I haven't posted a whole lot about what it's really like to be a Pediatric Resident and a mommy yet...mostly because I have been on outpatient clinic months since mid-January and with the exception of a few overnight calls I have been home most days in time to cook dinner and play with my baby boy. Now, however, I am back on inpatient wards...so that means I'm admitting kids to Children's Hospital when I'm on call. Currently the way our system is set up we are on call every 4th night and we admit children from 7:00 am the day we get there until 7:00 am the following day...and we stay until 1:00pm to tidy up our list and make sure all of our kids are taken care of before we go home after our 30 hour shift. I must admit this can be exhausting (even before I became a mommy). The way it works is that I get a call either from my attending or from the Pediatric ER that there is a kid that needs to be admitted, then I (in theory) send my intern to see the baby, get a history of what has gone on, then we go over the differential diagnosis, plan and treatment, we put in orders, and we check on them a couple of times before the morning if they need us.
At the beginning of the month it's difficult because you have to get a feel for how the intern works, their judgement, skillfulness of exam (which is difficult with some of our little wildcats), and their ability to organize. Hmm...I'll be the first to admit that I'm kind of a perfectionist, and I remember July 1st of my intern year (on Wards) when I felt like the slow intern who was never going to get the hang of things...but by my second month of inpatient peds I could admit kids with my eyes closed (except for the exam). This month may prove to be quite exhausting if I can't get my intern to be confident and correctly do the things above. As a mommy I have to do other things, like pump, and find a babysitter. My first call this month was the 5th. Rolland was out of town and returning late that night...I was on call, and I thought "who is crazy enough to pick up my baby from daycare and take him home for me?". Well, Dr. Pittenger to the rescue. One of our Ward attendings actually picked Weston up for me, took him home, fed him and put him to bed...all before Rolland got home from his conference. So awesome. Meanwhile, I was on call...admit a kid, drink a bottle of water, pump breastmilk...admit 5 kids in the ER, drink some coffee, pump. Needless to say, I never went to my call room except to pump, and the sheets weren't so much as wrinkled on the bed because I never got in it the whole night. But, I came home with 7 bottles of milk...
Most of the kids we admitted just needed observation for a few hours overnight and then we discharged them (about half ) in the morning. By about the 20th hour on call without sleep your eyes start to get this awful burning sensation, so imagine what it's like at the 29th hour...with no sleep. We only admitted 14 kids on call, and I was consulted on a neurology kid with a UTI, but without sleep...it may as well be thirty. I joke at the end of a rough night be saying, "everyone lived"...which may seem a little crass, but ultimately you have to admit that's the goal. I love my job...I love taking care of people's children, and I like teaching (parents, intern, and med students alike). It's gratifying to see people's babies feel better, especially now that I know what it's like to take care of my own sick baby at home. So if you see me at the wee hours of the morning wandering around KCH, just smile and offer me some water...good chance that I'm a little behind on mt fluids. And I assure you that if I see your baby in the hospital, I will take the best care of them possible.
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