Wednesday, September 07, 2005

baptism by fire

Today I had clinical on an OB floor and it was so wonderful! As soon as I got there my teacher said "Kathleen, can I see you for a minute?" But when I followed her I found out that "a minute" meant "the mom you will be with today is delivering! Here, put on these gloves, this face shield, and hold this leg!"

It was so amazing! I had never seen a baby being born before and this was definately a neat way to experience delivery for the first time! Then I got to stay with mom and baby all day and take care of them. I had no idea what was going on half of the time, though. It was such a learning experience for me!

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I have always wanted to work labor and delivery and now that I've been there I really love it, but I know that that is a lot of contraception and sterilization involved in OB. It makes me really sad, because my textbook (as well as my whole class) is so "contraception happy." One day we had an hour and a half long discussion about why "abstinence is the dumbest thing in the world" and "why can't they just not teach them about abstinence in schools and just give them the contraception like they want."
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I know that the "abstinence" that is taught in school is just taught as the most effective method of birth control. I can see how it would not be appealing to teenagers when it is presented as that and then after they talk about abstinence they talk about all of the other forms of contraception and how effective they are and how fun sex is. Presented in that way, I suppose it would not be very effective.
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And everyone seems to want to have sex before marriage anyways. When my class was having this discussion, I was trying to think of how I would teach my children that abstinence is the best way and I realized that in order to help teens to see this, you have to get to them before the world does. From the time they are little, a love for Jesus, a respect for their bodies, knowledge of the value of purity, and understanding why what the world tells us is a lie would have to be instilled into their minds, hearts, and souls.
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What grace it must take to be a parent!
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Jesus, if it is Your will that I become a mother someday, please give me the graces I need - both when I am raising my children, but also now as I prepare for the future and learn about Your truths.
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Jesus I trust in You.
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1 comment:

sirhair said...

I think you would make a great mother... I can already see those qualities in you, and God will bless you more abundantly each and every day of your marriage!