Leave of Absence

As of July 1st, I will officially begin my maternity leave of absence from medical school. In all practicality, it began as soon as I answered the last question (I think it was number 368) of my Step 2 CK exam (National Board exam) last Thursday. It was the final exam of 5 or 6 major exams that I had to take over the past 2 months. It was nice to finally be done. But, that night, after my exam, I couldn’t sleep. Usually it is the night before an exam that sleep comes slowly, due to nerves. For me though, I couldn’t fall asleep after the test. It wasn’t that I was mulling over the questions that I missed on the exam, but rather my mind was finally allowed to think about the baby. I was up to nearly 3 am thinking about all that I needed and wanted to do before Trey comes.

So now the work begins. Everyone keeps asking me what I am going to do with all my free time. I really don’t think I will be as bored as people think. First of all, I have an entire house to clean and a baby’s room to put together (at a slower than usual pace). Then, there are several books that I want to read, boxes of junk packed away from college and earlier that desparately need to be thinned out, blank drawing pads, empty canvases, etc. I also plan to volunteer with a medical mission group called New Frontiers Health Force as they begin a local outreach program called Project Hope. While I may not be in as high a gear as I am in medical school, and will have a little more time to relax, I think that I will keep myself busy.