We covered mostly review topics today with a heavy emphasis on thermodynamics (yuck!), so instead I'll share some insights from Sunday when I shadowed an OB/GYN resident at the medical center for the day.
When I arrived on the unit at 7 am, the resident that I was following had already been there since 10pm the previous night. By the time I left, exhausted even after doing very little, she was still writing up reports over 19 hours into her 16 hour shift. Oh yeah, and she was 7 months pregnant herself. Fun!
To borrow a saying, OB seems like hours of boredom punctuated by minutes of sheer terror.
How's room 3 coming along?
-2 cm
How about now?
-3 cm
Room 3?
-5 cm and in some discomfort
PUSH NOW!!!My exciting experiences for the day included helping with a delivery (I held the mother's right leg) and watching a cervical cerclage procedure. I was complimented by the nurses for not passing out watching my first vaginal delivery. Woot!
A cerclage is the surgical suturing closed of the cervix. This procedure is done when an expecting woman has cervical incompetence, which can result in midterm miscarriages unless corrected. The suture is then taken out at about 8½ months, after the most dangerous period has passed.
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