Lumbar Puncture

The nurse scrunched up the 7 week little girl into a ball so her spine was curved, exposing her intervertebral spaces.

The resident counted her vertebrae, felt the spaces, and started prepping the area of entry.

I dipped the pacifier into the sugar water again and tried to get her to suck vigorously on it.

The resident sticks the needle into her spine, the end of the needle remains dry.

She screams and tries to wriggle free.

I put more sugar water into her mouth.

We start over.

The attending tries.

I put more sugar water on the pacifier.

Only blood comes out of the  other end of the needle.

The attending calls the hospital director.

We put the baby in the sitting position.

The nurse scrunches her down.

I try to get sugar water in her mouth.

She stops trying to break free and relaxes into my hands

I cradle her little head

Nothing comes out of the needle

Slippery Babies

So much has happened the last two weeks that it's hard to remember everything. Here are a few highlights:

- I have become a placenta delivery expert ;)
- I assisted in delivering 2 babies (with the resident's hand guiding mine)
- I solo delivered 1 baby (and didn't drop it)
- I got asked not to participate in a delivery of a neurosurgeon's wife by the neurosurgeon because his wife was "sensitive"
- I got yelled at by a nurse for trying to talk to a patient in the middle night (not the best idea in retrospect, haha)
- I've become comfortable taking an OB history
- I got to deliver the placenta during a c-section
- I got to close up the skin incision on a c-section -- twice
- I was complimented on my level of knowledge by a resident
- I helped suture a vaginal tear
- I saw a vaginal delivery with forceps
- I saw an episiotomy (the baby had made in through the pelvic canal but couldn't get past the perineum)

More about my solo baby delivery -- I had my hands on the baby's head, going through the maneuvers, but as soon as it was out, I got nervous, so I held it close to me instead of holding it in the proper position. Even though I wasn't 100% successful in catching the baby correctly, it was a good experience.

A few more notes about L&D:
--a lot of poop: I can handle blood fine, but feces/vomiting really grosses me out. Maybe L&D helped desensitize me a little bit to poop...maybe
-- GET AN EPIDURAL! Actually, you can't force patients to do something they don't want to, but after witnessing epidural vs. non epidural births, I 110% recommend getting an epidural. Delivering without an epidural does not make you a better mom, so why suffer? :) Even if the woman can handle labor, repairing vaginal tears with local anesthesia post partum is REALLY difficult because the woman can still feel the pressure of the needle.

L&D was the part of ob/gyn rotation that I was least looking forward to, but I actually ended enjoying it A LOT. Deliveries are exciting, c-sections are fun, and babies are pretty cute :)