Neonatal (a)musings

It's my sixth (and final) week of my pediatric rotation, and as my boyfriend reminds me daily, after Wednesday I won't have to examine another child, at least in an academic setting.  I've dreaded this rotation since the beginning of the year, but I've found that it's not dealing with the kids themselves that is most frustrating, it's often parents (which makes sense but it was for a different reason than expected).

I also found that I have several weird tics. I am not a baby person, and don't have any desire to pet (yes, that's what it is, people) or hold anyone's newborn baby. Second edit: I don't actually think many babies are "ugly," so to speak, but I think that, rather, lots of people ooh and aaah around babies and tell mom how beautiful and cute the baby is, and I know I'm not the only one wondering if we are seeing two different things. I think babies' looks are functional (it's a tough transition, I'll say), and a few happen to come out looking pretty darn good. I just think that it is genetic that all moms believe their baby is the most beautiful.

So back to the tic thing, I swore I'd never lie to a mom about her baby being cute.  A classmate suggested using "your baby looks very healthy," which I thought was brilliant.  But every time I got into a situation where I had to say something, "your baby is SO CUTE!" would just spill out; I couldn't help it.  I don't know what came over me- I didn't necessarily feel the baby was cute either (no maternal stirrings brought that out).

The other one is my "distract-or-make-the-angry-child-smile" facial expression.  I had many moments were I was standing silently behind a long-winded doctor, facing a bored or angry child.  Whenever the child would start to make the I'm-about-to-take-5-years-off-your-hearing face, I would have this uncontrollable urge to prevent it, which turned out to be me scrunching up my nose and face.  I know it's probably a pretty scary expression but I think I freaked out enough kids that they forgot about their plans to let out a scream.

I think my favorite experience was telling a kid his ear tubes were no longer green, that they were now rainbow-colored, and then watching his mom have a brief meltdown because she believed me too.

And then finding this doctor kit (on sale on Etsy!), which is the EXACT same one I had as a young child...this could very well be what started my lifelong dream of becoming a doctor! (It's labeled as "vintage," which blows my mind, as I'm in my mid-twenties.)