Week 8: Happy Solstice!

Saturday December 21st was the 'shortest day' of the year. 

But it felt like the longest.

Friday evening, I was at home alone after work while Adam finished a shift in the Emergency room (ER shifts here are 12 hours - 8am to 8pm and 8pm to 8am). Just before 8pm, as I was debating heading to the gym, my pager went off. I was on OB call again last week - 7 straight days of being on-call for any pregnant women in labour or needing an assessment. It had been a quiet week, so I was due for some excitement.  

I called over to the ward, where I was told that there was a women coming in from the airport, and "delivering in the ambulance!"  I raced out the door, full-on sprint mode across the parking lot to the hospital. Where the ambulance was waiting, but no patient. We figured out that there had been a miscommunication - a pregnant patient was flying in from one of the communities, and the pilot had radioed in that she was "delivering" - the ambulance was to meet her at the airport. They would be arriving in 10 minutes.  The paramedics figured that it would be a good idea to have a doc ride with them, and by then my staff had arrived as well, so we grabbed a delivery tray, a neonatal resuscitation bag, and both jumped in the ambulance as well, having no idea what we'd find when we arrived - one patient? two?   After an amazingly bumpy 15 minute ride flying down the dirt highway to the airport, we drove out onto the tarmac where the plane was just opening its doors. Our patient walked out, holding her still-pregnant belly, thank goodness. Sure enough, she was in labour, but not exactly imminently delivering.  The pilot could have probably had a better choice of words! She was a young multiparous lady (not her first baby) and was at term (past 37 weeks), who had gone to the community health centre in the morning with some tightenings. She didn't seem to be too far along yet, so it was decided she could manage the 30minute scheduled flight out to Inuvik that afternoon.  Unfortunately, her contractions picked up about half way here while in the air, making the flight crew a bit uncomfortable and prompting the panicked ambulance call!

We brought her back to hospital, and she had a lovely easy delivery of a healthy (9lb!) boy at about 1:30am.  By the time I finished my paperwork, it was 3am. I headed home, only to discover that in my panicked race to the hospital earlier, I had forgotten my keys to the residence! Adam was fast asleep by that point and couldn't hear his phone vibrate (why does he always keep it on silent?!)... So I spent a few hours attempting to sleep on the couch in the doctors lounge of the hospital. Around 6am, another lady in labour came into hospital, and I had my second delivery in 12 hours around 1pm. 

It was a long day. But as I walked home from the hospital at 2pm, after almost 30 consecutive hours of work, this is the beautiful solstice sky that I was treated to!  

Solstice sky over the Western Arctic Visitors Centre

Looking northeast over frosty trees

Solstice sun, just below the southern horizon.

So the story has a happy ending. Two healthy babies, a beautiful sky, and I got to sleep from 2:30-7:30pm...  before I had to go back to the hospital for my 8pm night shift in the ER! 

I am looking forward to a vacation....