W O W

today i took care of a 2 week old baby who was born 6 weeks premature and with its intestines outside its body. this was my first pediatric patient.

(NOTE: to those of you who are currently pregnant or ever plan to be, this is a really rare condition, is diagnosed prenatally, and is correctable.)

also, children's hospital is like a brand new universe. and also, sick babies are kind of scary. it was tiny and amazing, and until today, doing really well. some complications arose today, first observed when it projectile vomited into my pocket. at first i thought i dodged a real bullet, only getting a little on my sleeve while the rest shot onto the floor. but then, while reaching to retrieve a pen so i could note the incident, it came out covered in baby barf and i realized the kid puked right into my shirt pocket, it had soaked through, and finally dribbled all down the left side of my body. it was actually quite impressive. now the trick is figuring out why this happened and making it better.

the part with the baby was actually pretty awesome. the technical stuff was much more difficult. i learned a ton of really important stuff in all the most stressful, demeaning, and embarrassing ways possible. but i will surely remember it all next time and hopefully do a good job.

anyway, i came home and washed all the barf off, and now i'm going to go drink some beers and rock out. life is a real adventure, isn't it?


(i am not allowed to tell you if it was a boy or girl, hence the "it" references above. it just seems like something to explain...)