U-TEACH (Continued)

Last Thursday, my U-TEACH patient was scheduled for a fetal monitoring in the morning. It was actually her due date, and so when I met her she told me contractions had begun late last night. I was quite surprised. The contractions were variable in spacing, and though they caught her breath, she was able to deal with them fairly well. She was just 2cm dilated, and they told her to walk around for a bit before checking into Labor and Delivery.

All day I was pretty anxious, making it hard to focus in class. It was unfortunately a very packed day with FPC and everything. Finally, I got a text message from them saying that they would check into L&D in the evening. After dinner, I went over to meet them. L&D was very busy that evening, and it took us a while to be triaged. The contractions were a little closer together, though still not regular. We finally got put into a delivery room. These rooms are really nice! They're quite big, with hardwood floors, a beautiful view of the city, a private bathroom with shower, a TV, a refrigerator, and a couch. Of course, they have the delivery bed, the pediatric exam table, and all the medical equipment that might be necessary.

In any case, I stayed there for a few hours to keep the mother-to-be and husband company. After a bit, I stopped at home to prepare for classes the next day. I came back about an hour later, at 1am. Unfortunately, she had only dilated to 3cm. I met most of the team: the anesthesiologist, the obstetrician, the nurses. They were wonderful people, who really took the time to talk to the patient, get to know her, and act as resources. Furthermore, they were great about introducing themselves to me, talking to me about the program, and explaining some of the medical side of things. Finally, after over 24 hours since the contractions began, the mother decided she needed some pain relief. The anesthesiologist came in to do the epidural. Even though we called him at 2am or so, he was very cheery. The procedure itself was technically impressive - imagine palpating for specific spinal processes on a patient, using a large bore needle to enter the epidural space, and finally thread in a catheter. He tested it by giving a bolus of epinephrine and watching the heart rate go up. Everything went smoothly, and the mother gave the biggest sigh of relief. She and the husband decided to go to sleep, and I headed back to catch a few hours of rest before 8am classes the next day