Susan Burton

She trusted her medical team.

The thing she is concerned about is her epidural.

It just hadn't been working that well during her labor.

And I think a lot of us know in general what an epidural is, right?

It's the thing that controls pain.

But what an epidural actually is, it's a little plastic tube, a catheter that goes into your back.

And doctors push medicine through that tube.

So during labor, the medicine is lighter to allow you to move around.

During surgery, the medicine is more potent.

The idea is to numb your midsection, but to allow you to remain awake for the birth of your child.

And so, as she tells it, she'd asked two different anesthesia providers about this epidural.

One of them had been like, huh, should I change it?

Maybe I should change it.

I'm not sure if I should change it.

Ultimately, it's decided there's not enough time to change it.

And Vanessa goes into the operating room.

So Vanessa's in the OR and the anesthesiologist needs to test that she's numb.

Often this test is something like putting a broken tongue depressor on a patient's body and seeing whether the patient can feel it.

So it's like kind of sharp, but they're not cutting into you.

Correct.