Sunday, August 28, 2005
Motherhood is not for wimps
I hope most of you all are not getting bored with my ramblings on mother work/ other work lately. I have really gotten off the infertility path huh!
Today's topic is a reflection on my medical training. We all hear about how grueling medical residency is and we medical people tell stories about how bad it was also. So bad, that recently the powers that be started executing a limit of 80 hour work weeks for resident physicians in training. Yes, it was hard (I worked at worse 110 hours a week some months) and yes, I got beeped (and still get paged) in the middle of the night to possibly save someone's life or at least keep them alive. But, compared to what I am going thru now with my baby's ever changing needs at all hours of day and night, that was really easy. At least when I was through with my 36 hour shift, I could go home and sleep uninterrupted and not be on duty again until 3-4 nights later.
Even with help from my dh and nanny in the day, it is me in those wee hours of the night now. And the sleep deprivation makes me often grumpy, fussy, and not think clearly at all, much worse than when I was the resident on call (I guess you all are happy to hear that and happy to know my partners are currently covering for me now).
Now the rationale behind the medical training being like it WAS, was that illnesses were not just 8-5 and my own rationale was that we had to do that so that we could literally "do it in our sleep." Medical call for me, now after 8 years in practice is not hard like it was in residency. I don't panic anymore about giving someone Tylenol like the 1st night I ever took hospital call...I know it sounds wacky. So motherhood is going to be something I can do in my sleep too!
Today's topic is a reflection on my medical training. We all hear about how grueling medical residency is and we medical people tell stories about how bad it was also. So bad, that recently the powers that be started executing a limit of 80 hour work weeks for resident physicians in training. Yes, it was hard (I worked at worse 110 hours a week some months) and yes, I got beeped (and still get paged) in the middle of the night to possibly save someone's life or at least keep them alive. But, compared to what I am going thru now with my baby's ever changing needs at all hours of day and night, that was really easy. At least when I was through with my 36 hour shift, I could go home and sleep uninterrupted and not be on duty again until 3-4 nights later.
Even with help from my dh and nanny in the day, it is me in those wee hours of the night now. And the sleep deprivation makes me often grumpy, fussy, and not think clearly at all, much worse than when I was the resident on call (I guess you all are happy to hear that and happy to know my partners are currently covering for me now).
Now the rationale behind the medical training being like it WAS, was that illnesses were not just 8-5 and my own rationale was that we had to do that so that we could literally "do it in our sleep." Medical call for me, now after 8 years in practice is not hard like it was in residency. I don't panic anymore about giving someone Tylenol like the 1st night I ever took hospital call...I know it sounds wacky. So motherhood is going to be something I can do in my sleep too!
