Recognition

I went out to a wine bar this evening to celebrate the end of my Internal Medicine sub-internship. As I was looking around for a table, a woman sitting at a table behind me said, "Excuse me, are you a doctor?" She was holding a baby.

My first thought: "Oh no, is she going to ask me for medical advice?" My second thought: "Hmm, she looks familiar." I said no, I'm not a doctor.

"Are you a doctor in training?"

"Yes..."

"You delivered my baby. In fact you caught him."

I took a closer look at the woman, then at her husband sitting across the table from her, and I suddenly remembered them. I did indeed care for her when I worked on Labor and Delivery, and I did indeed catch her baby. I even cut his umbilical cord. And there he was, sitting in his mother's lap peacefully sucking away at a bottle, a healthy two-month-old boy.

"Can I see him?" I ooohed and ahhhed and ogled over this little boy who I helped bring into this world. I said my congratulations to the lucky parents, thanked them for recognizing me and saying hi, then I sat down at my table, glowing.

Finishing my Medicine sub-internship today felt pretty awesome, but this moment by far made my day.

Later in the evening, the waitress came over to say, "Your glass of chardonnay is on the little baby boy at that table." I smiled and raised my glass to them from across the room to say thank you. And I almost cried.