Firsts

This week, for the first time, I

-Watched a baby being born. Beautiful, happy and strange. Wonderful. I felt like laughing and crying, but instead I just smiled.

-Assisted with a C-section. Oh my bloody goodness! I couldn't believe how bloody it was and I sure hope that doesn't happen to me. It was pretty incredible too, though. During pregnancy mom's body makes lots of extra blood to more than compensate for birth, so even c-sections usually go okay as far as blood loss goes.

-Scrubbed in for surgery. This is where you get all dressed in sterile gown and gloves in order to assist with surgery. I learned how to do this and all about sterile technique last fall, but I had so far not had the opportunity to scrub in.

-I got profusely sweaty and "about to pass out" sicky during surgery (a hysterectomy) and had to break scrub and sit down. Oh don't worry, this was DAY ONE. I was HORRIFIED. Talk about a fantastic first impression. As it turns out, breakfast really is a good idea.

-Sutured on a real, though asleep and anesthetized, person. So much easier than a pig's foot.

-Drove the camera during a laparoscopic surgery.

It was an incredible week! But firsts are stressful!!! And exhausting! And exciting!!!
I also did some pelvic exams, learned to measure pregnant bellies, and some other such stuff. OBGYN is a pretty fun rotation. It's super weird though that every single patient is an adult woman. Since general surgery is the rotation that I am the most worried about and I have that to look forward to in August, I am really grateful that I'm getting the opportunity now to get some good surgery experience. I am somewhat anxious but excited for what week 2 will bring!