Thanks you thank you thank you thank you thank you!!!

This blog is long overdue, but I've been traveling so much the last couple of months that this is literally the first chance I've had to go through all my things that I brought and were sent to me over the last month or so.  And I. Am. Overwhelmed!!  The generosity with the clothes and books and toys and money....it just goes on and on!! My mom brought a bunch of the cards with her and I sat down and read them and cried like a little baby.  Thank you so so so so much!!  I wanted to be able to send everyone a thank you card but the mail system here is...well...a bit broken.  So this is the best I can do.  I am so blessed by you all!!!

My living room was filled with books and puzzles, coloring stuff etc.  She's going to be the smartest kid ever!!!  This doesn't even show all of the clothes and toys and other things you guys sent.  But taking a picture of that would require me taking a picture of my bedroom which would shame my mother to death with its messiness so.....living room it is.

This is just Mari being cute after losing her first tooth.  I went into panic mode when I realized that she must be older than I thought and she's behind in school but thanks to you guys she'll be up to speed in no time!! :)

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

Bob the Builder

I was up country last week with a building team from my hometown area.  The team came last year but it was more of a tour/church kick off trip. Fifteen people came this year and we split up into two groups, one to facilitate a pastors seminar and the other to put the roof on a church that was started last year.  My job was going to be hanging out with the building team.  I’ve helped with lots of different kinds of teams, but this was going to be my first building team. 

When I heard where the team was going to be building and that I was going to be staying with them, my first thought was...oooohhhhh.  I know this place. We stayed at a guest house there last year. It it was perhaps one of, if not THE sketchiest place I've stayed in Salone.  And last year we were there for one night. This was going to be a full week.  But ok!!  My dad always told me you can do anything if you know there's an end in site so bring on the bed bugs and nests of living things in the bathroom.  We'll chalk it up to being an adventure.  Fortunately, I found out one of the pastors vetoed that guesthouse (shout out, thanks Pastor Scott!) so we stayed at a different, much cleaner one.  Granted, that didn't mean that we had running water or 24 hour electricity but we did pay extra for them to run the generator all night so we had fans. Blessed, wonderful fans.  We also had the benefit of staying at one of the football watching centers for the town which meant that since they blared the tv at 200 decibles (what is a decible? Is 200 a lot? Hyperbole loses its effect a bit if I don't know what I'm talking about....) right under our rooms.  So we had the added bonus of staying up to date on all football scores while we were away from the internet. Which I know is extremely important for most American sports fans.  

I mentioned before that this was the first building team that I helped with.  Let me tell you one of the benefits of being with a team full of guys:  I wasn’t responsible for NEARLY as much heavy lifting!! There was always some strapping lad to help with the 200 pound bags!  Let me tell you one of the downsides of helping with a building team in the dry season in Africa: your work starts early!!  In an effort to not die from heat stroke in the afternoon hours, we started early and by 6am we were at the worksite, raring to go. And by raring to go, I mean that I dropped them off and then watched them work until breakfast at 8.  I'm just that industrious.  

Day 1

After the first day, I couldn’t believe how I was glowing with pride to hail from the great state of Oregon.  These guys were so incredibly hard working!!  The majority of them were….well, not young guys. And it’s hot here! Like….miserably, don’t ever dry off from your shower kind of hot and humid.  And these guys were working in the sweltering sun for hours every day.  I was so proud I could hardly stand it!

The nurse inside of me wanted to have a heart attack a few times during the week.  Like when I walked up to the site and saw THIS piece of action going on.  

I'm sure he wasn't trying to kill me by doing this but......

At one point I told some of the guys to please be careful, but my pastor pointed out that you're not supposed to tell guys that.  So I tried to keep my mouth shut.  Which isn't really easy for me in general.  I was so glad when the final nail was put in and everyone got down from their ladders, finished dangling from the trusses….and had both feet planted on solid ground.  My worst fear was that someone was going to cut off a limb or fall and crush their skull.  I tried to come up with a plan should that happen....but what kind of viable plan can there really be when there was apparently no legitimate medical facility anywhere in the vicinity.  Not a very good one.  I'm afraid the only answer I was going to have was....."ummm....put some pressure on it?  Yeah!  Just keep pressure on it!!"  That's right. Super nurse.  But thank you Jesus that nothing happened!!

