"lifesaver"

Another amazing delivery. I’m feeling awfully blessed by such incredible birth experiences in the last few days. It’s like the heavens have rained down birthing mercies.. Ha! Jokes. But really. I’m on top of the world right now. 

First thing I did when I got to the hospital this morning was check in the postnatal ward for Haseena and the twins. I thought about them all weekend and was hoping and praying to be able to see them again today. I looked all around the postnatal room, but couldn’t spot them. I asked one of the nurses and she wasn’t sure. She called out the name I told her and Haseena waved from the corner. I could hardly recognize her in a different environment, fully clothed! I brought the cutest knitted baby sweaters that my gramma’s friend made for me –one blue, one green—and gave them to her along with a couple more hats. She looked so wonderful, and the twins looked as if they had already grown since I last saw them! I went back again at lunch and got a few photos with her.

I started the day in the labor room by helping a nursing student (I hate to keep calling them that, it’s just that there are so many of them and I can never remember their complicated names!) monitor a woman who seemed to be somewhat close to delivering. I kept a close watch on the fetal heart and enjoyed the opportunity to teach and support. At some point, rach came over from the other side and said in a semi-urgent tone that I should come to deliver a baby that was coming quickly on a bed across from us. All I heard was something along the lines of, “Beth, this woman is a G3 and she’s probably going to deliver soon, you might want to get gloves on.” I walked over and before I even had time to think about what was going on, the baby’s head was out! Rach grabbed a glove packed to support the head while I scrambled to get my gloves on. (It’s always in the tense, rushed moments that I struggle to get those things on quickly). I got one on and put my hand directly on her perineum while I tried to finish gloving the other hand. I took hold of the baby’s head and applied steady pressure down and then pulled up while she did most of the work with her pushes. A girl! I’ve never seen a baby come out so clean and perfect! No meconium, no vernix. Crying instantly and winning herself a perfect score. Best of all, the mother had absolutely no tearing. Not even a graze! Her total blood loss was no more than 60ml. Insanely amazing! Really?? I could hardly believe it… I named the little girl Indira. (Like Indira Ghandi!) I’ll have to find out the meaning of the name. God gave me the word “lifesaver” for her, so I prayed that over her life. Made me think of the song by the lovely Emiliana Torrini. She was such a beautiful babe. 

I am loving and coveting Emily’s camera that I’ve hijacked for the week. It’s a Nikon D3000. That doesn’t mean too much to me since I know very little about cameras, but in any case… It’s a delight to shoot with. I’m secretly hoping that she’ll consider selling it to me! I’ve already taken hundreds of photos in the last couple of days.