It's just a little thunder...

Wednesday was a big day. I did two deliveries at Temeke. The first was a little girl born at 10:17am weighing 2.7kg. I named her Rachel Joy. She was beautiful just like her mommy. There were signs of fetal distress so Joy (my partner for the day) and I began to pray over the mom and the baby. Prayer is powerful and much needed in the hospital when we are there. So far since being in Tanzania I have delivered two babies to moms who have had FGM. This mom was to the greatest degree i have seen yet. All external genitalia was absent. It made her delivery difficult as she wasn't able to naturally stretch the way she should have and as a result had some pretty bad tearing, but she was a trooper and got through it all most of the time with a smile. She was amazing. Such a light.

The next little one came at 12:45pm. A little boy weighing 2.25kg and just perfect. The delivery went well with no major complications, birth trauma or fetal distress. This mom too was so incredible. Both mom's were so much fun to work with on Wednesday. As soon as she was done being sutured she was ready to leave. Our staff Rachel told me that they saw her later as we were leaving buying a soda across the street from the hospital! Insane! Anyways, I was able to transfer both mom's and babies to postnatal and they ended up being on postnatal beds right next to each other. When I went in later to check on both moms they were laughing and admiring their babies together. It was pretty awesome! I will most likely visit both of them before leaving the country on March 20th.

Wednesday night we had Joel and Stella over for the late afternoon and evening for dinner. They are two friends from Mwandege and it was nice being able to spend time with both of them. More so Stella, because we rarely see her now that we are living in a different location. Joel we have seen almost every weekend since leaving the base. Anyways about 40 minutes or so after they left we heard what sounded like thunder. I thought it was fireworks in celebration of Muhammed's birthday. Jen came into our room thinking it was thunder and was scared. I just reassured her by saying, "don't worry it's just a little thunder." Shortly after saying that to her, Joel called us in a panic asking if we were okay. I said yes and then our phones cut out. He called again and said that there were bombs going off in the city around us. What?! He then advised us to turn off our cell phones and lights thinking that it could be an attack. I handed the phone to Beth and ran down the hall to start knocking on doors and telling them to do just as he said. Orlando ran outside and then quickly came running back ushering us to come quickly outside to see the explosions. We all got outside and brothers from the Friary came over to us telling us what they had heard on the radio of what was happening. An armoury near the airport which is about 10km away from where we are caught fire and bombs and ammunition within the compound were exploding. We were advised to stay outside our house in the event that any of the bombs or debris came our way we would be able to have a better chance of getting out of the way. We waited what seemed like at least an hour before we were told it was safe to get back inside. Our biggest concern was for the safety of the people that we know and being unsure of where they were and unable to get hold of them. By morning we were able to hear from everyone that we knew in the area and heard of their safety which was a relief. Anyways, long story short we are all safe. BBC Africa has a report of the accident if you want to know more.

We still decided to go to Temeke yesterday despite the risk of being surrounded by chaos at the hospital. We went not having any idea of what to expect, but once we got there into the labour ward all was calm (well for women labouring). Thursday seemed just like another typical day in the labour room. All of us apart from one delivered a baby today. I delivered another baby boy. Aaron, weighing 2.4kg and just perfect. After delivery I was waiting for the placenta to show signs of separation. I was getting concerned about her and the risk of her having a retained placenta, but finally after about 25 minutes the placenta delivered and she was fine.

Today I went to Temeke Hospital for what I think is my last time in the labour ward. It was a really busy day, but it was a really good day. All of us had a delivery and a couple of us I think did two. We made it to a BAS milestone today... 3,000 babies delivered since the founding of the BAS. Actually, 3,001 at the end of the day today. It was the first time that I have done a delivery for a mom who is HIV positive. I was monitoring a mom all morning and at about 1:30 Bek called for someone to do a delivery. I was sure that the woman I was watching wasn't going to deliver anytime soon, so I went ahead and went to go do the delivery. The baby came within 15 minutes and she was a beautiful little girl. She weighed 3.0kg and Celia and I named her Elena. Anyways, when I was filling out her paperwork that is when I discovered that she was HIV positive. No worries though. Universal precautions were taken all throughout the delivery and after as well. Anyways, she was such a beautiful woman and after this week I have decided that this was by far my favorite week in the labour room. Every woman that I was taking care of was amazing. They were all so happy and were a joy to take care of throughout their labouring experience. I will post a picture of Elena tomorrow and you will be taken by her beauty just like I was today!

Of course I will continue posting more updates and photos throughout the next couple of weeks and before leaving Tanzania I will post some pictures summarizing my time here.

Thank you yet again for all of your prayers and support. I am beyond grateful for all that you have made sacrifices for me to be here serving the kingdom of God.

A piece of home is coming to me...

