite color?

I love the color blue – so many shades are just so beautiful. And my husband’s eyes are blue, so that is probably another reason why it’s my favorite color. I always wanted to have babies with blue eyes, but then I learned genetics in school and was crushed to find out that it could never be – my dark brown Asian eyes are just too dominant!

What are your hobbies?

Hobbies…what’s that?? I joke with my husband that he has a plethora of hobbies, including ultra-marathon running (he runs 100 mile races and finishes in the top 15!), photography, back country skiing, gardening, bread making, and knitting (He learned to knit from YouTube videos after buying a sweater knitting kit from Iceland since he was too frugal to buy a premade sweater. I was impressed with his skill and it only took him 6 months to finish the sweater!). I like to say that my hobby is sleeping. As a busy full time working mom of 2 rambunctious boys who like to wake up before 6am, I like to catch up on my sleep whenever I can. In all honesty, I would say my hobbies are working out when I find the time – I’m loving Orange Theory Fitness right now (it’s like a cult) and doing a Core Power Yoga class when I can, skiing after a few seasons off the mountain due to pregnancies and little kids, knitting and reading when I have some downtime, which is usually only on vacation.

Tell us something about you...

I am strangely proud of the fact that I never needed braces. When I was growing up, my mom knew we couldn’t afford braces, so anytime she saw an adult tooth about to come through, she would take me to the dentist and have them pull the baby tooth, even if it wasn’t loose, so that the adult tooth would grow in straight. I, of course, hated it – kids don’t like the dentist in the first place, and hate it even more when they know they’re getting teeth pulled! Luckily, it worked and I love my smile. Our pediatric dentist has already told me that my sons (5yrs old and not even 2yrs old) will 99% likely need braces when they’re older (I blame their dad – my husband had braces, as I learned from some amazingly awkward middle school pictures his mom showed me once…haha!) because their baby teeth are already growing in crooked and crowded so there’s no way they will have space for their adult teeth to grow in straight. We have already started a savings account for their orthodontia bills…

What do you enjoy most about being a part of Willow Creek Pediatrics?

That is such a tough question because there are so many things to love about Willow Creek, from the sense of family within our staff to the wonderful patients and families we take care of. When I’ve been in a child care bind (usually when my baby is sick and can’t attend daycare; we don’t have any family locally), I have brought Nash to work with me and all of my nurses and staff pitch in to help take care of him while I’m working. Everyone at Willow Creek genuinely loves kids and it brings tears of joy to my eyes knowing that I have such a wonderful and caring workplace.

Even though I’ve only been at Willow Creek for 4 years, I cherish all of the relationships I’ve made with my patients and their families. I love watching “my babies” grow and now some of my families have started having their 2^nd or 3^rd child and it fills my heart seeing these awesome parents raising happy and healthy kids. I feel so privileged to have the opportunity to be a part of that growth and help them be the best parents they can be.

**You can read Dr. Waterhouse's full bio on our website... www.wasatchpeds.net