On Being a Pregnant Medical Resident...

The Good:

• Limited maternity wardrobe required-- I went from yellow-string scrub pants to blue-string scrub pants around week 14 so that I could wear them over my expanding belly and not have to hike them up all day. Saves me a ton of money.
• My emergency medicine program has been amazingly accommodating regarding my pregnancy and impending maternity leave. I've basically re-written my schedule for the next year so that the rotations that have to be done out-of-town will be done by the time The Bean makes an appearance.
  
• It looks like I can take 5 months of leave and still manage to write my emergency medicine certification exams on schedule. That's 2 months more than I expected to be able to take.
• PAIRO (have I mentioned that I love my union?) tops up my mat leave to 75% of my take-home salary. Not too shabby.
• As a doctor, I seem to be subject to very little of the unsolicited advice that is often heaped on pregnant women. I guess people assume that my medical training makes me better prepared for managing pregnancy. With the exception of my mother-in-law, who believes, for example, that my intention to cloth diaper is something that should be met with eye-rolling and smirking.
  

The Bad:

• I'm torn between wanting to tell everyone I work with that I'm pregnant (since I'm definitely looking wider around the middle) and not wanting them to think that I expect special treatment.
• Due to some first trimester spotting, I had to stop running. I've been walking instead, but it's really not the same as far as stress reduction goes.
  
• I need to pee about 10 times a day. This is actually pretty disruptive to a busy workday.
• Eating is a challenge. I'm done with the nausea of the first trimester, but very few foods are appealing to me. And it's not like I can leave the ICU with the code pager to get myself some fresh watermelon and a McDonald's cheeseburger when the mood hits.
• I miss sushi. A lot. And wine. And my beloved aspartame (I long for a Diet Coke!). I am aware that not everyone believes that forgoing sushi and aspartame is necessary during pregnancy, but it's what I've chosen. That doesn't mean I can't complain.
  
• 10 hour days with 1-in-4 call is exhausting to the most hardy of individuals. Being pregnant doesn't help. Thank God I had easy rotations during the dreaded first trimester.
• My blood pressure has been problematically low. My systolic is hovering around 80. In the stuffy confines of the ICU, rounding (standing in front of a patient's bed for long periods of time) gives me pre-syncope. I think I'm going to have to tell my attending I'm pregnant, or he's going to think I'm just a lazy shit who drags a chair around the ICU with me.

The Ugly:

• Uncontrollable pregnancy gas. Nuf said.