Well tonight we are working the night shift. It is a bit busier tonight with two laboring first time moms, who were going very slow. Right now one is at 5cm and the other 2cm. I broke the water of the woman who was 5 because she had been about 4hrs with no change and had a bulging bag of water. We are hoping that this will speed things along. I am learning to do dilation checks by checking our two laboring women. I am hoping that they hurry up and dilate or they will most likely have a c/s tomorrow. We also have a preemie baby weighing only 1.8 kg the baby did not pass a stool for 48hrs and then it was decided that it had a bowel obstruction from an x-ray. The general surgeon here was going to do the surgery, that of which he had never done before and to make matters worse we don’t have an anesthesiologist so no one knew how to do the anesthesia on the baby. We did not think the baby would make it thought the surgery but by a miracle it did. (The only reason the surgery was attempted was because the parents had money to pay for the surgery and they insisted that everything be tried, so the surgery was done to create a colostomy) They baby was not doing so well after surgery, retracting, grunting and her color was awful. With no pulse ox there was no way to see what her 02 stats were so we put her on 02 and she did respond well. She started to improve and the nasal flaring and grunting stopped and the retracting we mild. I was starting to get encouraged about her survival rate. But then things started to take a turn for the worse. Her retractions worsened and the worse part is that her lungs are starting to fill up with fluid. I am not to sure how much longer she will be able to hang on. Please pray for this little baby that she will get better or go peacefully. It is so heartbreaking to see such a small baby suffering and there is nothing you can do. We don’t have the equipment or supplies to care for her like she should be. Being in the mission field is exciting and fun but you must also remember the harsh realities of limited healthcare. It truly makes me grateful for the healthcare we have in the US.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Night Shift
Well tonight we are working the night shift. It is a bit busier tonight with two laboring first time moms, who were going very slow. Right now one is at 5cm and the other 2cm. I broke the water of the woman who was 5 because she had been about 4hrs with no change and had a bulging bag of water. We are hoping that this will speed things along. I am learning to do dilation checks by checking our two laboring women. I am hoping that they hurry up and dilate or they will most likely have a c/s tomorrow. We also have a preemie baby weighing only 1.8 kg the baby did not pass a stool for 48hrs and then it was decided that it had a bowel obstruction from an x-ray. The general surgeon here was going to do the surgery, that of which he had never done before and to make matters worse we don’t have an anesthesiologist so no one knew how to do the anesthesia on the baby. We did not think the baby would make it thought the surgery but by a miracle it did. (The only reason the surgery was attempted was because the parents had money to pay for the surgery and they insisted that everything be tried, so the surgery was done to create a colostomy) They baby was not doing so well after surgery, retracting, grunting and her color was awful. With no pulse ox there was no way to see what her 02 stats were so we put her on 02 and she did respond well. She started to improve and the nasal flaring and grunting stopped and the retracting we mild. I was starting to get encouraged about her survival rate. But then things started to take a turn for the worse. Her retractions worsened and the worse part is that her lungs are starting to fill up with fluid. I am not to sure how much longer she will be able to hang on. Please pray for this little baby that she will get better or go peacefully. It is so heartbreaking to see such a small baby suffering and there is nothing you can do. We don’t have the equipment or supplies to care for her like she should be. Being in the mission field is exciting and fun but you must also remember the harsh realities of limited healthcare. It truly makes me grateful for the healthcare we have in the US.
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1 comment:
Fascinating blog, Amber! Thank you for sharing your heartaches, growing pain and life-changing experiences with us. We praise the Lord for the woman you have become.
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