Just Another Day in the Life

It started out like most Thursdays.  I knew it was going to be a little crazy – Thursdays usually are.  It is market day, after all, and that draws a crowd to the village, and subsequently, my porch.  It was hard for me to think what it would be like – the past 2 weeks had already been crazy with sick people.  I was seeing 20 – 30 patients a day – much more than normal – and turning several away each day..

Thursday is also laundry day for me – so I knew I needed to get started early.  I was up by 6 am – had my quiet time, and got the laundry ready – loads separated, washer filled, everything dragged out of the laundry room, and also got the dishes ready to be washed.  I knew that Isatu and Kanko would be there early to get started on their work.

Jim was out for a run so I had not opened the front door yet – a sign to the village that we are not yet ready to face the world.  We try to wait until Jim is back and showered before he opens the door.  It is possible that, if people knock when the door is not open, I might get a little fussy – maybe.  

 So the knock on the door that I heard that morning was not welcomed.  I went out –prepared to tell whoever was there that I do not work in the morning and to please come back in the afternoon.  It was a man who is originally from the village – but who now lives somewhere else.  He was instrumental in helping us move into GKB.   

He was here because his wife was very sick – near death – according to him.  I was skeptical – I get that story a lot – and it is usually not true.  He said that she had woken up at around 3 am and started vomiting and having diarrhea and that is had not stopped since.  He was afraid she was going to die.  Now, it is not that I am not sympathetic, but I have been “lured” to many a hut under the pretense that someone is VERY sick, only to find them sitting up drinking tea or eating rice. 

 So I was not about to fall for it again.  I said, “Fine, bring her to me and I will see if she needs to be sent to the hospital.”  A short while later, there was a motorcycle beeping obnoxiously in the front yard.  I went out to find a middle-aged woman nearly unconscious on the bench.  I would ask her a question and she could barely open her eyes.  Her blood pressure was super low.  While I usually try to avoid it, I could not see any way around giving her a liter of IV fluids.  (I avoid it for several reasons -1. I am not really supposed to be treating adults. 2. It is very time consuming and could become a full time job. 3. Typically these are people who have been told to go somewhere else for treatment but have put it off until the person is half dead – something that makes me crazy.)  Anyway, I was not sure putting her in a taxi was a good plan – I was not sure she would arrive alive at the hospital 2 hours away.  

So I started her on IV fluids and got her settled on my porch.  There was a constant flow of people coming to see her.  She threw up all over the porch twice.  What to do!

Several hours later, a woman showed up to ask if I would come look at a girl in labor.  It was her first baby and they wanted me to check her.  Fine.  I gave Jim instructions on what to do with the IV and took off with my baby delivering bag and a 2 way radio.  I went to the house and found a young girl – maybe 16 years old – crawling around on all fours – in active labor.  I checked her and felt something – I couldn’t tell if it was the head and the umbilical cord, or what.  But I knew we were a long way off from delivery yet.  I ran home and treated the 5 -6 kids who were sitting waiting for me on the porch.  Then I headed off again.

The baby had moved a little down the birth canal – when I check her this time, I was very certain it was not the head but the butt I was feeling.  Not a good sign.  By this time, the town midwife was also there, but she was lying on the bed, complaining of a head ache.  I gave her some Ibuprofen and we waited.  The time dragged by.  I called Jim and asked him to read me (over the radio) what to do with a breech baby.  He did.  

 Baby was moving down the canal – but slowly.  I convinced the midwife that the baby was breech.  She got worried (I was already at that point.)  I was praying quietly that God would intervene.  The older women started chanting and praying to “allah”.  Nothing was happening.  The girl was pushing but to no avail.  Finally the midwife looked at me and said, “Gulun-nga, you need to pray to Jesus. If you do that, He will answer and help us.”  

 My prayer went something like this –Jesus, did you hear what she said?  PLEASE help us here!  Finally, I decided to try to reach into the birth canal and see what I could grab. I was finally able to get ahold of a foot and get the first leg out.  Then I grabbed the second leg.  There were 6 women in the tiny room at this point.  It was blazing hot!  Sweat was pouring off all of us.  The girl pushed and I gently pulled on the legs and more of the baby came out.  

 Now the top part of the baby was stuck.  I reached in and pulled down first one arm, and then another.  I was thrilled with the progress we were making, until I realized that the uterus had clamped down on the head.  It was STUCK.  I was praying and begging the girl to push as I gently pulled on the baby. FINALLY, the baby was out –but NOT breathing.  I began to rub her vigorously.  I grabbed a face mask and began to give her slow breaths.  Finally, she took one breath and then another.  I kept rubbing and encouraging her and soon she was breathing on her own.  It was a total miracle.  

 We got the placenta delivered and got mom cleaned up.  I took baby outside and washed her up and dressed her.  The midwife came out and asked if I had remembered to check for the baby’s teeth.  O-kayyyyyy.  I rubbed my finger on her gums and declared that I was sure that the teeth were all there!  (I was going on faith at that point.)  We got mom and baby settled in bed and I instructed mom to start breastfeeding right away!  

 I left some Tylenol (nice, huh?) and some Gatorade for mom and asked someone to follow me home to get some antibiotics for mom. I figured that my hand had been inside her uterus enough to warrant some preventative antibiotics (guarding against a womb infection). In the heat of the whole event, I was more concerned about getting baby out alive than making sure that everything was sterile.

The whole event was insane.  In mu discussions since that day, I have come to discover that there are babies born breech here – but that they rarely survive.  God did a miracle with that baby!

Last night, I got a call (and by call I mean someone standing outside my window calling my name) at midnight to come and see another girl in labor. 

 I got dressed and headed out – a nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach. I reminded myself that most babies are born head first and without complications.  I asked the Lord for an easy one this time.  I stepped into the dark hut.  As my eyes adjusted, I saw a baby – JUST born – laying on the dirt floor on a dirty cloth.  I dried her off, suctioned her nose and mouth, and cut the cord.  We delivered the placenta, and I took baby outside to wash her up.  (I remembered to check for the teeth this time – they were all there- I think…..) I got her dressed, and settled in bed, gave mom instructions, and was back home in 45 minutes.    

There just really rarely is a dull moment around here!