Tale of two deliveries

Yep, watched two babies enter our crazy world today. One emerged the old-fashioned way, down the shoot of his momma's vagina. And the other was not, according to Shakespeare, technically "of woman born," but rather "ripp'd" from the womb in a C-section. 15 Long is one technologized labor and delivery floor, they kid us not. Every single laboring woman had an epidural and a pitosin drip. (Pitosin, affectionately known as "pit," is a synthetic version of our endogenous oxytocin, which drives contractions. Personally, I think nipple stimulation is a much more pleasant way to achieve a similar effect.) I was thinking a lot about what Stan Grof and many others write about the inherent trauma of birth, being expelled from safe, serene environs out into the cold bright air amid squeezing and pain... I could see that it might be therapeutic and powerful to reenact it later.

Anyway, I was surprised how shell-shocked I was after the C-section. During my first OR experience, the hysterectomy, I was nervous and amazed and kind of giddy after. But something about cutting down to the baby and having it whisked away, then touching the woman's uterus after it had been hoisted completely out of her abdomen , with the woman conscious on the other side of the drape all the while, somehow added up to an unsettled feeling. I felt sad that the mom had to stay to be sewn up as her baby went to the nursery. It's also crazy how fast time passes in the OR. It feels like half an hour, but it's two.

I was moved by the care one woman's family was giving her as she labored. When I met her earlier in the day, a guided imagery relaxation CD was playing -- nice! The room was all aromatherapized and shit. (Sorry, I've been watching too much of The Wire, and I start talking like that.) Her mom brought this big ol' mirror to hold up at the big moment so that the woman could see her baby being born. Unfortunately, that moment seemed far off when I left, though she had been pushing for close to six hours.

I was almost too stunned to feel the full awe-inspiring weight of the first vaginal delivery. It was beautiful that they flopped him right on his momma's chest when he came out, and the dad cut the cord. (The cord is weird, dude! Rubbery and kind of spiraled.) Even though we had to sew up the mom and deliver her placenta, she could have cared less. She was bleeding quite a bit still but completely immersed in her baby.

An amazing, overwhelming day. Getting up at 5 every morning hasn't been too bad, but it's only been two days.

A special shout-out to Julia tonight -- I hope she gets good solid peaceful sleep tonight, Boards Eve. I know down to my core that she will prevail.