Waiting for the sunshine

I always seem to start a blog entry thinking that I haven't written anything for some time, and that I must do it more often. Today is no exception. It's currently 01:35am, I'm sat in the ODP office in Main Theatres, and I'm waiting for the right moment to get some kip. Unfortunately, there is no such time, as being the oncall obstetric anaesthetist means that there will always be a call to do some work right at the moment your head hits the pillow, or worse 15 minutes in so you've just dozed off.

There have been some dramatic changes in my life, partly responsible for the lack of blogging. I spent the last six months of my life with my nose in the books, studying religiously for the final FRCA examination. I finally took the last part of the last exam at the end of June, and passed! Good grief though, it was a tough exam. I felt during the vivas as though I was making up the answers as I went along, good job I made sense I guess. Some of my colleagues were not so fortunate and have been left in this state of limbo - knowing that they will have to continue working that hard for the next few months until the next exam, and that they will not have their lives back for some time yet.

My life however, is fully restored to me. It's wonderful not having to feel guilty about spending time with my family, I'm reveling in the summer that might not have been. In case I didn't mention it before, I'm back in Burton on Trent hospital again, and it has been great to see all the friendly faces there again. Not much has changed, and it has been easy to settle into the old routines again. Unfortunately the pace has quickened significantly in this once-sleepy burrow, and there is more than enough work to keep us all busy! The maternity unit has gone for taking about 3500 deliveries a year to well over 4000! The epidural rate seems to have gone from 25% to close to 50%, and the cesearean rate is increasing too. The hospital has been getting some very good word of mouth recommendations, and with the implementation of patient choice, we are getting parturients from all over the region choose to deliver at Burton.

There is an important decision looming over the family at the moment. It is an age-old decision that countless millions of families have pondered through for centuries. It is such a fundamental decision that the rest of our lives depend on it, and there is a finite time period in which to decide.

Baby or Rabbit?

Man, I wish I knew the answer. Only time will tell.