Saturday, March 14, 2009

It's a Boy!

Today I am on Labor & Delivery call at the hospital. I didn't think I liked L&D, at first. It was a new environment, with its own culture and even its own language. The patients all had little people inside of them! How crazy is that???

But, then I put in my first labor epidural. See, epidurals in the main OR are very different from labor epidurals. In the main OR, when a patient gets an epidural, it's usually to control pain after surgery - they aren't feeling the pain. In L&D, the patients are very much feeling what's going on, and they'd really like for it to stop. Yesterday, if possible.

So, there's a sense of urgency, and yet you still have to exercise all the care and caution you would with a normal epidural. Oh, and did I mention that the patient has a little person inside of them? Yeah - it's a little hairy.

But, you get the patient in position, and you prep them, and you do the epidural, and it's like the sun has broken through the clouds. The strained faces and furrowed brows and tense breathing are replaced (almost instantly) with a calm, relaxed and smiling mama who now thinks you are the greatest person in the world. There aren't many opportunities in this line of work for instant gratification, so you can bet I enjoy every moment of that!

And we've had two healthy baby boys so far this morning, and a third expected here shortly. And I think I like this a little more than I like trauma call - at least for now!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful baby! God bless you in your day to day work of helping others and making such a difference in so many lives.

Julia said...

For a brief moment you brought back memories of my babies deliveries. It's kind of scary though thinking back. I dont think i could be a nurse. Kudos to you. :)

Helen @ The Beading Lady said...

Gorgeous baby.

What a lovely feeling ~ to help the ladies with their pain.

Susie said...

I bet you are enjoying this a bit more than some of the other work you do.

Yarn Princess said...

Just don't go bringing home any samples! ;)

Hmmm... wonder how that would go over here... "Honey, look what followed me home. Can we keep it????"

Terri said...

Thank you, Mildred! I do feel that I get to be just a little part of a miracle when I'm there.

Julia, I hope I didn't bring back any unpleasant memories!

Helen, it is a good feeling!

Susie, this is a bit nicer than my ordinary assignments!

Hahaha, YP - can you just see Ron's face?? He had trouble with the dogs - he'd die over a baby!

Terri

Connie said...

Aw....hurray for babies! And hurray for you in helping them to arrive. :D

Hi Terri! I'm way behind in reading blogs and starting off to try and make some headway here. I've got lots of catching up to do!