Thursday, August 22

OB/GYN: wk2, day 8 (tuesday night-wed morning)

busiest night. 2 spontaneous vaginal deliveries. then got called to operating room for 2 cesarean sections and 1 tubal ligation.

bossy, scary nurse: "you scrubbing in?"
me: "uh....i don't know....if the attending lets me...i can just watch..."
bossy, scary nurse, with fists planted on hip: "listen to me. if anyone ever asks you, you say, "YES," ok?"
me, frightened of this large woman who looks like she is about to eat me, (in a mouse's squeak): "yes'm"

bossy, scary nurse: "let's try that again. you scrubbing in?"
me, still scared of her: "uh....i...."
bossy, scary nurse: "now you listen to me! didn't you just hear what i said? you say, YES!"
me (i just want to get away from you, lady!): "YES!"

so, she taught me how to scrub in (long process to ensure sterility. scrub with a sponge-brush for 30 strokes between nails, fingers, hands, arms, etc.)

i was able to get right next to the action. big transverse cut with scalpel. then, with a little electro-knife (i don't know what this is really called), they cut through fat. smell of fat burning is NOT pleasant. got queasy, but stuck it.

they then cut through fascia, then the muscle. and, voila! there is the uterus!

cut into uterus, amniotic fluid shot out, reached in to grab the baby, and there it is!

the uterus was literally out of the abdominal cavity, and i was like, "whoa."
"can't belive the baby was in that sac."

that sucker (uterus) is BIG. a big sac of muscle.

then, they sewed the uterus back up, cleaned it, stuck it back into the abdominal cavity, and closed it up.

wow. i can't believe humans invented this procedure. it seems so invasive. who first got the idea, "i KNOW! we can cut the belly, and let the baby out!"

craziness. i have blood all over me. i have the smell of burnt fat in my hair. i am exhausted. i need to sleep.





yakob at 3:16 PM

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