One Rotation Down..

The first rotation is over and we are all still alive. I spent over 200hrs with Dr Christopher Cummins in Ripley MS (home of the souths oldest flea market) and almost 40 hrs driving to and from his clinic. My first rotation was awesome! Dr Cummins is a southerner to the core and gave me opportunities to stretch beyond my comfort zone daily. Speckled throughout the 5 week rotation period were experiences including: being sung to by a geriatric that had fallen asleep during an exam and woke melodically; getting to guest star on the "Ask Dr Cummins Show" on Ripley's very own TV station; and getting to wear mardi gras beads all day on the 12th. We are indebted to his wife for serving us shrimp and grits, Paula Deane style... It was amazing. Since I don't have an Iphone, packing light each day of clinic was not an option. I always have my little worthless phone on me (worst trivial decision of 2011 was buying that thing), my laptop in the car for studying (listening to podcasts), and our halfway reliable tablet in clinic for drug referencing. I consider this set-up the caveman Iphone.

Shayna and Trace spent their days at the toyota plant RV "park" and going on "adventures". One of these consisted of RV lusting, and they later included me in this covetous practice. The Sherman RV dealer is just 10 miles from where we stay, and is filled with residencies that are considered trailer but far from trash. We felt a little guilty knowing that ruby (not getting any younger or any less wrinkles) was faithfully waiting for our return.

Norma, Shayna's classy black southern midwife, has been up to visit a few times. She has been delivering babies for 18 years and we are so happy we found her (there is only one other well established midwife in MS and she is down on the gulf 6hrs away). Shayna is a champ with this pregnancy and we are so excited for this baby to get here (its quite the little gymnast, I wouldn't be surprised if there were twins in there).