SONICS watch

14-3!!!!

Post duty

it's 9am and i have this overriding need to put thoughts to words. you know those moments when you feel as if you're going to explode and that have to let loose pent up thoughts and feelings (NOW!!!) or else you'll end up kicking yourself over and over because of regret? it doesn't just happen in the context of romance, you know? ("hey... i just felt i had to say it"; pshh!). anyhoo, inside i'm still running on adrenalin from labor room duty (my last!!). what was it that i wanted to share? it sounded ok in my mind as i was walking to this internet cafe. hmm, mind... slowing...down.
what was i going to write about? the december storm currently ravaging manila (and the rest of the philippines, it seems)? i had these story ideas last night while waiting for to assist at a delivery of conjoined twins (!!), about,um, a storm. storm of the century? nah, it's been done before. basta! something alongthose lines, a storm that becomes a nexus of about 4 to 5 characters' lives, yadda, yadda. NEXT! sheesh, tinatamad na agad, di pa nga nag-uumpisa...
the highlight of my duty? the aforementioned delivery of conjoined twins! twin pregnancies are not as rare as one might think, but still, it's a pretty remarkable occurrence when you encounter it. what more with conjoined twins? we've read about it in papers, saw clips on the news. a few months ago there was this feature on an ambitious op to separate filipino twins; and before that, those middle eastern women. were they iranian? Hoo... so there we were, last night. Dr.Villa was the surgeon, Dr. Sy as first assist,and me, 2nd assist. normally, only 4 people are in the OR for a C-section, 5 counting the anesthesiologist, but last night, whoa! it was like a carnival! more than 20 people were in the room, including nurses, the pedia surgery residents (on standby in case immediate surgical intervention would be needed for the twins), the pedia residents, the neonatology fellow, and even a utility worker or two was watching. there was a certain electricity in the air, an almost tangible mixture of excitement, fear, hope and wonder. hehe, it kinda felt weird standing there watching everybody on the edge of their... toes, watching the operation. i wonder what dr. villa must've felt like (the pressure, the PRESSURE!!!). yikes. thankfully, all went well, the twins were delivered without any difficulty, much to the delight of everyone! you could almost hear a collective sigh of relief when the first cries came from them babies li'l mouths. and just like that, the carnival was over. everbody else went to catch a glimpse of the babies just before they were brought up to the neonatal ICU for further observation, and then went on their way,with a story to tell...

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oh,boy. it's december already.... it's been a YEAR since...