I was responsible for the anesthesia care in the delivery of ten healthy singleton babies. I inherited three at seven a.m. from the anesthesiologist who was on call the day before. I did a c-section using one of the epidurals on one of those patients.
I also trained/proctored a new hire, a delightful woman of thirty-eight who is just starting out. She and I have similar temperaments. I enjoy spending time with her. There is only one more epidural for her to do under observation, and then she is in the O.R. on duty rotations like the rest of the team.
It is hard not to have a little time to squirrel away to the call room in the day. I like to relax and store up reserve energy for the night. I excused myself at two. I have to be careful in the call room. I can't leave all my stuff out. I have a my Reiki Doll Annie, for sending distance Reiki. I have my pendulum Porphy (I name them), my journals, my book I am writing...all would not be understood by a colleague who would happen to walk in. Or even a cleaning lady.
Speaking of the cleaning lady, Maria, my second mom-seriously-caught me in the hall. 'Are you in today? Was that your underwear? Did you see it? It was in the bed?' I was like, 'WHAT?!?'.
Sure enough, she had moved it. A pair of tighty whities, soiled with a brown stain, and a tee shirt. She had seen the guy on call with his girlfriend in the patio while he was on call. Were they having sex in the call room? we wondered together, Maria and me. What should we do with it? You know what we did? Put it in a pillowcase and stuck it in the file folder for billing slips for that doctor!
No wonder why the other OB anesthesiologist had noticed the smell of urine in one of the pillows and thrown it out!
The day was full of the bizarre, the unexpected, the humorous-if-you-look-for-it.
And there were the miracles. Some of the ones that made me cry almost in front of the patient was the patient saying thank you to the nurse for suggesting the epidural even though the husband was pushing the natural childbirth thing and she was ready to bail...seeing the joy on a new mom's face in post-partum when I went to check on her the next day...the baby RN sharing her stories with me about growing up in Vancouver...and the OB whose mom had seven miscarriages before successfully carrying her a to pre-term (35 weeks) and her brother to term births.
Everyone says, 'Rest up, have a good day' when I am leaving the hospital. I do not have the luxury to do that. The car is six-hundred miles past the service due. I have an appointment. I have to go. I also am getting my hair styled for the first time in six months, due to my tight schedule. Tonight, I would like to go to swim lessons to watch the progress of my kids (usually Dad takes them and I work).
When can I rest? In little spurts here and there. When can I shower? Hopefully before swimming so I won't stink!
Where is the Reiki? It was there every minute since the time I showed up to work yesterday. It was there when I gave Reiki and the transition symbol while holding the mother's hand during four c-sections. It was the patience when I had to replace epidurals that were malfunctioning twice. It was the humility in having to accept ruffles potato chips and onion dip at the nurses' station as my breakfast because there was no time for anything else. It was the post-partum charge nurse who made me a cup of the vietnamese coffee we have on L&D because she saw how sleepy I was from a hard case. It was the facebook post of NAMASTE from my childhood friend as I walked down the hall in the wee hours to go put another epidural into a technically challenging obese parturient (woman in labor). It was the text I sent to a friend whose house had been robbed, offering to replace any jewelry that her deceased son had given her if it had been stolen, not that it would be the same, but to let her know I love her and that everything would be all right. It was her post on her page, that 'God had shown her that which could not be taken away by robbers--the kindness and love of family and friends' in gratitude for my offer, which she declined because there was only one necklace from her boy, and that she never takes it off...
Reiki is in the writing I had to do before driving to the car appointment. Before feeding the pets. Before eating myself. I love it more than I admit, this connection I have through Reiki to all of you. I adore being here to guide you, and to console you, to inform you, and to simply wait together for the changes that are going to arrive on Earth.
Namaste,
Reiki Doc
