Wednesday Night Birth!

During clinic on Wednesday, a first time soon-to-be mom arrived at clinic in the (very) beginning stages of labor. We checked on her throughout the day, and by 11:00pm, she still had barely progressed and didn't seem to be too active.  We thought about staying the night at the clinic but decided that due to it being her first baby (labor typically takes a long time), and also the fact that'd we have a busy day of clinic the next day, we should just go home and wait for them to call us. We told the laboring lady's friend who was staying with her to contact us if she became more active.

At 1:30am, I heard CLANG CLANG CLANG at the gate. I woke up Anita, and we got ready as quickly as we could. I must confess, I was mumbling, half asleep during the 3 minutes it took me to get ready, and during the 2-3 minute walk on the way to the clinic - that this was ridiculous for that lady to be getting us two hours after we had just checked her and almost nothing was happening! Out of our warm, cozy beds, out into the chilly evening...On the road on our way there, there came an excited figure running towards us from the clinic, as soon as she got to us, she turned around and high tailed it back to the clinic in front of us.  What in the world? I knew it was the lady's friend. I could that she was quite worked up, and she was mumbling something about being out of breath, that's all I could understand.  I was about laughing then, this lady was such a crazy sight running up and down the road, and I started mumbling again in my half asleep state that we'll probably get there and the laboring lady will most likely be in the same state we left her. That's usually how it is when they wake us up at night. :)

Well, we stepped into the hospital room, and were all shocked (the lady's messenger too!) to hear the wail of a baby! 

There she was, a healthy baby girl and a happy mom, and a relieved messenger. :) 

Can't you just imagine what she's thinking?  

What don't we see?

I can't say I know what this man has, but I thought it was interesting enough to put on anyway.  He obviously needs further examination and testing to find a solution for his "huge cheek".  

Then today we saw yet another infection that was left too long without medical treatment.  His hand had started rotting.  Thankfully, he didn't let it go any longer, and with some good treatment he should soon be ready to swing his pick again.  (Which, as I understand, was the culprit of the wound in the first place.)

Close up

Cleaning up the wound

All in the face

 

  Expressions are interesting. What do you think of this one? I walked in on Nurse Virginia and Nurse Breanna this morning. A little girl was not impressed with their work on her ears. I was, though, and she will be now that it is done. But there is more to the story. She has been left with her grandparents now that her mom has gone to Port-au-Prince. Imagine how big and lonely the world feels to her right now. Does that change anything about the way you look at her sad face?!

     Another day I walked outside, probably looking for some more bandage patients, and there sat Noes, our patient flow manager, both knees full, patiently holding children while the moms waited for medication or attended to other things. I thought you deserved to see the smile on his face.

     Anita and I started out our day rather early. ( I think at this point we will stop focusing on the expressions on the faces. ) Since we were feeling a little drowsy and the mom in the delivery room seemed a little ornery, I walked home and picked up some coffee along with some hot water that we would need in the next bit at the clinic.

    As I walked toward clinic, I wondered how long we would be waiting to see the new person. Well, not long! I arrived just in time! As I sat down our coffee mugs (no time for a swallow now), we welcomed an eight pound girl into the Haitian hills. Thank God for a safe delivery...and, yes,  the coffee was still slightly warm a half hour later.
   
   
   

Our weekend...

On Saturday we got word that Fre Rene, one of the mission's hired road workers and a brother from church, was half incoherent, trembling, and couldn't walk.  Donavon and Julian went to pick him up from where he had been working on the road not too far away.

Upon bringing him to clinic, one of the first things we did was check his blood sugar, take his blood pressure and ask what happened. His blood sugar was fine, as was his blood pressure.  We noted that he was very dehydrated.  We asked what his morning was like - basically, he got up, ate a little for breakfast, and didn't drink! He had no prior symptoms - he was just working that morning, "and then started to work very hard." When he began to work hard, he felt terrible and it was like his body started crashing. He didn't bring any water with him while he was working, and didn't drink anything that morning.  So...he was admitted to our hospital room for an IV, and oral re-hydration.

Anita checking out his IV drip rate

After awhile, he started feeling much better, but still was dizzy.  We allowed him to stay the night in the hospital room, as he would have had a long walk home up the mountain. He went home the next day with a good, strong suggestion to DRINK from now on! It never ceases to amaze me some of the problems the people here have because they lack some of the most basic knowledge. 

Next day - Sunday, a little boy came in with a gash in his head.  I think he was the third child in about a week and a half that has come in with almost the same exact thing.  Either they've fallen down a mountain, or a rock was thrown...

Rhoda and I working at putting in Lidocaine and then sewing him up :)

Babies--the sweet and the bitter

On the sweet side. . . 