Every night we'd have a little revival service in the evening.  Towards the end of the week they realized that we pooped out pretty quickly (we still hadn't eaten dinner yet and did I mention that we started work at 6 and that these guys worked really hard and that it was really, really, really hot?) so they started telling us to go and then they kept.....revivaling?....for a while later.  At the end of the week we had a baptism service for some people that had chosen to follow Christ.  I always love baptism services because of the significance, but this one was especially memorable because of how freaked out one of our pastors was to go into the water.  Granted, the water was disgusting.  And he had unfortunately received a pretty big cut on his leg that day but I couldn't help but chuckle when they tried to get him to take his tennis shoes off.  Nope.  Definitely not happening. I also loved how the Sierra Leonean pastor would whisper after every baptism, "Shout Hallelujah!!" And they would shout it. Precious :)

Pastor Scott's church has been instrumental in supporting this church and helped them get the initial part built

On Sunday the rest of the team joined us for our church service in the newly roofed building.  It was fun to catch up with them and hear how their time with all the pastors was.  They were excited about a lot of the conversations they'd gotten to have and after talking with some of the pastors and their wives, I know the feeling was mutual.  

The finished product

On Monday we did the typical "leaving day" things such as a trip to the market to buy overpriced souvenirs and enjoyed watching the ferry try to park at the dock with a strong wind.  I think we must of attempted at least 3 or 4 times.  But we made it!  And the team made it home safe and sound.

I know I was rushed at the airport, trying to catch the ferry back but thank you all so so so much for all of your hard work and for loving the people of Sierra Leone so well! It's always such an encouragement when people get excited about the need over here and want to do something about it! So thank you thank you thank you!!

Patty Wagon

Some of you may recognize the name Sandi Patty.  You might be more likely to recognize it if you were born circa 1956 or if you were raised by someone who was. That was me. I grew up listening to this woman.  Although I had no clue when I was little, apparently she’s an amazing singer who’s won a grammy and a bazillion Dove Awards. 

A month or so I got wind that she was coming to Sierra Leone. And not only coming to Sierra Leone, but coming to hang out with WMT. What!?!?  A celebrity? Here?  For me????  Normally I would have totally missed out on this, being that I live so many hours away from the rest of my team, but since I was going to be down with the rest of the WMTers preparing for my incoming teams, I was going to be right in the thick of things!!

Now, almost as soon as the hoopla began, I was called out. One of my team members (who had no idea who she was) said, “Emily. You are not really that big a fan. Name one of her songs.”  I’ll admit it. I couldn’t name one.  I knew if I heard one I’d know it…but maybe the super fan, I was not.  But I decided to play it up anyway.  Once I found out what one of her songs was, I started singing it all the time. I’d make comments like “When Sandi comes to dinner, I’M sitting by her!! I’m going to keep her napkin when she’s done with it.”  “Would it be too much to have her song ‘Love In Any Language’ playing on our ipod when she comes in the door?” “We should decorate the cars you’re picking her up in with signs and balloons. We can call give the car she’s riding in a code name like ‘The Patty Wagon.’ You know….like Air Force One.”  I was being ridiculous.  But I loved it! Mostly because several people on my team had no idea who she was and kept telling me how ridiculous I was.

The big day of her arrival came.  My friend Kaysie and I were making comments to each other like “What are you going to wear!?!?!?”  “Are you going to wear make-up? (Which is a rarely attempted feat here because you sweat it all off in 2.5 seconds.)  All of the sudden though, I started getting nervous. I’d been making a LOT of jokes. REALLY talking it up.  And some of the people (Ok, ONE person….John you are CALLED OUT!!) doesn’t have the best social filter.  I told Kaysie that I couldn’t dress up, I couldn’t wear make-up, I couldn't do any of it because I was afraid one of the guys was going to call me out.  After weeks of being ridiculous, in crunch time I decided to try and fly under the radar. Nice try.

