The long year.

Remember this delivery? I do. But today I realized just how far I've come this year.

Because basically it happened again.

A lady came in in labor, with almost no prenatal care. (More on that, later.) She very quickly progressed from 6cm dilated to complete and pushing. So quickly, in fact, my attending couldn't come. I was the only doctor in the room. I was even wearing a skirt and had to pull on booties over my shoes, throw my gloves on, and gown up, just in time to catch the head.

Then there was a small shoulder dystocia (when the shoulder gets stuck after the head comes out). And the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby's neck - just like last time.

But I guess I've really learned something this year. Even though I was still sweating bullets, I no longer thought, "Where is the doctor??" My heart was still racing, but I was able to calmly tell the nurses what to do and quickly get the baby delivered. And this time, he quickly let out a strong yell. It was kind of a nice reminder to me that even though this has been a long year, it's been wonderful and all the long, stressful hours have taught me a lot. God has been incredibly gracious to me, keeping me sane, helping me learn, and hopefully helping me become a doctor who can be Jesus' hands and feet to the sick and hurting.

I am not, by any stretch of anyone's imagination, ready to go out there on my own. I still have so much to learn, but maybe, just maybe, I am ready to be (in three short days) the "experienced" upper level resident, over-seeing the interns, and helping them during those situations when they want to scream, "I need my mommy."

Comments

Totallyscrappy said…
Yeah! What an important day, you experienced upper level intern, you. :)
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Katie said…
Much, much less than that makes me want to scream "I want my Mommy!". I am in awe of those of you in the medical profession- docs and nurses too. I could never take on that much responsibility. Kudos!

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