first day of maternity clinicals

So yesterday was the first day of clinical for maternity nursing. At first i was terrified. I was going to have to help deliver babies. I met my nurse who I was going to follow that day, we made our introductions and then dove right on in. The hospital I am doing my rounds at has over 100 beds for the maternity ward. and they were all full. we were busy.
 My patient had been in labor since the night before, it was her first baby. She had already received her epidural and we were just waiting for the baby to "want to come out" I was able to see on the monitor her contractions and how the babies heart rate were doing, I took vital signs,  watched the nurse do her exam to see how far she was dilating.
Then around 1100 we received another patient. The nurses were scrambling to get the room ready, there is a lot to prepare for. Another patient was already 7cm on her 4th baby and stated she delivers fast. Once she was brought into the room and transferred onto the bed the nurse checked her...she was at 10cm and ready to pop. My nurse told me to call the team...they arrived within 2 min.
another student from my class and myself were standing on the wall waiting and watching. when the doctor ruptured her amniotic sac a gush of fluid came out which barely missed us. After that I was told to go over and hold one of the patients legs so the nurse could chart. I did and within 5 min the baby slipped right on out. The doctor put the baby on moms stomach and let dad cut the cord...(when the cord is cut it splashes blood...um yeah i know that now...mental note remember to duck)...

After the delivery we take the baby back to the warmer and learn how to assess a new born...making sure it had all fingers toes and holes present, lungs and heart were good, did measurements, we gave the mmedications. then mom got to breast feed right away.
After the delivery we went back to check on my patient. She still had not progressed.

My instructor grabbed me and the other student and told us that we were going to watch a c-section. The patient had a history of hypertension and a previous c-section.
We gowned up and were told where to stand. All the nurses in the room were so nice. they explained everything that was going on and why they do certain things. The surgery took about 30 min. It was crazy...nothing like the textbook pictures...when the baby came out it was having a hard time getting enough oxygen so they had to take it to NICU...

By the end of the day my patient was almost ready to give birth. but i wasn't allowed to stay to watch...our time was up...

I gained a lot of respect for the nurses who do labor and delivery. The way they talk to their patients, so compassionate, and reassuring. I felt as if that's a job that really makes a difference. I cant wait to learn more...