A typical call night

So I just thought I'd let everyone know how my typical call night goes. I sometimes feel like I am back in residency on call and back in the hospital. Let me start with a few things. I am on call ( meaning I am allowed to go home and answer questions from home, however if a child is born, something doesn't look right, a csection happens that isn't planned, the ER needs a child admitted or just wants a second opinion, I get to go into the hospital) I am on call about 6-7 nights a month - this is how often I was on during residency. I take one weekend call a month - meaning from 730 AM Sat to 730 Am Mon I am it. I see all nursery babies, NICU babies, kids admitted on the floor, and go in a night if they need me - for 48 straight hours.(yes there are no work hour rules for attendings). Did I mention that Peds doesn't have their own call room in the hospital - I have slept on a couch, a random empty patient room, and sitting in a chair/rocker in the NICU.
Here's how it goes:
I see patients during the day in our office and precept NP/PA students or a pediatric resident. I don't mind teaching, I actually enjoy this part. At 430pm I get checkout from the hospitalist or Neonatologist. I glance at the labor board. If there are any mom's laboring and close to delivering, I stick around until the baby is out b/c there is a 75% chance that I will get called with a question about how a baby looks. I then go home and Greg has made dinner for me:) (this is about 530-7). Now this is where my call night goes up or down. I normally get called in at least once for a delivery - labor and delivery calls when they declare a c-section, they see meconium or a baby has a bad heart rate on the monitor. I go back in, attend the delivery, and come back home about 2-3 hours later (depending on how quickly the csection happens). I sleep until 730 AM and then give checkout. This is a good call night.
My worst call night.... I was the hospitalist for the day, saw about 8 newborns, 1 NICU patient and was on for the night. During the day, I attended 3 csections. I admitted 2 newborns to the NICU for phototherapy (no we don't have a bili bed nor do the nurses allow us to put lights on the infants in the mom's room) At about 4 pm I attended a meconium csection and the child had too much breathing problems to go out to his mom's room. I got to manage him in the NICU for 4 hours - he did fine. At about 9 pm a mom comes in at 34 weeks, poor prenatal care and out comes a 4 lb baby. She wasn't breathing well, I intubated gave artifical surfactant to help her breathe better and placed her on our equivalent of CPAP(really powerful oxygen). I attend another csection. At 11 pm the ER calls about a kid that needs to be admitted, which I also get to do - see the child, write orders, see the child upstairs and make sure the nurses don't have any questions. At this point it is about 2-3 AM and I have labs to check on, blood gases to follow for my child in the NICU on oxygen, and talk with parents of my NICU children. Did I mention that I have now admitted 3 children to my NICU (4 is our max - I started with one) attended 6 csections and admitted a patient to the ward. I am so excited to leave the hospital at 730 and check out. My black cloud has followed me to Virginia.
I really enjoy the hospital but I have found out that my colleages rarely get called in and the nurses see me and cringe knowing that their night is going to be bad. I'll keep you posted if my cloud starts to change.