The divas and I celebrated a quiet call night with bacon, eggs, and orange sticky buns this morning.

I wear a pager on my hip for the better part of my day (and night).  When it sounds, my heart launches into a rhythm that can’t be controlled and my blood pressure shoots out the top of my head.  The hubs says on call nights, I can go from comfortably asleep to standing in scrubs, ready to walk out the door – kinda like George Jetson – when my pager erupts.

But not last night.

No, the last call of the night was at 8:30.  Dinner was finished and cleaned up, teeth had been brushed, all 5 had piled into a Croods-style cuddle-puddle on the couch, and then all the little ladies were tucked into bed for dreams of sugarplums to dance through their heads.  (It’s almost Christmas time, and I can’t WAIT!)

For the call, I was there and back in barely an hour.  Looking back at night-float from intern year, spent working and sleeping IN the HOSPITAL, third year at SL on home call is pretty awesome.  That first year, you’re so nervous when admitting a patient.  It takes you an hour to take a history and write up the checkout you plan to use for your upper-level then waiting time for the upper level to check out to the attending.  It takes you another hour to enter your orders to actually get the person admitted.  There is a lot of behind the scenes work that goes into, “Ok Mr. Smith, we’re going to admit you for X.”  There’s a reason you have a 2-hour window between admits your intern year.  You don’t get that luxury in your 2^nd and 3^rd years at SL – but the tradeoff is WELL worth it.  Ask the hubs and the kiddos with the full bellies this morning.

After breakfast, a monster white bunny roamed our backyard.  “That’s no ordinary bunny,” I was informed.  “Oh yeah?”  “It must be the Easter Bunny.”  “Obviously.”  “Do you think Santa is sick, and the Easter Bunny is checking on the boys and girls?” “Absolutely.”   Straight from the mouths of babes to your ears, err eyes. What an awesome way to spend a “post-call” day.  🙂

Thank you to the call-gods and my favorite ED docs for keeping the pager silent.  Let’s hope I have the same luck on Sunday!

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