A decision has been made . . .

Well, I thought y'all might like to know that I've finally decided what I want to do with the rest of my life. This year has been a lot of fun as I've gotten to spend time in a lot of different specialties, trying each one on for size. After all was said and done, there were two that really stood out, and I've had a terrible time deciding between them. It's been about 6 months of going back and forth, weighing pros and cons, trying to figure out which one was the best. And I've finally reached a decision. I never thought I would actually be saying this (and I'm sure most of you never thought you'd hear me say this), but I've decided to go into OB/GYN.

I know. I can hardly believe it myself. It's funny because I always said I wanted to do anything but OB--never in a million years did I think I would choose it as a specialty. To be honest, I've always thought that guys who go into OB are a little bit odd. But I've come to terms with the fact that I must be a little bit odd myself. (I know that's probably not much of a surprise for you!)

In reality, I'm still not excited about doing pelvic exams all day. But I figure I can always hire a PA or a nurse practitioner to do those for me. What I really love is delivering babies. The first time I ever even considered OB as a career was the day Ella was born. I remember thinking, "Oh, I finally understand why people would like this." Of course, I quickly dismissed those thoughts. But then this year, I fell in love with it again during my two months on the Labor & Delivery floor. They even let me catch a few babies by myself, meaning that I was the only person between mom and the floor. It was a pretty scary responsibility, but really cool. The other great thing about OB is that you get to care for patients long-term, but then you also get to do surgeries and fix things right away. It's one of only two specialties in which you really get to do both (the other is urology, which doesn't interest me at all). Overall, I think I'll really enjoy a career in OB.

Anyway, so right now I'm working on figuring out my rotation schedule for next year. In the summer I'll start working on my applications for residency programs, then interview in the fall and winter, and in March we'll finally find out where we're going to be for the next four years (we're hoping for Utah/Colorado/Arizona/New Mexico or somewhere else out west). Then in May I'll graduate and we'll pack up and move. We're excited to see how this all plays out!