Feast or Famine

So far, I'm on "OB Days", or 0500-1700 shifts on L&D. Friday morning, the chief resident entered the lounge, looked at all of us (resident, intern, 2 students) sitting around groggy-eyed and said "Man, you guys look like the first week of days."

Friday night, I came home, watched "What Not to Wear", and fell asleep by 9 pm. And didn't wake up until noon Saturday.The only reason I didn't wear pajamas out to study on Saturday was because I'd watched WNTW on Friday, to be honest.

Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday were non-stop exhausting days. Babies were being born all over the place, both in L&D and in the OR. Women were coming into triage, either in labor or with BV or in preterm labor or vomiting or... or... or...

Wednesday, we sat around and did nothing for hours. I went to get my urology advisor to sign my paperwork, and my one patient in labor delivered in the 15 minutes I was gone. I did practice delivering a doll through a plastic pelvis, and I stitched an "episiotomy" on a piece of foam. Sunday, on call from 0800 to 2200, I watched "Old School," "Dodgeball," and "Van Wilder."

TODAY I DELIVERED MY FIRST BABY! AND I DIDN'T DROP IT! AND I WASN'T THE JERK ON THE CORD!

*ahem*

I've been so freaking busy on this rotation that every time I think of great stuff to write about, I don't get to write it until it's too late. I want to write about the residents, and the gossip, and some of the funny stories, but I'm not sure I can remember enough stuff to write at this point.

I'll share one anecdote before I forget it. Eighteen year old girl was in labor Sunday morning. Her husband/boyfriend/baby daddy kept joking about everything, so while she was trying to deliver, she kept laughing and saying "Oh, quit making me laugh, it puts more pressure on!" Every time she laughed, the baby's head would crown a little more. Her baby daddy started cheering her on: "Come on, honey, laugh the baby out! You can do it, just laugh a little more and laugh it out! Seriously, baby, every time you laugh it pushes more than when you push!" This, of course, made her laugh harder, which made the baby come out faster. Unfortunately, she then had a contraction, and pushed the baby out the conventional way. Her baby daddy told her he was proud anyway.