Another day in paradise

Well it was another lovely night of call. I slept about 45 minutes, and found myself falling asleep while sipping coffee this morning. How does that happen?? Anyway, it was a pretty busy night. There was a 27-week premie born around 1:00 in the morning (WHY is it always in the middle of the night??). Unfortunately because I'm an intern, I don't really matter (not dissing myself, it's just the truth)... so I wasn't called to the delivery. I was examining another new baby. But when I got back to the NICU I saw a whole mob of people around this teeny little baby, hooking him up to the ventilator. Then they noticed I was there and invited me to help. I attempted to put an umbilical arterial line in, but was not successful. It's a lot harder than it looks! Those vessels are so small, and the catheter is stiff and gets caught at every bend or valve. I also attempted an IV last night, but was not able to get that either. I blew a couple veins and decided to stop using the baby as a pin cushion. So all in all, it was not the best night for my self-esteem. But at least I got to try.

Sometimes I wonder what I would've done if I hadn't gone down the doctor route. A couple of residents were joking about that the other night at my friend's party. This lifestyle is just very demanding. And work is continually challenging. Especially intern year, when you have so much to learn. So I guess I better get to it - time to hit the books.