7 of 8

Day Seven



7am: Alarm. Breakfast. Coffee. Bus. Delayed TfL charges £14.20.



8.30am: Holding delivery/crash bleep (the pager that goes off if a doctor is needed to go to delivery and the 'crash' goes out for an emergency) today which quickly gets busy, lots of Caesarean sections and some interesting antenatal conditions. All the babies do well and we don’t need to admit anybody, which is a success of a day!



12.30pm: Give crash bleep to a colleague so I can run to shop for lunch. Grab chicken salad, oranges, and jammy dodgers for the team to get us through the afternoon (£9.61). Get back and thankfully bleep stayed quiet in my absence.



3pm: Counsel a lady who’s having a preterm baby via section this evening and explain what we need to do and the risks. They’ve wanted a baby for a very long time and I really hope the baby does well after delivery. I’ll be back on nights next week so I should be able to catch up with mum and dad.



4.30pm: I say goodbye to a family who I’ve looked after all week. Mum was very sick after the delivery but has made an amazing recovery and the baby is absolutely gorgeous. It feels really great to close the loop on their care and wish them good luck, and also to be reminded what modern medicine can achieve. There is no way this outcome of a well mother and baby being discharged would have happened a few decades ago.



6pm: Leave at 6, only half an hour late! Get Tube across London to meet V and go on our weekend adventure. He is stuck at work so take myself for an Old Fashioned (£8) at a bar around the corner. Pick up snack for the train (£9).



8.30pm: Get to countryside station, split a cab to the BnB (£5), it’s really cute and in the middle of nowhere, which is exactly what we wanted. Plan a big hike for tomorrow and chat over tea before going to bed about 11pm.



Total: £45.81