Sandi and her family were coming with some guys from an organization called Water4 who is one of our biggest partners in well drilling over here.  And the whole team was coming to our house for dinner!  Feeding 34 people…a new record for the team!

Now by this time, John had been spending quite a bit of time with them and it turns out that the whole family is incredibly musical (go figure).  Every. Single. One.  So. Imagine my horror when, after all the introductions had been made and we were getting ready to pray before dinner, John says, “Well everybody, before we start, Emily has a song that she wants to share with you.”  Say what?!!?  “Come on Emily! You’ve been talking about this for weeks!!!” Oh. My. Gosh.  I tried to kill him with my death glare….but he just kept talking!!!  Then everyone started chirping in “Come on Emily! We’ll join you! Come one, come on, blah blah blah!!”  34 people. Staring at me. Waiting for me to start singing.  I know that the death penalty is controversial….but this one seems like a no brainer. 

Alas, I didn’t give in and they mercifully prayed and we started eating.  It’s been about a week now, 

and I’m still trying to think about how I can get him back!  What could I possibly to do humiliate in such a way. I’m definitely open for suggestions!!

Ironically enough, the next day I got a second chance.  The team came over for a few minutes and we were chatting. Sandi found out how much Mari likes "Hakuna Matata" so she started singing it. I was trying to get Mari to sing along so I started singing too. So.....basically I sang with a grammy award winner.  Which will be how I tell the story to my grandchildren. 

Beach Day with the Team.  I said "Oh, let's get a picture with Mari (aka Kadi) and Auntie Sand!"  Then one of my awesome friends said "Ok Emily...now you get in there." Score! :)

We ended up spending quite a bit of time with the “Patty Team” and they were awesome. Such servants hearts and so eager to help the people over here.  And seriously so musical. It was incredible!  My final gift from her was a pair of her shoes. And when I say “gift from her” what I mean is that the whole team left a bunch of clothes and my feet were the closest fit to one of her pairs of shoes.  So….basically a gift.  It was a fun week! Oh, and also I’m not kidding about ideas about how to retaliate against my teammate.  Send them my way!! John….get ready buddy. It’s not going to be pretty!

To the police station....again

So if I was going to write my blogs in chronological order like I usually do, I should have written this one before my last one.  But I didn’t.  Oops.

I arrived in Sierra Leone on Jan. 21^st but stayed near Freetown for about a week before I went up to the village where I work.  While I was in Freetown I got a curious call from my neighbor, asking when I was coming back up.  It seems that some people had broken into my house, stolen some things and were being held at the police station, awaiting my return. 

When I dug around a little to find out who it was, my heart was a little bit broken.  I had been pretty close to three of the boys before they left the village to go to Freetown.  When I had girls teaching me to cook, I would call these boys to come help me eat the rice.  After we ate we would all have game night.  We had a scoreboard on my wall keeping track of how many times each of us lost at Jenga and they were often at my house when the lights were on so they could study.  I’d thought we were close.  Definitely NOT the first thing I wanted to deal with when I got back!

Since I had a couple days before I was going up (and they were still waiting for a couple more boys to be brought from Freetown), I started thinking and praying about how I was going to handle it.  The neighbor who called me to inform me of this was devastated!! One of the boys was in his custody. When he called me he so angry he was almost in tears.  He said that he was not raising a thief and wanted to take this as far as it could go in the court system.  He was mad!!

I understood. What happened was extremely shameful for him in the eyes of the community.  He said that this boy was “trying to spoil my job here” and I later found out that this was because some people thought he should move on because if he hadn’t been there, the boy wouldn’t have been there and this wouldn’t have happened.  It was serious! 

But I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do.  One of my biggest pet peeves here is that it often feels like there aren’t any real consequences when a wrong is done.  People show up late for work or don’t show up on time and nothing’s done. Security guards sleep all night….nothing.  Policemen are constantly asking for bribes and everyone looks the other way.  It’s just constant. And it drives me crazy.  I tend to be a pretty black and white person (which can often be to my own detriment….I’m working on the balance) but this kind of thing is a never ending frustration for me. 

