Go together well

On Valentine’s Day, as I was walking back toward the hospital after buying a Coke from the Red Cross canteen (a little shop adjacent to the hospital “car park” where they sell snacks, soft drinks, and sadza ), a man about my age walked briskly toward me, saying, “Hi doc, I’m sorry to interrupt you but can I ask a personal question?” My mind jumped to: where’s the rash? Instead, he continued, “It’s about my wife. She was admitted to the labour ward for an induction today, but now they’re sending her back to the antepartum ward because she isn’t having contractions.” (The labour ward has a strict no visitors policy, which also means no husbands.Throughout the rest of the hospital, visitors are only allowed for two hour-long periods each day.)  He went on to tell me about the recent course of his wife’s pregnancy, and I was becoming curious about what the “personal question” would be. After a few minutes, he asked simply, “Do you think she’ll be okay? Do you think the baby will be ...

The past few months have been full of long work days and as much skiing as we could squeeze in on days off. Over the course of this ski season, Chris has had more opportunities to ski than I have--and he has gone from being nervous on the bunny hill to cruising down black diamond runs. I'm very proud of his progress and excited that he's providing me with a new ski buddy! {View from the top! Lincoln Peak ; A spring skiing day in early April} Over the past month, whenever I haven't been out skiing (i.e. most of the time), I have been catching babies on labor & delivery.  I have been fascinated by the degree to which expectant parents try to plan their respective birth experiences. They arrive to the labor & delivery unit bearing detailed outlines of how they want the process to unfold. The bullet points vary widely: We would like to listen to music ,  I want to experience an orgasmic birth , we would like to bring the placenta home , I want a water birth...