I got to hear those words today, when I assisted on my first c-section. Ironically, one of the parents was American, so the first baby I helped deliver was half-American!
This morning, when I got to my rotation, my attending was like, "Oh great, I'm doing a c-section in a few hours, you can assist". I was not expecting that today, so I was pumped. But when we got up to the OR, another student (who also happens not to be one of my favorite people) was under the assumption that he was going to assist, and tried to convince my attending to let him do it instead of me. Luckily, my attending told him I was doing it and we left. Booyah! That's what you get for trying to steal my surgeries.
It was a really simple surgery, you just cut through all the layers, take the baby out, and sew everything back up. One thing I didn't realize was that to suture the uterus, you actually take the whole thing out of the abdomen, suture it, and then stick it back in.
When the baby was born, it was really emotional. I was really moved by seeing the baby take her first breath right in front of me, and it was amazing to see and feel the parents' joy. I've seen one vaginal delivery and a few c-sections before, but always as an observer, so this time was different. While it was certainly a happy occasion, it also made my heart hurt. TTCing, and the baby we lost, are always in my mind. Seeing that baby just makes me grieve even more for the baby I should have in my arms. It's difficult to deal with such raw emotions when you are around pregnant women and newborns all day long, and you have to stay professional. I held it together though, and focused on the rest of the surgery, which is interesting in itself.
All in all, not bad for a day's work. It's really amazing all the things I get to do as a med student!
This morning, when I got to my rotation, my attending was like, "Oh great, I'm doing a c-section in a few hours, you can assist". I was not expecting that today, so I was pumped. But when we got up to the OR, another student (who also happens not to be one of my favorite people) was under the assumption that he was going to assist, and tried to convince my attending to let him do it instead of me. Luckily, my attending told him I was doing it and we left. Booyah! That's what you get for trying to steal my surgeries.
It was a really simple surgery, you just cut through all the layers, take the baby out, and sew everything back up. One thing I didn't realize was that to suture the uterus, you actually take the whole thing out of the abdomen, suture it, and then stick it back in.
When the baby was born, it was really emotional. I was really moved by seeing the baby take her first breath right in front of me, and it was amazing to see and feel the parents' joy. I've seen one vaginal delivery and a few c-sections before, but always as an observer, so this time was different. While it was certainly a happy occasion, it also made my heart hurt. TTCing, and the baby we lost, are always in my mind. Seeing that baby just makes me grieve even more for the baby I should have in my arms. It's difficult to deal with such raw emotions when you are around pregnant women and newborns all day long, and you have to stay professional. I held it together though, and focused on the rest of the surgery, which is interesting in itself.
All in all, not bad for a day's work. It's really amazing all the things I get to do as a med student!
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