I just finished my first week of my pediatrics rotation. It's been awesome. I love it. This has probably been my favorite rotation so far. I'm up in rural PA in a cute little town that would be very close to an environment where I would want to live, if only we were closer to the ocean. However, there's a river running through town, so it's still nice.

I spend the mornings at the hospital rounding on babies in the nursery and any kids admitted to the hospital. Because it's a small rural hospital, the docs actually cover the hospital as well. This means that they take care of the babies as soon as they are out of the mom and until they leave the hospital. Thus, I've been able to see my first live birth and a csection. I always thought childbirth sounded like such a gross and horrible process, but it really is magical....to steal the British anesthesiologist at the hospital's word. Especially when you hear the first cry and see the look on the parent's faces. One of my friends was teasing me and saying "well that's just your maternal hormones acting out," and while I can't deny it, looking at the big picture, life really is a miracle. The csection baby came out with a full head of red hair which was cute and funny.

Right now in the nursery we have three preemies who are growers, so to speak. They are in incubators waiting to gain weight before we can let them go home. \5 pounds is our goal for them. We've had three sets of twins too, and lots of boys (which means I've seen tons of circumcisions).

After we're done in the nursery, we head to the clinic to see kids. Initially I didn't think I'd like seeing runny noses and well checks, but it's a lot more fun than I thought. The kids are great for the most part. The office staff is super nice, even inviting me to go out to Pizza Hut with them once. I saw once nurse give 6 shots in 10 seconds flat, it was amazing. There's so much experience in the office, which really does pay off.

I should also mention that I have a 3 minute commute to the clinic, which is one minute from the hospital. Normally I go through two tanks of gas a week; I still have over 3/4 of a tank left. Also, I get free unlimited food at the hospital cafeteria. It's not the best but it's free!