Franish: day in the life: OBGYN

As always, some details and times have been changed :)

5:25: Time to wake up! I check my phone, send CR a good morning text, and quickly jump in the shower.

5:35: During my earlier/dirtier/scrub wearing rotations, I don't wear as much makeup. I stick with powder, blush, eyeliner, and mascara. I recently started using a prescription retinol cream, which has made my skin extra flaky, so I've been using the large sample of Seaberry oil from Fresh that I got from Sephora before I put on my makeup to combat the dryness. I've also been trying out the Charlotte Tilbury eyebrow pencil, and have really enjoyed using that as well as it tend to stick around longer than powder usually does.

5:45: We have a semi fenced in back yard, so the dogs get to run around for just a few minutes. Then it's time for the animals to have breakfast!

5:55: I'm never hungry at this time in the morning, but I know I have to eat, so I have my usual eggs + turkey sausage + avocado.

6:10: After packing up my snacks for the day, I make sure all the animals are in the house (I'm always scared the cat will somehow escape!) and start the drive to the hospital. The nice thing about this time of the morning is that there is very little traffic on the road.

6:40: After arriving at the hospital, I change into my beautiful scrubs and birkenstock clogs, and head down to the labor and delivery floor.

6:55: We have a scheduled c-section this morning. It's my turn to scrub in, so I go and say hello to the nurses, and get my gloves out. The nice thing about being in the same hospital for most of my rotations is that I've worked with the same staff for three months now.

7:05: Time to scrub!

7:10: We start the c-section. My role as first assist is to help where I can - I hold retractors, suction, and suture. I also help with the "pushing" as the baby is coming out (picture me as the girl on the right in this picture). Now that I've scrubbed in with the same attending for several sections, I feel a lot more comfortable with my role in the OR.

8:00: After everything is closed back up, I stay behind to help clean the patient and move her to her bed.

8:15: Another patient in labor needs an urgent c-section, so we help where we can in getting her ready.

8:45: We start the second c-section. It's the other med student's turn to scrub in, so I just get to watch from afar. Since I've been with the same OR staff for a few months, I know the few ways I can help out so I try to be as helpful as I can without getting in the way.

9:30: They finish her surgery, and again we help clean her and the room up. Then we catch up with our attending, who is finishing her documentation of the previous surgeries.

10:30: The doctors all have a meeting, so the other medical student and I go to the library. I have a hard boiled egg and coffee, and then practice my knots. Our attending told us that later that day we were going to discuss fetal heart tones and the menstrual cycle, so I read up on both of those.

11: 45: Time for lunch! We have a pretty small cafeteria here, and I wasn't really feeling the salad I get most days, so I had an open faced beef and cheddar sandwich with a side of carrots. We ate with two of the other students in the hospital.

12:15: We head back to the labor and delivery floor, and watch our attending write orders and chart for a while. There is so much behind the scenes paperwork, it's unbelievable!

2:30: Once all the women on the labor floor are properly set up and documented, we head up to the postpartum floor to round on the patients. Usually we do this first thing in the morning, but with the back to back c-sections, it got pushed to later in the day. We check in on all the new mothers and babies, and see who can be discharged home.

3:15: Back downstairs to document everything we just saw, and write the the discharge papers.

4:15: Now we round again on the patients in labor. The doctor checks cervixes, we read the fetal heart tone monitors, and see how the labor is progressing. We hunt down rocking chairs, and set up the tubs for ladies who prefer to labor not in the beds.

5:00: paperwork

5:30: One of the ladies is close to delivering her baby, so we go to the room before the pushing starts. The baby is in the correct position, so because this is an uncomplicated delivery, the doctor lets me do most of the work! I did the whole delivery of the baby (in my previous delivery I only got to do the catching after the head and shoulders were out), clamping of the cord, and delivering the placenta. It was such a great experience that's really hard to verbalize, but I've had a smile on my face ever since.

6:00: With a bit of down time, we sit with our attending and go over the fetal heart tones, and then the menstrual cycle. Our attending is a really energetic, kind, and funny woman, so our two-on-one time is always really great. She just seems to really love her job and her patients, and that's definitely infectious.

7:30: Time to go home! We go upstairs to change, and then it's time for the 30 minute drive home. I catch just the last little bit of sunlight from the day, the first I've seen all day.

8:05: I get home, let the dogs out, and pull out the grill. Then the dogs and I run around the yard for a little bit and make sure Hans gets all of his rolling in worms out of his system ;)

8:20: After I put the chicken on the grill, I check our mail - it was a fun day for deliveries. I ordered some Converse for my upcoming trips, and the Kinder Bueno finally arrived (although like two weeks ahead of schedule!).

8:30: I eat my chicken and cole slaw while catching up on a few emails, and read a few blog posts. It gets lonely eating by yourself all the time - luckily it's CR's last week away :)

8:45: Thank God for facetime :)

9:15: Time to do some chores. I wash the dishes from this morning, vacuum, take out recycling, prepare my snacks for the next day, and clean up the kitty area. After a few more minutes of playing with the animals, I wash my face and climb into bed.