Sorry I do not know how to turn photos so you will have to turn your head! This is my dearest friend Beth after working our last shift ot Mercy. We had finished out race and what a wonderful time we had!
I am 50 and I can kick
1 year ago
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Short door tall women
Sorry I do not know how to turn photos so you will have to turn your head! This is my dearest friend Beth after working our last shift ot Mercy. We had finished out race and what a wonderful time we had!
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Friday Sept. 7
Maybe the women got together and decided that Friday the seventh of September was the perfect day to deliver. Twice there were two babies being born at the same time. This makes it very difficult for the supervisor to be in two different places at once. There are only 8 beds at Mercy, two of those are for postpartum. We had women everywhere. Friday was also my last double shift, so having a baby factory made the sixteen hours go faster.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Going back in time
I have not blogged in four days not because there has not been anything to blog about, I just haven't done it.
Today is Thursday and right now it is 9:00 pm. I have worked the swing shift with Beth and I am happy to report she got her first catch! I was in the next cubical with my delivery (a boy named Harold) so I did not get to see it but heard everything. Of course being Beth, she cried! So it has been a really nice shift with three babies born all with in two hours of each other. It was enough activity to keep us busy but not crazy.
Yesterday ( Wednesday) I was off because I worked Tuesday night shift. We ran to the mall to get some groceries. Beth and I wanted to treat the girls in the house to dinner because they have been so wonderful to us. WE ordered pizza and made a big veggie salad and bought ice cream. We ate upstairs on the balcony. I was great fun. The nights here cool off and the neighborhood streets become filled with children and adults playing basket ball or just hanging out.
After dinner Beth and I went with Laura (a student) to DMC to check on a patient that I had labor sat Tuesday night and Laura had cared for after shift change. They ended up transporting her because of fetal distress. I knew the baby was in a poster position but the lady would not cooperate with anything we asked her to do to help the baby rotate. Laura said she continued to act that way after shift change. We got to DMC and went into the postpartum ward. This is where it becomes difficult to write. How to give words to a sight so disturbing. One hundred and fifty beds pushed together. No dividers not even curtains. Evey women brought her own sheet and the family was responsible for her food. The mattresses looked very old and worn out. There were fans running but it was stifling hot in there.
We began looking through the sea of women for Joanna. If a women was transported from Mercy she will usually raise her eyebrows at us and give a little nod with her head. Filipinos talk with their facial expressions, and you learn to read them well. I saw Ana, the young women I transferred because of hypertension. She was happy to see me and was very proud of her baby boy. I would love to have had more information about her birth but with the language barrier it is not easy.
We continued to look for Joanna but could not find her. Found another women who had been transferred from Mercy. It is like a refuge camp, that is what that room reminds me of. We gave up the search, but thought we would try up stars in Pediatrics to see the 'shoulder dystocia baby'
The Peds ward was no better. There were cots lining the hall with children with out even a mat to lay on. We peeked into one small room and there on the floor was our boy with his mother and father. We were ecstatic to see he had survived and looked really good. They were happy to see us (their eyes said so). We only stayed for a short chat, again language barrier. It was a very small room. with three other families, all with their sick child on a mat on the floor.
Going into DMC is a very sobering experience.
Tuesday We went to the beach. Taxi ride to the Pier, then a ferry boat ride to the island. Enjoyed being out of town for awhile, swimming, food and.. a sunburn, oh well. Worked Tuesday night. I do not remember Monday. LOL I am sure I worked.
It is now Friday 11:30am. I just came in from a 'sorry' run, nothing to be proud of but it felt good to get out. The heat is hard for this Colorado girl.
I am about done with this 'race' and the last stretch is the most difficult. I want to run this race that is set before me. I know that my Lord gave all for me, so can I not give all of me for his service? To be His hands and show his compassion is what moves me one step forward at a time. I am inspired by the group Third Day's song 'Love Song' What love has been shown to us, He gave us all. So this mountain I can climb, I will finish the race. Praise be to God.
Today is Thursday and right now it is 9:00 pm. I have worked the swing shift with Beth and I am happy to report she got her first catch! I was in the next cubical with my delivery (a boy named Harold) so I did not get to see it but heard everything. Of course being Beth, she cried! So it has been a really nice shift with three babies born all with in two hours of each other. It was enough activity to keep us busy but not crazy.