What to do, what to do.  Wouldn’t you know that the day after I found out what happened, I ran across this verse :  “To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?”

I had a few things stolen from my house. The biggest item was a computer. I was an idiot and decided to leave my little netbook computer at the house since I didn’t think I’d need it while I was home. There were also a few missing headlamps, a bag, an internet modem and some notebooks. (These were the things that were recovered….I have no idea if there were other things missing. I’m just that organized). 

When I was home, I saw Les Miseralbes for the first time. I didn’t know the story before I entered the theatre and I spent the majority of the movie near convulsions as I was sobbing so hard.  It was weird. It was really weird. Even after it was over I was so affected that I couldn’t stop crying.  So of course one of the first things I think about is the priest.  (Slight spoiler alert if you haven’t seen it!!!!)  That beloved old priest who gave food and shelter to a man who later stole all his silver. When the police brought the man back with the stolen silver the priest said, “No. It’s not stolen. I gave him that silver.  Here, you forgot these candlesticks.  There was no crime here.”  The man’s life was changed forever!

I don’t know what the right thing to do every time something like this happens. Obviously there have to be consequences when evil occurs.  But in this instance, I knew what I wanted to do. 

I arrived in the village and the next morning went to the police station with a couple of my friends.  My stomach was in knots, knowing I had to confront these boys and not sure how the community was going to accept what I wanted to do.  Bleh. I hate confrontation!

When I arrived I asked to speak to the boys.  The policemen were a little surprised but agreed to bring them out.  As everything here seems to go, there was very little privacy and I had about 20-30 people watching while I talked to them.  Oh gosh.

As the six boys filed out, the three that I had been close with wouldn’t make eye contact with me.  They stood in a line in front of me and I began talking.  I was nervous because they wanted me to try and speak Krio and in vulnerable situations like this I always want to speak English!! But I whispered a prayer for help and started muddling my way through.

I started by telling them that when I’d heard that someone had broken in and stolen some things from my house, I’d been angry.  I needed those things! I needed them to do my job, to communicate with my family back home, and to help others in the community learn about computers.  But when I found out who was involved, I became more sad than angry.  I reminded them of the times we’d spent together (imagine little gasps and “shame, shame’s” coming from the peanut gallery).  We’d been close.

Then I told them about the verses I’d read right after I found out what happened and how this had turned my thoughts to Jesus.  Jesus.  My Precious One who has forgiven me of so much.  How could I not forgive when I’d been forgiven of so much?!?!  It was inconceivable.  I talked our relationship with God that had been broken until Jesus came to restore it.  He showed us, he showed ME mercy and forgiveness when I was his enemy.  And that’s Who I love and that’s Who I follow. 

I pulled out the charger for the computer (that had been with me so they hadn’t taken it) and handed it over to them. I then pulled out the money that remained in order for them to be released from jail and gave it to the chief policeman.  And I told them it was finished.  They were forgiven.  The things they’d stolen were theirs to keep. It wasn’t because I didn’t need them, but it was because I love Jesus and therefore love them and want our relationship to be restored.  And as far as I was concerned, it was.  We were fine and they were welcome at my house any time (this is where I got the biggest gasp from the crowd.  Just goes to show you how they are more relationally minded than money minded). 

I told them that I recognized that what I was doing was dangerous.  There was a chance that they would come back and steal again.  There was a chance that others would hear about the grace extended and would also come to my house and break in, believing that there would be no reprocussions.  But Grace is dangerous.  The grace that God extends to us can be (and often is) not accepted, mocked or abused.  But I trust that God will be the defender of my rights.  If people keep breaking in and taking my things….God, who can do anything He wants, STOP anyone He wants doesn’t think  I really need those things.  And one day, God will make everything right.  Until then, I will trust Him to defend my rights.  So that was that. 

I’m not really sure how the boys took it. They didn’t say anything.  One guy piped up and said, “You see? This is the difference between you Christians and we Muslims.  We don’t forgive like this. We would never forgive like this!”  Of course that’s not true.  I know many Muslims who are very forgiving.  But I was so so SO excited to see that they saw Jesus in this, and not just my white skin!! So often the things I do are just attributed to my “being white” than to my “following Jesus” and I had been begging God to let them see Him. I was so glad that some did!