As 3 of us nurses were on our way to church Sunday morning, we get the news that a lady in labor was in route to the clinic.  Seeing it wasn't my day on call, and I was eager to get to church for once, I continued on my way.  Breanna was on call so she stayed to check the lady out.  It turned out to be a first time mom in the beginning stages of labor.  We monitored her throughout the day, and by night decided that she was far enough along that we should bunk out at the clinic for the night.  (Now that we have a room where the nurses can stay, it avoids so many trips back and forth at night.)  

Progress was slow through the night, and Breanna and I passed a fitful night.  By about 6 in the morning, things were finally progressing, and a baby boy was born at 6:44 Monday morning. We were again blessed to clean up and dress a healthy baby.  

Breanna and I with the baby

Mama and baby

Now to the bitter side of baby stories. . . 

Tuesday (yesterday) brought us a number of sad baby cases.  The one was a baby who had been here before.  I had give them some supplements and told the mother to return.  She returned about a month after the appointment I gave her.  Her baby, now 3 months old, weighs 5 lbs, which is less than weighed at 2 months.  

It was pitiful to see it's malnourished body and hear it weak cries.  We again gave it some supplemental milk and told the mother to return in a week.  I can only hope and pray that the mother gives it aggressive care and returns when she is supposed to.  

Three months old weighing 5lbs

At about the same time as I was dealing with the malnourished baby noted above, a case of tiny twins was brought to my attention.  Breanna had their parents come into my room with them.  Upon first glance, you just saw these cute, tiny baby which were a week old.  With further investigation it was obvious that they were in bad shape.  They appeared premature, but the mother didn't know her dates so we don't know how near full term they were.  I had the mother try nursing them, and neither of them was even interested in trying to nurse.  They told us that the babies had quit nursing the day before.  (We later found out that it had been 2 days before.)  The more we checked them out, the more we realized how very low these babies were.  The little girl, Ranette, was in more serious condition.  Gin quickly got an IV in her, and the dextrose perked her up a bit.  (By the way, putting an IV in any baby is challenging with its tiny veins, but a preemie?  Gin did a great job!  She said, "God put it in.")  In a little bit her color was looking bad again, and we began assisting her respirations.  We soon saw that we were losing her.     

A close up of Ranette with the "huge" IV in her "tiny" hand.  

(Note the size of Gin's fingers compared to the baby's hand.)  

Rhoda tediously feeding Raymond, and Gin adjusting Ranette's IV

(Raymond, the boy, weighed under 3 lbs 1 oz. still with his hat and undershirt on.  We never got an exact weight on Ranette.)

When Ranette died, her brother, in contrast was doing well.  He was taking little swallows at times, and drip by drip Rhoda and Heidi got some nourishment into him.  His body temperature was low so they heated him up with a heat pack and then a hot water bag.  They stayed with him and his mom all afternoon and managed to get an ounce or so into him.  By supper time, they came home and let him have a break.  His parents seemed fine with watching him a while.  After supper, upon checking on him, he seemed to be doing a little better.  We went down again just before bed to see how he was doing.  As we walked into the room, the parents calmly told us that he had died.  We were shocked as it seemed he was doing a little better.  Although we knew his chance of surviving was low too, we had held onto at least a thread of hope.  

Before coming home, we spent a little time just talking to the parents.  I think they were touched to see how much we cared for their tiny babies.  The father said, "It's not your fault."  As we left them, the father said, "Remember me in your prayers."  I ask you all to remember them too.  They are Christians, and like most Haitians have faced a lot of hardships in life already.  

The case below doesn't fit the title, but I'm sticking it in anyway.  

Do you remember the really grossly infected foot we blogged about a month or so ago?  Well, this is the same girl.  We transferred her to T-Goave, and figured she'd probably lose her whole foot. They did an excellent job of amputating her 2nd toe and bring her foot back together.  She is now coming here for bandaging several times a week as it continues to heal.  

Here she is.  

She looks pretty sober here, but often has a bright smile on her face.

A close up of the foot

I saw Camilson on Friday.  I could hardly believe how chubby his cheeks were, and how bright his eyes!  When I looked at him, he smiled so big!  He is now 11 months old and weighs 9 lbs. and 11 oz.  It is so encouraging to see him growing.  When I first saw him he was 7 months old and weighed 6 lbs.

His mom seems to be happy and proud of him!

   ~Mis Virginia               

More Opening Pics

1. The guys got the new benches put together on Tuesday, and they are great! It's such a blessing to have nice seating for everyone. Here's Mis Rhoda on one in the reception area.
2-3. Getting ready for the Grand Opening ceremony! Haitians love "formal" occasions. We had prayers, singing, and speeches- LOTS of speeches. From the Judge, pastors, doctors, nurses- even the Policeman who came along as the Judge's bodyguard. :-) It was lots of fun.