Birthday Everyday
I don’t really like babies. I never have. Growing up, when a family member showed up with a newborn we played the obligatory game of “pass the baby.” The little bundle of joy would be passed from woman to woman being praised and fussed over. The second I sensed a baby in the room; I’d shrink into the background as far as possible to avoid my turn. If that didn’t work, I’d fake a cough to get out of it. Ironically, after spending my entire life avoiding babies, I discovered that I love delivering babies.
It took me awhile to figure out why I loved C-sections so much. At 34 years old, my first reaction was to panic and think “Oh my god! Maybe I’ve wanted babies this whole time and didn’t know it and now I’m old and crotchety and have no chance!” Then I drank some more wine and realized that was completely untrue. Then one day, during a routine C-section, it hit me: delivering babies is like attending a birthday party every day.
Think of it this way: It’s your husband’s birthday and you’ve found the PERFECT gift -something they’ve always wanted. For the sake of argument, say…a 60-inch plasma TV. (I mean, it’s kind of like a baby: expensive, loud, you have to clear out an entire room to put it in.) You bring it into the room, they unwrap it, and they are elated. Personally, you don’t like TV. You never watch it and prefer to read, but being a part of giving your spouse something they’ve always wanted is an incredible experience.
That’s what C-sections are like. You may not like babies. You may not want babies, but being a part of giving that gift is so amazing. The environment of a C-section surgery is unlike any other. There is an air of anticipation as you wait for the baby’s first breath. You feel joy and relief when you hear it cry for the first time. You see the amazement on the faces of new parents when they first lay eyes on their child. There’s the oppressive heat. Rooms are kept warmer for the baby and the extra people in the room (daddy, delivery nurses, etc.) exacerbate the warmth.
Additionally, I think surg techs bond much more with their C-section patients than with other specialties. Our prospective mother comes in awake and we all talk with her about the baby, the weather, the latest Minnesota Vikings loss…anything to help her feel calm and comfortable leading up to the delivery. In the main OR, our patients are so happily dosed with Versed that they rarely even register my presence in the room. I love the opportunity C-sections provide to converse with patients. Nurses, anesthesiologists, and surgeons get the opportunity to connect with patients every day, but techs do not. Pre-incision prep-time for a C-section gives me that glimpse into my patient as a Person instead of just being an intubated Anonymous lying under my drapes.
I carry the happiness of previous successful deliveries with me each time I enter the OB delivery room. Like a yogi dedicating his practice, I dedicate that happiness to the new parents each time I scrub in. And when they leave, baby in their arms, I send that positive energy with them-an unwrapped, uncontainable birthday gift of joy.
