L & D Day 2 - Standing O for the G2, P1.

Day 2 of L & D started out with hitting the ground running with an active labor admission who came in dilated to 5 cm. I knew I'd be around when the baby was born, so I got report, met my care nurse (who is pregnant) and followed her into our patient's room to meet our patient, G2, P1 20-something. The patient was side lying and comfortable - ready to get to work. Her membranes ruptured, so we did a quick assessment, got a bedside report from the night nurse and talked about was going to happen next. My nurse was a pro. Mostly I admired how calm and soothing she was the patient who was breathing through some pretty good contractions. Her quiet reassuring manner was what made her such a great labor nurse. After she checked her, she looked up and said nonchalantly, "we're going to get going, she's at 10 cm." Cool. This mom had an epidural but only got a bolus of anesthetic so she was feeling everything, nothing was running. We got her into good position and as she pushed through her contractions, I could see the baby's head crowning. The patient, while in a great deal of discomfort, was totally in control of how she wanted this birth to go. Within 15 minutes of pushing, the residents showed up and caught the 9+ pounder who was mad as hell at having his wonderful uterine world taken away from him. Head full of hair, plumpy thighs and big belly, he was only happy when he was swaddled next to, and latched onto his momma.

While I watched this young woman give birth, great admiration towards her kept coming out of of my mouth as I recalled my own birth experiences. Holy cow, this birth was one where the panel of judges would have stood up and applauded how the whole thing went from Triage to Delivery.

I was more of a wimp when it came to childbirth, giving up before the marathon even started. My kids came by NSVG, but not without Pitocin and it's friend epidural. Pain is one of the greatest subjugators. I witnessed something in this birth that reminded me of how nursing teaches the teacher more about herself than anything nursing sometimes is able to impart on the patient. I was humbled and privileged to be part of this experience of welcoming this new life into the world. Wimpy loved it. Whether we like it or not, our patients give us gifts everytime we care for them.