This post is sponsored by HelloFresh. Thank you for supporting the companies who support and feed my own family!
This is a "typical" day in the life of a third year ObGyn resident. As always, details have been changed or omitted.
5:07 // My alarm isn't supposed to go off for another 23 minutes, but Penny doesn't really care about alarms and wants to nurse and cuddle now. I scoop her out of her pack n plan, and nurse and hold her for the next 25 minutes before putting her back down to sleep. Chris will get up in about an hour and get himself and the baby ready, and will take her to daycare.
5:35 // After brushing my teeth and washing my face, I put on my make-up (powder, bronzer, blush, eyeliner, eyebrow pencil, and mascara), throw in some dry shampoo, and get dressed.
6:05 // I go downstairs, let the dogs out, and pack my bag. I pack my pumping parts, my HelloFresh left overs I made last night for lunch, a few snacks, and my computer. I then drive the quick 10 minutes down the road to the hospital.
6:20 // I arrive to our call rooms a few minutes before sign out, and chat with the night float residents. I then put my pumps on so I can pump during sign out since the next time I'll be able to is after our first c-section, which is too far away to wait. I then print my patient list, and join the night team and the oncoming day team, as well as our medical students and attending, in our education room.
6:30 // During morning sign out, the night team tells us about any new antepartum admissions and changes to our patients on the antepartum floor - these are patients whose waters broke early, who have high blood pressures we are monitoring, or who need closer observation in the hospital. Then we get sign out on the laboring patients, and then any complicated postpartum issues, like blood pressure problems, postpartum hemorrhages, or any other unique situations we all need to know about. After that, the night team gets to go home, and the day team stays for morning education. This morning we read about preterm prelabor rupture of membranes. As senior residents, it's our job to lead education, make sure our junior residents know the most important parts of the information, and also answer any questions.
7:15 // I go see our postpartum clinic patients, and then we do our first scheduled clinic c-section for the day. On the floor, the intern does the majority of the c-sections with either a private attending for their patients, or with a senior resident if it's one of our clinic patients. Today we are doing a repeat c-section and deliver a healthy baby girl!
8:30 // After the c-section, I go back to our call room and check up on how the laboring patients are doing, and get sign out about our patients who came in for inductions. Then I make my breakfast and coffee. I've been slowly getting back into intermittent fasting so I've been fasting 13 hours overnight. I make homemade oatmeal (I just mix a container of quick oats with chia seeds, coconut, pecans, and cinnamon) and an iced coffee. Then I pump again.
09:30 // I see a couple of triage patients with our family medicine resident (who spends 6 weeks with us on L&D to learn the ropes around here). A patient comes in through triage 10 cm dilated, so we got immediately to a labor room and have our second birthday party of the day.
11:45 // Another couple of triage patients later, and it's time for lunch! We have been HelloFresh customers for about a year now, and it's made such a difference in our lives. We don't always have time to get a bunch of groceries, come up with new recipes to try, and be motivated enough to make new meals all the time. HelloFresh has kind of solved all those issues for us! We get the 4 meal versions and that gives us enough for lunches the next day or another dinner the next day. I made this prosciutto wrapped chicken, broccoli, and mashed potatoes last night, and I'm so glad I brought lunch from home because we don't usually have time to leave the floor to go to the cafeteria. Having our HelloFresh subscription has saved me from a lot of PB&J cracker lunches ;) After eating, I pump for the third time.
12:00 // We see a few more patients in triage for complaints of contractions, someone thinking their water broke, and ruling out pre-eclampsia, which are generally our top complaints coming through triage. One of the patients gets admitted to our antepartum floor for blood pressure management.
13:30 // We go back for our second c-section and tubal for the day, this time for twins!
14:45 // And our third vaginal delivery of the day. Afterwards, we have a patient with uncontrolled blood pressures, so we spend a lot of time getting them under control. Then I go pump for the last time of the day. That's 4 pumping sessions and about 10 oz total for Penny. I don't love pumping but am happy I can do something of her while at work.
