Hi, I’m Maternity Scrubs. Obviously, that’s not my real name. But it symbolizes, to me, the two major transitions I made this past year- becoming a medical student and becoming a new mom, and my attempts to understand and sort out what each of those means individually and as a balanced and harmonious whole. Thanks for reading!

Like many aspiring female physicians, I often wondered when I’d ever find the time to have a family. I knew medical school and life beyond would shuttle me from the demanding welter of pre-clinical coursework and the even more demanding, on your feet, no-sleep life of clinical rotations and residency. I was a little worried – I knew that being a mother was one of my life goals and something I had wanted all along – I just couldn’t see where a baby would fit in my new life plans to be a doctor!

The early spring of 2010 was fraught with anxiety – I had a number of wait-lists, but no admits yet, and more significantly, no admits in the city where my husband had a few years left on his PhD coursework. Finally, in one week in mid-April, I received two offers of admission from MD/PhD programs in the mail and one startling revelation via self-administered bathroom immunoassay – aka an early home pregnancy test. I was pregnant, and, as I found out at an early ultrasound a few weeks later, due over what would be winter break. I had very little time to make a decision as to which program to accept, and I was still furiously writing letters of intent to schools in my city-of-choice. I was still working full time, and nauseatedly commuting to my lab way too early in the morning for my tired, newly pregnant body.

That summer, I was up in the air and unsure of where I would land. Needing a break from it all, my husband and I took a trip to Europe, thinking that between medical school and impending baby we’d probably not get such an opportunity for a long while. I tried not to think about the wait lists as I sent in my tentative acceptance to the school that seemed to fit me best of my admit choices.

We returned from Europe a few weeks before my white-coat ceremony (which I’d ordered in an extra large to better accommodate my newly expanding waist!) and I was still up in the air. I left as many options open as possible. We packed up our apartment but didn’t sign a lease in our new city – I kept thinking maybe I’d still get in off the wait list and we wouldn’t have to move. In the meanwhile, I’d seen more than a few ultrasound pictures of my baby (a boy!) and felt him kicking for the first time! I had an excited feeling that no matter where I ended up for medical school, this would be a year with changes I couldn’t even imagine.

Maternity Scrubs is a mama to one cute little dude, a wife, and a first year medical student. She also enjoys cooking delicious and healthy food, traveling, and listening to baby music!