The other part of me

You can pretty much bet that when I take a few days' break from blogging, it's because I'm working. Now that I have a 44 mile commute to work and back each day, I have little time left in the day when I get home. I talk so little about my job in Labor and Delivery these days, it's a far cry from the days where I had a blog solely to talk about my funny patient stories.

Well this past week, I witnessed something amazing.

It's no surprise that I've been less than thrilled with my current workplace. I left behind a strong network of friends and support in Fort Worth and came into a strange new environment. At my old workplace, we did double the deliveries per month in a brand new facility. It's amazing how two places can do the exact same thing but be so completely different. I dont really know where I'm going with this other than to say that I didn't expect to see anything so interesting outside of a large specialty facility.

Intrauterine surgery. As in, a pair of docs performed a procedure on a baby while in utero. Crazy right?! My patient, (we'll call her "K"- no names folks!) is pregnant with a baby who has an obstructed bladder. Babies, while in the womb drink and breathe in amniotic fluid. The fluid, just like water you and I drink, is processed by the body and excreted back into the amniotic fluid, which is then taken in again and out like a cycle. Well this poor kiddo cannot get rid of what it takes in. By ultrasound, the bladder looks like an overfilled balloon and the abdomen is also full of fluid. Bad deal. The abdomen is so full of fluid, it presses upwards on the diaphragm and leaves very little room for the growth of baby's lungs. This = bad outcome unless an intervention is made.

So earlier this week, I wheel "K" into the operating room and by ultrasound, the docs are able to-

-Drain the fluid off the baby's abdomen

-Empty the bladder

-Place a shunt in the bladder therefore bypassing the obstruction and allowing the bladder to empty.

Amazing. Fascinating. Dangerous. Miraculous.

By the next morning, "K" and her baby were stable enough to move out of Labor & Delivery to a regular room, where she will most likely stay until baby is delivered. Wow!

PS: My latest adventure in cooking was chicken cordon bleu. It was probably my favorite thing so far! Chicken + prosciutto + swiss = YUM. I shouldve taken a picture of the pretty pinwheel shape it made. If you had several hours in the kitchen and all the ingredients (& skills) needed, what would you cook?