Medicine wards

Two days in. Two codes. One false alarm. Three procedures.

On call tomorrow. Inherited 6. Discharged 3. 2 to home.

Making faces while doing LP today. Forgot, there is a mirror in the room. Luckily patient is more mature than I am. Unfortunately upper level stepped in before I got the LP. The patient suffered less for it, but I suffered more.

I need to be more confident. It is a tall order because I feel I have very little to base it on.

Came home. Baby is awesome. Laughing. Eating rice and blueberry yogurt. Chasing cat on all fours. Almost ready for that first step. Loves to climb over me and give big open-mouthed kisses.

Attending asks if it is hard to be a mom-intern. Right now it is hard to be an intern. Loving the mom part. At least I have something worthwhile to come home to.

H1N1 has hit the daycare and the hospital...

So far I am not sick, but several of my co-residents have been ill. None of them have taken the recommended SEVEN days off after coming down with it. My little boy seems as healthy as ever... just the sniffles he gets from being a daycare kid (possibly with some super-imposed allergies). Since I am on a pulmonary/critical care elective I am seeing the most amazing H1N1 cases. It has been a wonderful month to reconnect with the family as I have had weekends off, but it has also been a good month for learning. We are in the middle of a major epidemic and it will be an interesting winter season on Internal Medicine wards to say the least. I know it is crazy, but I am actually looking forward to it.

My notes about colic... something all pediatricians should know

My son had a fussy period every day, but it would start at 10am and end at 5pm. Those hours between 4am and 10am were precious. After that, my baby would not sleep unless he was held and rocked while I walked or if I took him for a stroller ride. And he would fuss if he wasn't bathing, sleeping or rocking (while I walked, not sitting - that was not allowed apparently).

And when I say fuss I mean deafening ear-piercing, did-he-watch-the-exorcist-while-I-was-not watching-scream. That is colic. I went to the pediatricians office for some help and basically just bawled my eyes out. His first day of colic he cried 6-8 hours - and he was 2 weeks 6 days old. There might have been a few ok days after that.... but it was pretty bad for awhile. He got a stroller ride every afternoon in January, 2-3 baths per day, and I lost all my baby weight in about 6 weeks and I had gained 40 lbs. Not a weight loss plan I would endorse.

Then starting at 8 weeks I decided to let someone else help with the load - I started going to the YMCA and let them deal with his crabby self every day for 1.5 hours while I walked my worries away. Eventually the colic ended, 2 weeks before he was to start daycare.

I was probably at risk for post-partum depression (strong family history), but having a colicky baby just about put me over. As it does for most people who have colic. It is amazing that baby and I bonded so well given how hard that was. Way harder than internship. Not that I don't have stuff to cry over with that, but at least I get some sleep 4/5 nights instead of 0/5 nights.

September happenings...

I'm on an elective and that is a good thing. Those on wards are looking pretty tired right now. I have a potpourri presentation coming up. My mom is going to watch Luke on Monday night so we can work on it. Yes, I am recruiting help from my hubby. I hate doing presentations. We need to get it done Monday so I can practice it a few times.

Oh, and I got my first art line in. Easier to do when no one is breathing down your neck. My ward months are going to be full of procedures. I can't wait to get to a point where I feel proficient. Until then, just another thing I stress about.

8.5 months

Our child woke us up about 3 times last night and ended up in bed with us until 5am when he decided he had slept enough. Luckily my husband took over until 6am. It is now 7am and he is going to daycare - across the street. Then I am off to a pulmonary elective month. It is a ton of fun. First week was outpatient. The rest is ICU. My first day as a consultant in the ICU was an eye-opening experience, in a good way. More on that to come.