This one goes out to my Aunt Cassandra who asked me to blog about my life at the hospital.
So if anyone wondered what my first real day back was like . . .
21:00 -Try to go to sleep. Emmy is restless and wanting to eat.
22:00 - Emmy is finally sleeping. I cry at the thought of leaving her the next morning.
03:30-5:00 - Emmy decides to start sleeping well. I stay awake anticipating her waking with every grunt and stir.
5:15 - Glare at my alarm as it goes off.
5:45 - Check my email and find that the overnight team tried to call to sign out new patients as the census on our floor has exploded.
5:50 - Go to pump the milk Emmy decided not to drink overnight and find that the cord on my pump has shorted out.
6:00 - Pull out of my driveway.
6:25 - Ride the elevator up 12 floors and get signout on several new patients.
6:45 - Realize I have forgotten all my passwords. Call Aukai and have him email my password cheat sheet.
6:55 - Finally log onto the computer. Go to introduce myself to my new patients.
8:05 - Run down 7 flights of stairs to find a lactation consultant and beg for some adapters for the hospital breast pumps. Realize that I left all of my bottles on the 12th floor.
8:20 - Run up 7 flights of stairs.
8:25 - Ask my senior if 8:30 rounds are really going to start on time. She assures me that they are and I groan as I realize I don't have time to pump.
8:45 - 8:30 rounds start 15 minutes late.
10:30 - My friend looks at me and subtly asks if I need to pump. I nod, and then look down to find that milk has leaked through my nursing pad, bra and scrub top.
11:00 - Rounds end.
11:15 - Inform my senior that I have to go pump, and run down 7 flights of stairs.
11:30 - The bag I am pumping into falls and milk spills all over my lap and chair.
11:45 - Run up 7 flights of stairs.
12:00 - A patient walks in to wish the nursing staff Merry Christmas. I recognize him as someone who could barely lift his thumbs earlier this year.
12:30 - Walk in late (again) to noon conference.
13:00 - Go up 12 flights of stairs.
13:30 - Realize that what I thought was the photocopy of an admission note from overnight was in fact the original. Cross out the many notes I have taken on it and hang my head as I place it in the patient chart. *sigh*
14:00 - Frantically check labs and make phone calls.
15:00 - Informed by nurse that I must move my milk to a special fridge set aside for breastmilk. Shake my head at the irony of putting my baby's food in a fridge labeled "BIOHAZARD."
16:00 - Afternoon rounds. Half way through my male attending asks if I am breastfeeding and if I have found time to pump. He informs my senior that I must pump every four hours and will probably need her to take my pager. I don't know whether to be embarrassed or to kiss him.
16:30 - Afternoon rounds end. Start a new list of tasks.
16:45 - Transfer a patient to the PICU and run down three flights of stairs to find an intern who can show me how to use the new discharge set-up.
18:30 - Aukai calls. He has found a cord that will work for my pump. Take an elevator down 12 flights of stairs to grab it from him. He asks me if I have time to eat dinner with them. I look at my sweet children, give them kisses, and say "no" as I run back to the elevator.
18:40 - Cry as I take the elevator up 12 flights of stairs. Run to the call room to pump again.
19:00 - Back to work.
20:00 - Push ativan on a seizing kid.
23:00 - Listen to a new baby crying across from the call room. Cry as I think about Emmy and then remember what Aukai told me: "Just be grateful your children aren't the ones in the hospital."
23:30 - Pump and update sign-out.
01:00 - Pump and lie down. Lay awake in bed for 1 hour before dozing to sleep..
02:30 - Get a page to check on a patient.
03:30 - Lay back in bed.
05:30 - Alarm goes off. Shocked at how much sleep I have gotten and wonder if my pager is really working. No overnight admits? That is unheard of for me! Pump and then go to start printing off sign-out.
06:20 - Start updating my colleagues about overnight events.
08:00 - Call a pediatrician about a patient who was discharged the prior night. Leave multiple messages.
09:00 - The pediatrician who I called pages my senior, livid that she hasn't heard anything about the patient who was just discharged. *sigh* Slip out and use different messaging options until I finally get through. Apologize profusely.
10:30 - Sign-out ends. Start discharge paperwork for those who will be leaving over the next 24 hours.
11:30 - The child who couldn't speak a week ago suprizes us by tolerating juice and crackers.
13:00 - Give up on finishing the paperwork and finally sign out for the day.
13:15 - Reminded by attending that I was supposed to be out of the hospital by 13:00. Sigh and tell him, "That's assuming I didn't get here 30 minutes early yesterday." Pump.
13:40 - Finally step outside the hospital, late, again.
14:10 - Step into the house. Give Emmy and Ashton a kiss on the head before putting my scrubs directly into the washer and jumping in the shower.
15:30 - Watch a movie with Ashton and Emmy while Aukai takes Isaac to violin.
14:15 - Emmy and I go down for a nap.
16:00 - Aukai grabs Emmy and I keep sleeping.
19:30 - Wake up to help Aukai put the boys to sleep and spend some time with Aukai and Emmy.
21:00 - Emmy goes to sleep. Start getting ready for bed.
4 comments:
Oh Heather! It's amazing that you are still able to function!
That's intense my friend. I was thinking about you guys a lot today. Liz surprised us by driving into town today, and I must admit I felt sad knowing that you wouldn't be doing the same. Missing you all to pieces! Have a wonderful Christmas!
Ahh! You are super woman! It's not easy being a mother and a resident, let alone an intern with a new baby, but if anyone can do it...you can!! Good luck this year. :)
(and hooray for understanding attendings)
Sounds like a major juggling game. You're doing great. We miss you guys.
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