So that was that.  My little bit of village drama to start off my third year.  I was hesitant to share this because….it just feels weird.  But I was so excited about Jesus showing up that I couldn’t resist.  It’s such an adventure to follow Him!!  

It's a Girl!

Well, I'm back! Back to Sierra Leone, back at the hospital, back to blogging.  I had an awesome time at home doing cool things like watching my new nephew enter the world and going to the emergency room for the first time as a patient after accidentally chopping the tip of my finger off.  Although it was really really really awesome being home, I was glad to get back to Salone and get back to work!

A lot of you know, through my blog...or my mom (Mom, that is definitely NOT a reference to your..eh hem...propensity to share?) that before I went home I was asked to keep a little girl here, Kadiatu.  Indefinitely.  Yikes.

I spent the better part of my break thinking, and praying, and walking, and praying, and thinking, and thinking, and praying.....trying to figure out what to do.  I was torturing myself, and everyone around me,  going back and forth, back and forth, thinking through every single possibility, trying desperately to know what God wanted from me, and also trying not to screw up a lot of lives!

Although I told myself that I wouldn't make a decision until I came back....I definitely started leaning one way while I was home.  The Christmas presents I received from my family for Kadiatu might give you an inkling which way I was leaning.  I was seriously contemplating becoming a mom.

Now this would be a big step for anyone. A huge step! But for me, it was infinitely far from what I  imagined my life would be.  To be honest, I always secretly knew that I would end up in the middle of a war torn country, staying long after all the other ex-patriots left doing my nursing thing while the bullets flew over my head.  Florence Nightengale syndrome at it's finest.  I was well on my way to this aspiration by moving to Sierra Leone, where while we hope and pray for peace, we also know that things can erupt quickly.  I've already researched how to make sure they do NOT send in any Special Forces to rescue me if I decide to be an idiot and stay when things get bad.  So that was my plan.  Extreme Nursing.  Not this.  Not ever this.

I arrived back in country on Jan. 21st.  The rest of my team in Freetown was finishing a retreat so although I missed the majority of it, I hung around for a week or so to finish it with them and spend time with the visitors before I went up.  One night my team leader asked if I'd like to talk to the guy who led the retreat so I babbled and bawled to him for about 2 hours, still not sure what I was going to do. (Shout out to.....you know who you are. :))

At the end of the week I went back up to my village and stopped to see Kadiatu on the way.  She ran up to me but was shy and not chatty like she usually is.  Her dad wasn't around but I talked with her mom for awhile. My primary concern was to ascertain whether or not her mom REALLY wanted me to take her.  After talking with her for awhile, it became clear that she did.  Really did.  She said that she, her people, her husband and her husband's people all wanted me to take her.  Ok. I told her I would come back tomorrow or the next day with my decision.  It was clear that they were all expecting me to take her.  Someone even told me that her mother had a sick grandmother in Freetown and wanted to go see her but was waiting for me to come take Kadi first.

I was desperate to know what God wanted me to do.  Desperate!!  I didn't go back the next day, as I wanted to think and pray some more.  I've been dragging this on for months now. Back and forth, back and forth, wanting desperately for there to be some writing on the wall.  Or maybe some writing in the sky. Yeah! That would be awesome!  Skywriting from Jesus. I love it!

The morning I was to go back to the village, last Tuesday, I was spending some time with Jesus, still crying out to know what He wanted from me.  And I read this:

"Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord...The other things on the face of the earth are created for man, to help him in attaining the end for which he is created. Hence, man is to make use of them, in as far as they help him in the attainment of his end, and he must rid himself of them in as far as they prove a hindrance to him.  Therefore, we must make ourselves indifferent to all created things, as far as we are allowed free choice and are not under any prohibition. Consequently, as far as we are concerned, we should not prefer health to sickness, riches to poverty, honor to dishonor, a long life to a short life. The same holds for all other things. Our one desire and choice should be what is more conducive to the end for which we are created."

