Gifts from God

Wednesday was pretty relaxing. I tried to sleep a lot since I had to work night shift. I got lunch at Jollibee which is like a Mcdonals/KFC. What I found entertaining was that you have to get rice with your meal. The rice doesn't come in a container though but is wrapped up like a cheese burger would be. The sauce for the rice was gravy that smelled just like KFC gravy. I'm not a big rice eater so I didn't try it but it made me laugh. After that I used our lovely washer and tried to do laundry for the first time. I thought I did great until I was hanging my clothes up on the line. I thought geez these smell good! Then I remembered I forgot to rinse the detergent off them! Guess I will just smell like a flower until the next time I do laundry. For supper we went over to the other house where a meal was prepared by our cook. We took the ally between our houses over which is a wall on onside and the back of houses on the other. It is narrow and their is a ditch/sewer running along a small portion of it. We noticed the chickens that are usually tied up were gone and we thought they had finally gotten butchered. A student suggested cockfighting could have also been the reason behind their disappearance. For supper we had fried fish, rice, and a veggie soup. The soup was clear with green beans, onion, carrot, chicken and slices of plantain bananas! On our way home we were walking through the ally and saw a huge rat! We had to wait for it to scurry towards us and go into a hole. I heard they bite so I don't plan on walking through there at night every again. After I jumped over the hole the rat had just disappeared into we squeezed by a family grilling. I looked down and saw they were grilling the chicken feet! I'm not sure where the rest of the chicken was.

When I got to the clinic around 10pm I found most of the staff snoozing. We had no patients what so ever! I got a few hours of sleep on the couch until I woke to find a patient that had come in around 2:00am. Her husband was very excited and willing to help. He was always smiling and kissing his wife's hand. He held her as they both stood on the bed. When a contraction would come she would squat and push with his support. Soon the water broke and the head appeared. We had her lay down and then delivered the rest of the body. They both were thrilled and thanked God. Dad cut the cord and admired his wife and daughter. The placenta was delivered and I was told I could go back to sleep. I woke at 5:00am to find a new patient. She was 19 years old and came in with her mother. She too stood on the bed and squatted for about 10-15 minutes. Her mother left to go find the bontay which I assume was a boyfriend. With few more pushes the water broke and the head came with it. We laid her down and delivered the rest of the baby. It was a very quick birth! We were all surprised since it was her first birth! The mother came back alone and did not say much but attempted to do her cleaning duties. I did not have much more interaction with that patient because my shift was over. I pray that all goes well for that family.

I have seen 6 births and it is interesting to see the different interactions. Some mothers will not show pain at all or let you know the baby is coming. Other have groaned and grimaced in pain. Some talk to their baby after it is born and others hold it in silence. You just never know what you are going to get! That is why is was so special to see both parents excited tonight! What a blessing!
I am done observing and will begin charting during labors on my next shift! I only have to do it three times and then can begin assisting with births.

Fun Fact for the day: Our gardener cuts our grass with large shears

Thanks for reading my blog! I love all the comments! Let me know if you have questions. Talk to you soon.
-Kelsey

The large side washes the clothes and the small side spins them dry. I could have rinsed them on either side! Oops!

A very happy mother! Her husband probably went to get food.