A Tale of Two Days

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. We'll start with the bad so that we can finish with the good. The day finished with a lecture on abortion delivered by a prolific abortionist(who, ironically, is associated with the "Family Planning Center"). The lecture, billed by the course director as being focused on the medical aspects of abortion, sadly failed to live up to that description. Instead, it was an hour long cheerleading session about the benefits of abortion and how low the risks are compared to delivering a baby with occasional tidbits of actual knowledge thrown in. The words "studies have shown" were thrown around a lot, but with no actual citations to back them up. Having reviewed the literature myself in the past, I think his claims were greatly exaggerated; when I have a little time, I'll go back through and find some of the articles I've read in the past. He also dismissed the pro-life movement as being "anti-choice" and our ethics, arguments, and evidence as "just rhetoric." Just for kicks, he also threw in an incredibly inappropriate description of the abortion process that is not suitable for print; if for some reason you really want to know, ask me by some other means.

Anyway, after the lecture ended, I introduced myself to him as one of the pro-life students he had spoken about. I said that I respected his opinion though I disagreed with him, and I asked him to please have a little respect for my beliefs and those of like-minded people. His response? "Sure, I respect your beliefs, but that doesn't change the fact that you're anti-choice." I told him that I respectfully disagreed, and that I didn't think that name-calling by either side was conducive to a productive dialogue. He replied "I won't argue with you. You can't call me anti-life, I'm very pro-life. I believe that people should be able to live however they want. You're anti-choice. You don't think a woman should be able to choose how she wants to live." I again told him that I respectfully disagreed and that I could produce evidence to support my beliefs ("It's just rhetoric," he snorted), but that I wasn't looking for an argument, merely for a little respect. "Psh," he said, "fine. I respect your opinion." And he walked out of the room. So yeah, first serious challenge of the rotation there. Dunno how this will play out long term, but if I never have to work with this individual again, it'll be too soon.

Anyway, the good...today I actually got to deliver a baby. Not to watch one delivered, not to have the intern's hands doing all the work over top of mine, but to really, truly be the one to work the baby out of the womb and into the world. Before too long, everything in the preceding paragraphs will be forgotten. This I will NEVER forget. It was a C-section delivery, and the PA had just incised the uterus so that we could bring the baby out when the attending said to me "Hey Seth, do you want to deliver this baby?" I don't remember what words found their way out of my mouth at that point, but the upshot (clearly) was "heck yes!" "Ok, here's what you need to do..." I had learned all the techniques, but many of them deserted me in the face of this actual delivery...and the fact that it's a lot less scary to push really hard on a mannequin than to exert serious pressure on a baby. And I do mean SERIOUS pressure. It takes a lot to get the shoulders out. I didn't do it perfectly, but I got the little guy out in one piece and in perfect health, and that's what counts, right? Hopefully I'll have a chance to do that once or twice more before this part of the rotation ends, but regardless, I think (and hope!) that this delivery will forever remain etched in my memory.

Anyway, that was the day. I'm sorry to have to spoil the delivery of such a beautiful, awesome creature with a story of a sad, confused, insecure individual, but I promised I'd chronicle the challenges associated with the rotation, and unfortunately, that's going to be one of them. Still, though, disheartening though that encounter was, it'll drift away with the morning breeze and leave the memory of a beautiful newborn baby boy screaming his lungs out while resting in my hands. Still can't get over the sheer awesomeness of that. Anyway, until next time, all...peace and God bless!