this is what babies really truly look like when they've just been delivered. all icky, screaming, crying and definitely not cute at all.

and yes, we really do check the genitals 1st thing once the baby is born!
very important ;)

and after that, once they're big enough, they can be dressed up like this!

everyone, altogether now, awwwwwww.

delivering my 1st baby was an experience. or maybe lack thereof. i did basically nothing but put my hands on the baby's head, and the midwife did the rest. but still! it was one of my lifetime experiences. i mean, how many people get to help out?

but before we get to the delivering babies part, let's deal with the observing deliveries part.

where i come from, we have a falling birth rate. and that thus equates to less deliveries to do. and that thus means many many medical students fighting for few patients. so you have to wait till you go on call to try your luck!

and when we were on call, it just so happened that a senior i knew was on call and very willingly showed us the ropes despite being a busy sleep deprived intern himself. thank you very much! that, in essence, is exactly the type of doctor i want to be. never too busy to teach.

and so, i got to observe a birth first. the mother was a young skinny girl, she looked almost too small to be carrying a baby! her husband to be was 8 years older than her. very tall and skinny. and they're getting married shortly. she was in labour for real long, and vomiting and screaming and crying in pain. and through it all, he held her hand, wiped her vomit, and cleaned her up. wow.

and the birth itself took more than 2 hours. geeee. she had no strength left to help push, and couldn't put herself properly in the crunching position, so i ended up helping to hold her leg for 2 hours. my hands almost fell off after that.

andddddd. she made progress of 0.5 inches (descent of baby's head) in 1.5 hours. geeee. but shortly after that, she really picked up and the baby was born within the next hour! :D everyone was so relieved. me, i was just grateful i didn't have to hold her legs anymore, my arms were so tired.

but ohhhh, the baby was so so so cute! big big eyes and chubby cheeks. :)

and scarily enough, she had extensive perineal damage and the repair took an hour. and she couldn't stop bleeding out. thankfully it stopped after a whole lot of rubbing.

and now mother and baby are fine :) thank God! :D

it was the first time a patient ever thanked me. even though i didn't do much. but i really was so thankful that they were both alright.

and so after that much drama, i went to sleep. only to be woken up by the intern yelling that a delivery was in. for me!

and that proved pretty uneventful as the mother already had 2 children prior to this :) very easy and fast delivery, over within 20 minutes with minimal perineal damage. although i did nothing, it's definitely something to remember :)

i think i'm in love with OB/GYN!