Inspiration

Since I am on rotations I am blessed with a little more of a normal life schedule wise. For this rotation anyway! So I was inspired by Jenny Williams

Unlike Jen, my forte is crochet though so my latest project (I just bought the pattern) is to make a couple pairs of baby booties for a couple of friends who are expecting. I am not posting a picture from the pattern though for fear that will jinks me!

I am sure it will take me a couple of tries to get them as cute as the picture but they are little so how long could they possibly take! (knock on wood) At any rate I have about 7 months left til my friend's D day so I have enough time to perfect my booties!

Excited! Thanks Jen for the inspiration and being so crafty and ingenuitive. You inspire me to be a better housewife, crafter, health professional and person. Love you!

Come to Jesus moment!

I had a Come to Jesus moment yesterday. I was driving (probably 70 miles per hour) on a busy Dallas highway and eating grapes on my way to work from the Gym and I started to choke a little on the grape. I had a lightbulb moment where I was like "o my gosh how stupid would it be if I got in a wreck right now because I was eating a grape/driving/chocked and got in a wreck."

Completely not worth it! So my new mantra is Don't Eat and Drive!

I think some people are probably coordinated enough to do it but not I!

Not a regular post

Yesterday at the Gyn clinic I experienced the saddest thing I have yet on rotations. A friend of mine always said to not run away from sadness but just to walk into it and embrace it because it is a feeling to. Since it is a part of healthcare and life I thought I would write about it even though I do not think of myself as someone who likes to say things that are sad. My instinct is to jet.

The visit started out good. Measuring the fundal height (the height of the uterus, a hint at gestational age). I listened to the heart and lungs. We did the pap smear and went to sono. I am standing over my Dr.'s shoulder looking at the screen and the mom is situated looking at a huge plasma screen projection (the facilities are so nice). We located the uterus, the gestational sac. By located I mean I saw this on the screen. There is never any narration till the end of the sono (at least in my experience with this Dr. (i have seen others that do narrate)). We locate the less than 10 week fetus/gummybear. I knew something was wrong when the Dr. turned on the Doppler (an instrument used measure the flow of blood flow through vessels.) The Dr. was confirming what he already knew.

I must break away here and say that the number of miscarriages is in the highest sites in the literature about fifty percent with alot of them happening within the first 4 wks before someone even knows they are pregnant. It is a way more common thing than I think lay people realize.

The Dr. solemnly proceeded to tell the new mom that there was no heart beat and that the pregnancy would not progress any further. He now narrated slowly and quietly what he saw on the Doppler and the sono screen. As the tears rolled down the silent mom's face, I thought of my mom and several friends of mine who have had some Dr. give them this same news probably in the exact same way. I thought of myself someday full of hope and excitement sitting in the sono chair and I, with all my might, held the tears back from falling down my cheeks.

New life is such a miracle. All the things that have to be perfectly orchestrated that sometimes we take for granted for a baby to be born healthy.
I hesitantly post this my intention is not to make your day sad.

Goodbye Labor and Delivery!

Well I have to post a lil blurb about finishing my OB rotation.

Looking back to my last post

"What I hope to do: cervical exams, catch a baby, use more spanish, tie a knot!"

I did get to catch several (4) babies, learn how to do cervical exams, use more spanish and I got to suture up a laceration and tie a two handed knot!

4/4 not a bad record.

I think the thing I learned most from my first rotation was the importance of taking a good history ie. listening to the pt and asking enough questions. You hear that if you spend enough time with the patient they will tell you what they have. I found it very hard but the one time I did do this with a patient it proved true.

This came after several blubbering awful attempts to get a history from a patient while I was in too big of a hurry, using vernacular that the patient did not understand and failing miserably at communicating with someone I spoke the same language as. (I won't bore you with the story but in short I spend 10 minutes with a patient asking any past illnesses, STDs.... before she told me in passing about her HIV status) You win some and you loose some.

Today I start Gyn - clinic hours! I am so happy. I start this afternoon so I will let you know how it goes!