counting days

This is starting to feel long to me. I've been here exactly 15 days, and I have 22 days left. There are four interns here right now, which is barely enough bodies to cover the shifts. So, we're all working hard, and taking our time off seriously.

Since we don't live in a very enchanting neighborhood, we have to walk, bus, or beg a ride to somewhere else when we're not working. Popular outings have included shopping (mostly for groceries, but also trips to various malls in El Paso), church, the movies, and exercising (walking, running or taking the community bike out for a spin). One of the interns, KD, has been very generous with her car, so I've been able to get out farther than I could go walking or on the bike that doesn't exactly fit me. I have 24 hours off starting tomorrow morning at 6 am, so I'm already plotting what to do during that time.

We had a flurry of babies when I first got here, and they've been trickling in ever since. We all feel a little like we're in the calm before the storm. We've had some late registrations (people coming in late in their pregnancy to register for care for the first time), so the numbers that are due are kind of building. We had such a late registration, that by the time she finished all the paperwork, the interview with the secretaries, and the exam with the intern, she was in active labor. So she came in to register, and ended up staying to have her baby. Pretty crazy, but also fun.

I do like that there's always something unexpected happening. There's never a "regular" day, really; there's plenty of opportunity to learn, to see and do, and to stretch and grow. I really shouldn't be counting days, but here I am doing so anyway.

What I'm going to do tomorrow depends a little bit at least on what happens tonight. I'm second on tonight. When you're second in the night, you can be in the intern house, but you have to be in scrubs the whole night so that if someone comes in laboring, you can head over to the clinic immediately when you're called. If nothing happens in the evening, you get to sleep. The duties for the second on person are rather limited, so once the birth happens and your chores are done you can go back to bed. All in all, you might end up being up for a couple of hours at most, but depending on when it happens, you could be needing some sleep the next day. So, I'm thinking that tomorrow may bring some sleep, some studying, some knitting, and a walk. Hopefully, I'll feel re-charged in case the storm of babies hits this weekend when I'm on for another 24 hour stint.