15:30 // Our laboring patients are still in the early stages of labor, so I take some time to read for tomorrow. I've been trying to take notes on the readings we do every night so that I can organize my thoughts for both education, and for preparation for our written boards that I take next summer. This reading is on anticoagulation management in pregnancy and labor.
16:30 // Last delivery of the day!
17:30 // We go back to our education room to sign out back to the night team.
17:50 // I walk out of the hospital and drive to get Penny from daycare!
18:00 // Penny is having a great time at daycare, playing with some of her little classmates. I just love seeing her expression when she seems me and how excited she gets! I live for her little arms curling around my neck. I pack up her things and we head out the door.
18:15 // We get home, let the pups out and throw her bottles into some soapy water to be cleaned later tonight. Then I nurse Penny, and then we play for a bit!
18:45 // Chris gets home, and I start making dinner. I'm thankful for some of the "quick meals" from HelloFresh that take 20 minutes to make. Some days I just want to spend less time cooking and more time eating and being with my family! This time we are making pulled pork tacos that's topped with a sweet and vinegar slaw and a hot sauce crema. It really did take no longer than 20 minutes to make and they were so good. Penny had a little bit of the pulled pork and loved it! And now I have lunch for tomorrow too.
19:30 // Chris cleans up the dishes, and I take the baby up to take a bath. Now that she's a bit older and can sit independently, we typically take baths together, which I love! She gets to splash around, we get to still play and be together, and both get clean - really it's a win-win. After her bath, Chris comes and grabs her and gets her ready for bed and reads a book, while I take a shower.
20:15 // I nurse Penny to sleep, put her down in her little bed, and then join Chris downstairs to watch a little Netflex while he chart preps. In his third year of residency, he spends the majority of his days in his outpatient clinic, which means he does a lot of pre-charting the evening before, and documenting his visits after. I don't really have as much at home work to do, which is nice!
21:30 // I brush my teeth and go to bed. Penny wakes up around 01:30 to nurse, and luckily goes back to bed. Chris came to bed sometime in there. Another day down!
16:30 // Last delivery of the day!
17:30 // We go back to our education room to sign out back to the night team.
17:50 // I walk out of the hospital and drive to get Penny from daycare!
18:00 // Penny is having a great time at daycare, playing with some of her little classmates. I just love seeing her expression when she seems me and how excited she gets! I live for her little arms curling around my neck. I pack up her things and we head out the door.
18:15 // We get home, let the pups out and throw her bottles into some soapy water to be cleaned later tonight. Then I nurse Penny, and then we play for a bit!
18:45 // Chris gets home, and I start making dinner. I'm thankful for some of the "quick meals" from HelloFresh that take 20 minutes to make. Some days I just want to spend less time cooking and more time eating and being with my family! This time we are making pulled pork tacos that's topped with a sweet and vinegar slaw and a hot sauce crema. It really did take no longer than 20 minutes to make and they were so good. Penny had a little bit of the pulled pork and loved it! And now I have lunch for tomorrow too.
19:30 // Chris cleans up the dishes, and I take the baby up to take a bath. Now that she's a bit older and can sit independently, we typically take baths together, which I love! She gets to splash around, we get to still play and be together, and both get clean - really it's a win-win. After her bath, Chris comes and grabs her and gets her ready for bed and reads a book, while I take a shower.
20:15 // I nurse Penny to sleep, put her down in her little bed, and then join Chris downstairs to watch a little Netflex while he chart preps. In his third year of residency, he spends the majority of his days in his outpatient clinic, which means he does a lot of pre-charting the evening before, and documenting his visits after. I don't really have as much at home work to do, which is nice!
21:30 // I brush my teeth and go to bed. Penny wakes up around 01:30 to nurse, and luckily goes back to bed. Chris came to bed sometime in there. Another day down!
Day in Review
hours slept: 6.5, woke up twice
hours exercised: 0
meals cooked: 1
hours studied: 0.5
babies delivered: 7
babies delivered: 7
previous days in the life
OBGYN (plus 24 hour call)
This post was sponsored by HelloFresh, a company that has had me as a paying customer for the last year. I feel very fortunate to be working with them, and would love for you to try a month of HelloFresh at a discounted rate! Click here to receive 10 free meals with a subscription!