Yesterday ( Wednesday) I was off because I worked Tuesday night shift. We ran to the mall to get some groceries. Beth and I wanted to treat the girls in the house to dinner because they have been so wonderful to us. WE ordered pizza and made a big veggie salad and bought ice cream. We ate upstairs on the balcony. I was great fun. The nights here cool off and the neighborhood streets become filled with children and adults playing basket ball or just hanging out.
After dinner Beth and I went with Laura (a student) to DMC to check on a patient that I had labor sat Tuesday night and Laura had cared for after shift change. They ended up transporting her because of fetal distress. I knew the baby was in a poster position but the lady would not cooperate with anything we asked her to do to help the baby rotate. Laura said she continued to act that way after shift change. We got to DMC and went into the postpartum ward. This is where it becomes difficult to write. How to give words to a sight so disturbing. One hundred and fifty beds pushed together. No dividers not even curtains. Evey women brought her own sheet and the family was responsible for her food. The mattresses looked very old and worn out. There were fans running but it was stifling hot in there.
We began looking through the sea of women for Joanna. If a women was transported from Mercy she will usually raise her eyebrows at us and give a little nod with her head. Filipinos talk with their facial expressions, and you learn to read them well. I saw Ana, the young women I transferred because of hypertension. She was happy to see me and was very proud of her baby boy. I would love to have had more information about her birth but with the language barrier it is not easy.
We continued to look for Joanna but could not find her. Found another women who had been transferred from Mercy. It is like a refuge camp, that is what that room reminds me of. We gave up the search, but thought we would try up stars in Pediatrics to see the 'shoulder dystocia baby'
The Peds ward was no better. There were cots lining the hall with children with out even a mat to lay on. We peeked into one small room and there on the floor was our boy with his mother and father. We were ecstatic to see he had survived and looked really good. They were happy to see us (their eyes said so). We only stayed for a short chat, again language barrier. It was a very small room. with three other families, all with their sick child on a mat on the floor.
Going into DMC is a very sobering experience.
Tuesday We went to the beach. Taxi ride to the Pier, then a ferry boat ride to the island. Enjoyed being out of town for awhile, swimming, food and.. a sunburn, oh well. Worked Tuesday night. I do not remember Monday. LOL I am sure I worked.
It is now Friday 11:30am. I just came in from a 'sorry' run, nothing to be proud of but it felt good to get out. The heat is hard for this Colorado girl.
I am about done with this 'race' and the last stretch is the most difficult. I want to run this race that is set before me. I know that my Lord gave all for me, so can I not give all of me for his service? To be His hands and show his compassion is what moves me one step forward at a time. I am inspired by the group Third Day's song 'Love Song' What love has been shown to us, He gave us all. So this mountain I can climb, I will finish the race. Praise be to God.
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Durian; sort of yummy but not.
Sunday continued with two more of my patients sent back home. Then Elizabeth brought in a Durian for us to try. Right before she cut it I had a women come in and she said that her pains were 10 min. apart. I did her vitals and stepped out of her cubical to try the Durian. Well, ...... It is sweet and creamy in a garlicky kind of way. Not as bad as I had imagined. I returned to my lady to find that her water had broke (mod mec stain) and she had her hand between her legs! I had her get in bed, Jonna was with me, and we called for someone to chart. The head was visible and with one push the baby girl was there! That is the way to do it!
Today (Monday) I work the clinic and then swing (2:00-10:00). Another day in Davao City at Mercy Maternity.
Today (Monday) I work the clinic and then swing (2:00-10:00). Another day in Davao City at Mercy Maternity.
Shoulder Dystocia
After a slow shift on Friday (it is Sunday evening) the labor room heated up again. Some experiences are difficult to communicate. My midwife friends will have a closer understanding. That feeling when the emergency is over the baby did live, the mother is worn out her perineum is a mess and she will hurt for days from being in a McRoberts position and bruising from super pubic pressure. The baby sat five minutes on the perineum, absolute shoulder dystocia. I had read in the book about calling out seconds and found myself doing that naturally. The emergency bell was pushed to alert the midwifes that were off duty that they were needed. They were there in seconds and what an education, to watch them in action. These women have each delivered 100's to thousands of babies. We did not need to say anything we all knew, and the tension filled the cubical. Finely baby boy was out after some very extreme measures that I will not share here, and the resuscitation began. One min apgar 1. I said in Beth's ear "take this all in you do not see this often" (thank God). The baby was transported to the hospital, we hope to find out his condition. This drama was followed by two normal uneventful deliveries and I had one transport for hypertension. We have shared some nerves laughs and some tears over it all. The unity that midwifes share, I am grateful to be one of them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