Three weeks until my mom comes to Tanzania to see me and I couldn't be more excited! I honestly don't know if I would have made it this long in the school if I didn't have the guarantee of her coming. I am becoming weary. Emotionally, physically and even spiritually I am starting to weaken and I am in need of prayer. My time with my mom will be a time of much needed processing and rest. We are planning on going on a safari and spending a couple of days in Zanzibar which I am really looking forward to! Of course I plan on showing her around the hospital where I work, the clinic, and places that I have been over the course of the last 5 months. The countdown has begun!

We have only another month here in Tanzania and then we are off to India or Bangladesh for two more months. I am looking forward to being back in India, a country that is close to my heart, but will be sad to leave this land. A land that I would love to one day call home. More than that is the people that I am leaving behind. I have made amazing friends here in Mwandege and in the hospital and to part from them will be something that I know will be very difficult. One man in particular I am not looking forward to saying goodbye to. It will be hard, but I have the hope that I will return soon and see all of these people again.

Last week I was in ICU and made a new friend. She was a patient who had been there since the 1st of February. She was referred to Temeke from her local clinic because she had profuse bleeding. She was 7 1/2 months pregnant at the time and the doctors diagnosed her as having abruptio placentae. She was transferred to ICU and labour was induced. From the time she was referred to Temeke to the time she was transferred to ICU she had lost more than 1000mls of blood. She ended up having 4 units of blood transfused, three of which after delivery. Insane! She delivered a stillborn girl weighing 1.8kg. The mama spoke very good english so I was able to communicate pretty well with her and ended up being able to set up a time to visit with her this week to make sure she is still doing okay. Please pray for her. This was her and her husband's first baby. She still has severe anaemia as well so pray for a healing as well.

Our schedule is pretty crazy and I haven't been dedicated in giving you updates like I should and for that I am very sorry. I will send an email update to my supporters in the next couple of days with a few attached pictures as well. I will also post more pictures on my blog either mid-week, at the end of the week, or both if I can.

Many blessings and Happy Valentine's Day too!

For they are fearfully and wonderfully made...

So far, I have delivered 6 babies at Temeke hospital. I have loved every moment of working in the labour ward. That is where I feel most at home here. Being with the woman as support while labouring is an amazing honour. I feel blessed to be a part of each one of these women and new babies lives. There is an indescribable feeling that I have with each delivery. What a gift to be the first to touch these little lives!

Starting with the most recent deliveries.

This is baby Isaiah. He was born 1/21/2011 at 10:46am weighing 3.5kg. When we arrived that morning, no one knew how the mama had arrived in the labour ward and her information couldn't be found. I did a VE and found that she was fully effaced and dilated. Next thing I knew the baby's head was crowning and I frantically started putting my gloves on, but the baby was coming so quickly that Rachel V had to put her hand in there to support the head. Isaiah was born with a nucal hand and the cord wrapped around his torso. 20 minutes after giving oxytocin the placenta was not delivering. We gave her another 10iu, but still no placenta. It was obvious that the only option was to remove it manually. We didn't have any long gloves for the removal so the nurse made a make-shift long glove out of 2 gloves and removed the placenta. During her delivery mama lost a lot of blood. She had definite signs of PPH. I continued monitoring her throughout the rest of the day and made sure she was drinking a lot of fluids. Due to the lack of supplies at the hospital we were unable to get an IV drip into her which would have been a more effective way of managing her PPH. By the time that I left she seemed to be doing a lot better. I made sure that one of the more trusted nurses kept an eye on her and continued to monitor her while I was gone.

Below: Baby Jacob. Born 1/19/2011 at 11:07am weighing 3.2kg. There were signs of fetal distress with him, so we prayed for a quick delivery. After his birth, he had a slight temperature so I continued to monitor him and his mama and by the time that we left for the day he seemed to be doing a lot better.

Hannah Grace! Born 1/18/2011 at 11:19am weighing 3.4kg. As she was making her way into the world I noticed that her little hand was nestled next to her face. I was able to hold her hand tightly to her face to prevent any tearing and also slip the cord that was wrapped around her neck over her shoulder nicely. Bek and I did the delivery together which was really exciting.
Beth and I were able to assist in a C/S together. I think it was the first day we worked together in the hospital since we have been in Tanzania. We named the baby girl Esther Faith. I call her the cabbage patch doll. She was a chunk! Adorable!
Gauis named after Gaius whom John addresses in the book of 3 John. Testified of his faithfulness to the truth. I felt this little one would grow to be a man who walks in truth. Born 3/12/2010 at 12:03pm weighing 3.4kg.
Little Emma. Born 2/12/2010. She was precious with her little ear flapped hat. Born at 11:25am weighing 2.7kg.
This is me with Mama and baby Dale. Named in memory of my grandfather, Dale was born 1/12/2010 at 10:39am. Wt. 2.75kg

Continue to pray for me and the team. Heartache continues as we experience trauma and tragedy on a weekly basis.