Making Progress

Today was a busy day in the NICU!  Over the course of the morning we had two new babies brought in from other hospitals, so the residents were busy assessing the new patients and getting them settled in.  We also got to move one baby out of Bay 1 and into Bay 2/3 (Bay 1 is for babies requiring the most intensive care, so moving to Bay 2/3 means the patient is doing well)!  This was especially exciting for me because I had also gotten to see her when she was brought into the NICU during her first few minutes of life.  She was a tiny 650g then and, while she is still small, now she is growing and doing well.  Because I am only in the NICU once a week, I don’t usually get any kind of closure with patients who leave; I come in one day and all I know is they are not in Bay 1 anymore and a new baby is in their place.  It was great to be able to see a patient’s progression from her most fragile on the day she was born, to today when she is strong enough to do well with less care.  We all waved and smiled as the nurses rolled her little bed off down the hallway.

Back in lab, I am wrapping up my projects.  My villus length work is done, and I plan on finishing with my RT-PCR work on Tuesday!  This week I have been working on putting together a presentation on my summer internship experience.  I will be giving the 30-40 minute long talk twice on July 16, my last day here in Iowa City: once at the lab meeting for the labs in our hall, and once to the Neonatology faculty.  I am a little nervous to present to the Neonatologists, as they know so much more than I do about the topics I am presenting.  However, Dr. McElroy has been helping me put the presentation together and will look over everything before I present, so I am not allowing myself to get too anxious about it.  Working on my presentation has made me realize how much I have learned in my time here, and just how little time I have left.  It is hard to believe that I only have 10 more days!  Time flies when you’re having fun!