I've been doing ob/gyn now for a little over a week. I really like it but it certainly was quite the change from cardio. Cardio was a lot more intense and medicinal. I don't have to walk on egg shells in this specialty and I feel comfortable here. Here when I sit down with a patient they are completely themselves and have nothing to hide. It's refreshing in a weird sort of way. The doctor is very laid back and genuinely enjoys his students. I feel like I am his priority which is always nice. I think I may be getting spoiled with the good preceptor thing. Hopefully those to come can fill their shoes.

Last Friday was a hospital day. That means it's delivering babies alllll day!!! I had been looking forward to this day all week. Turns out it's not quite as exciting as one would think, unless of course there is an emergency. We had two patients to be induced at 8am on Friday morning. Basically the day consisted of checking the patient's progression every two hours to see if they were close to delivery yet. In between checking patients there really isn't anything else to do so you study/read. (Thankfully the nurses lounge had a comfy couch that now holds the permanent imprint of my rear end.) Around 2:40 we went in and checked one of our ladies and low and behold she was fully dialated and ready for action! The last delivery I saw was my sister's birth and I was 16. I felt I was prepared for this one because afterall I had seen this before.... Oh how wrong was I. It's a little different when you are one of the people ensuring this baby makes it out ok and the mother remains in one piece (relatively speaking). The moment the doctor says the patient is ready the room explodes into a flurry of controlled chaos. Sterile gowns and gloves, "tarps", gauze, incubators and so on are flying around every which way! I'm pretty sure my eyes were the size of bulb suringes at this point. And this is just the beginning. While watching this birth and this woman work harder than she ever has I decided that no person in their right mind would ever choose to go through this. I decided that there was no way on earth I would be bringing a child into the world via the southern route. Cut me open please!

The birth was not without complications. The baby was born grey with the cord wrapped around her neck. Thankfully the doctor was fast and experienced so he handed her off to the neonatal nurses and they were able to get her to pink up rather quickly. I will spare ya'll the remainder of the details because believe you don't want to see that. Watching this beautiful baby go from inside a woman's belly to kicking and screaming right next to me was truly a miracle. Now I know why women choose to give birth, they can fully experience their childs first moments in life. And that is something nobody should miss.

This day was one of the greatest adrenalin rushes I've ever had. I can't wait for the next one!