back to temeke

Back to temeke today. It was my first time having the opportunity to work together with Rachel. Something I’ve wanted to do for a while. The staff has given us the opportunity to choose for the last few days where we want to work/be. Splendid! Anyways… This resulted in about 9 of us working in the labor ward with 2 staff. A little too crowded for my liking. And there were hardly any women. Rach and I decided that we wanted to be partnered together. After arriving and getting changed, we walked over to the table where they place all of the newborn babies. There was a set of premature triplets, all lifeless. Three tiny little boys who had been perfectly formed and crafted but weren’t given the opportunity to fully develop –enough so that they could have lived outside of the womb. I guessed they would have been somewhere around 22 weeks. At first it was almost too disturbing to look at them. They were so tiny. Lying side-by-side wrapped in kangas. There were two small ones together in a kanga and then another beside them who was more developed and a bit bigger. Their eyes were still sealed shut. Their skin was thin and fragile. They were perfectly formed though. You could tell by their facial features, little broad noses, and the slight darkness in their skin that they were African. Their tiny feet and hands were so perfect. Nails and all. We put on gloves so that we could touch them. It was very strange, but so fascinating… We named them Josiah, James, and Jonah. You could see their organs and veins through their cold skin. One of them still had a beating heart. We listened to it’s slow, irregular pumping through our stethoscopes. His chest was still rising and falling, with the occasional cough. We prayed that God would take them peacefully. Even in a well functioning, well-equipped hospital they wouldn’t have survived. I’m not sure why they were born prematurely.

After meeting together as a group, rach and I requested to spend the morning in the antenatal/postnatal ward.  As soon as we arrived I saw my favorite nurse. I joked around with her saying that I wanted to go and observe another c-section and only minutes later she was telling me to come and help prep a mother to go to theatre and apparently it was twins! Rachel and I could hardly conceal our excitement. We wheeled the mum, Zakia, over by stretcher and she was in to the operating room with only a few minutes of wait time. Thank goodness. We got suited up into our scrubs and entered in to the operating room with the other nurses and doctors. Most of the rooms in the theatre are air-conditioned but for some reason, the ones in the actual operating room weren’t working. Awful. It gets so hot here and to not have a/c in an operating room when you are suited up in layers of scrubs and masks and stuff is almost unbearable. We got everything prepped while the mother was being given an epidural. They got the baby out quickly and I was passed the cloth to catch the little one. She was HUGE! I had never seen a cord so thick and large. Or a baby so big for that matter! She was crying immediately and was perfectly healthy. 3.7 KG! Rachel stayed with the mum while I cleaned her up and filled out the necessary paperwork. So grateful to have the opportunity to see another caesarean. It’s so amazing..

rach and I after a successful c/s delivery!

esther faith