Crazy 24 hours on call

Wow so much has happened in the last 24 hours, I can't think straight about the chain of events!! It was really a quite exciting introduction to the world of obstetrics, I never thought I'd see so much on my first day. This is kind of how it all went down:

8 AM - Spontaneous vaginal delivery in a first time mother. I got to deliver the placenta, clamp and cut the cord and take cord gases. It was a boy!

10 AM - Spontaneous vaginal delivery in a second time mother. I assisted with delivery of the baby and let Dad cut the cord. Mum had to have an episiotomy. It was a girl!

12 PM - I look at the clock and can't believe it's only noon. I felt like so much had happened already!

2 PM - First time mum went into preterm labour at 29 weeks. Mum was really nice and we had a nice chat throughout her labour. Baby had to be delivered by forceps but did just fine. It was the first time I'd ever seen forceps in use... crazy. It was a girl! She had to be sent to Kingston for more care in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) there.

3 PM - Another first time mum came in for assessment and had a spontaneous vaginal delivery. She decided to deliver without an epidural and was the first lady that I had heard blood-curdling screams from all day. Needless to say, if I ever have a baby I WILL BE GETTING AN EPIDURAL. It was a boy! I actually got to do everything this time and fully delivered the baby and didn't drop it!

6 PM - I get a consult and have to see a lady on the wards with right lower quadrant pain not yet defined for one week. The attending doctor says later we will be doing an exploratory laparascopy (as if things hadn't been busy enough!)

7 PM - I get yet another consult for a lady on the wards with vaginal bleeding. I had been running on adrenaline all day so I'm not terribly tired but I just can't believe what a crazy day it has been. The doc says we will see her in the morning.

9 PM - The doc and I do a quick exploratory laparatomy before a lady has to deliver!

9:30 PM - We run up to see the next mother, whose labour has not progressed very well. Doc tries forceps with no luck, so then we have to prepare for C-section. There was so much blood, but baby came out just fine. It was a boy! I was told to stick my hand in the uterus and grab the placenta.

10 PM - Another consult!! Aaah, this time in emerg. I get to see a transvaginal ultrasound firsthand.

12 AM - I'm pretty tired and I'm told to sleep. However, I get hungry so I had some crappy microwave Thai dinner that gets heated up in a cardboard box.

1 AM - I get to bed. I have weird dreams and hear weird noises in the call room.

3:30 AM - My beeper goes off, even though at first I wasn't sure what the sound was, because my beeper in Kingston sings "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head". Another first time mom is in labour and delivers. I forget the sex of the baby, my bad. Another lady is in labour at this point.

5 AM - I go back to sleep.

7 AM - I wake up and I say to myself, "oh crap - wasn't that lady supposed to deliver?" Apparently it all happened so fast they didn't even have time to call me. Which was fine because I needed sleep! I start rounding on the patients who had delivered and two of them were staying the same room. When I came in, they said "we were just talking about you! your ears must be burning... we were saying how nice it was to have you in the delivery with us". It was so sweet of them to say and totally made my day! 'Cuz you know, I also very much appreciate when mums will allow medical students to help out in their delivery.

7:30 AM - Doc and I go see the consult from yesterday.

8 AM - I am free!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow it really was a crazy, crazy first day and apparently it's uncharacteristic. The resident said that he at most had gotten two consults in two months and three deliveries in a day. What I think is absolutely crazy though is, my best friend in medical school is a clerk right now on the NICU in Kingston, and she is taking care of the baby girl I just delivered! What a small world. I also love how in the span of one day I went from delivering placentas to full on babies.

Message of the day: Get an epidural!!!!!!