I reviewed my attachments.  Was I afraid of what people would think if I took her? Was I afraid of what people would think if I didn't. Was I afraid her mother would regret sending her to live with me? Was I afraid her village would be angry if I didn't take her? Was I afraid of the future....with or without her?  The answer to these and so many other questions I asked...was Yes. Yes, I was afraid of ALL of those things. So I prayed and prayed and gave these things up. Yes, I was afraid of these things, but I want God more.  I want to do what I was created to do.  To praise, to reverence, and to serve my God.  I love my friends and my family, who all have varying opinions about what I should do.  But I love Jesus more. I love my life the way it is now, but I love Jesus more. I love this village and want to please them, but I love Jesus more.  And I love this little girl.  This sweet, precious, adorable little girl.  But I love Jesus more.  It's what I was created to do.  So as I was crying out to God that YES!! I choose YOU above everything, the thought crossed my mind, "So what is the best way to do what you were created to do, in this situation?  How can you best love me?"  And I thought....to love this little girl.  That's how I think I can love You and serve You best in this situation.  So I decided to go get her.  That was it.  I never got my skywriting, but I was satisfied.

That afternoon I went to the village with two friends of mine. We discussed everything with her family and with the town chief.  The chief gave an embarrassing little speech about how she had been close to death when someone (I say Someone) stepped in to help her. They said they were grateful I wanted to continue to help.  So after about 30 min. of speeches by the various parties, I picked her up and we left.  She didn't cry, but she was shy.  When we got back to my house we watched some of the videos I'd made before she left and she just started laughing.  You should hear it! Her laugh is just precious!

But I'll be honest.  I struggled!!  I thought I should have felt different. I should have been overwhelmed with feelings of love for this little one and instead I felt like I was going to suffocate by the enormity of what I'd done. Although I had literally been thinking, praying, mulling, agonizing for months, the full magnitude of what I'd done didn't hit me until she was actually with me.  And it was terrifying.  I just started begging God. "Lord! I have no idea how to be a Mom!! HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

It took about 24 hours for my decision to settle and I started feeling better about it.  It still feels really big if I think about years and years in the future but I find that if I focus on the one day, asking my Helper to help all along the way, there is Peace. And Joy. Lots of Joy! :)

It's been almost a week now. I've been trying to write this blog for a week but it turns out having a kid is a bit time consuming! :)  Kadi is doing great and is adjusting SO much faster than last time.  When she came she wasn't speaking any Krio anymore, but she's picking it up really fast and we're already starting to be able to communicate again.  She talks incessantly and I'll be excited when I know all that she's saying!!

So there you have it.  The "End" of the Kadi saga.  Or the beginning. Lord help me! :)

Love Love Love her smile!!!

  

She has a couple illnesses so I've been giving her medicine.  She decided her baby needed some too....what a good Mama!

Baby Emily

Supposedly, I have numerous husbands roaming around Sierra Leone, as well as lots of little Emilys.     This is for the simple reason that when a baby is born in the OB ward and I have anything to do with it, all the women will start calling the baby my "man" (husband) if it's a boy, or my "namesake" if it's a girl.  Of course chances are high (I'd say REAL high) that I'm not going to marry any of these babies and that once they get to the village nobody really names their baby "Emily"....that weird white person name.  

About nine months ago my neighbor found out that she was pregnant.  I work with her husband and I really like him.  We've had some of those good conversations that make me think "ahhhh.....now THAT's why I moved here!"  When I was talking to his wife about my dilemma in bringing Kadiatu to come live with me, I told her one of my biggest fears.  I was afraid because I couldn't teach her to be a good African woman because I don't know how to be a good African woman.  She said "Just send her to me! I'll teach her to cook, I'll teach her to wash clothes....I'll help you!"  So they're good people.  

So when we found out she was pregnant I quickly did the dates and realized that the doctors would NOT be here when it came time for her to deliver.  Darnit.  I'm not sure......I may have mentioned it here before, but OB IS NOT MY THING!!!

As the time started getting closer, I started getting more and more nervous.  What if I was down there by myself when it came time for her to deliver????  My nervousness is pretty pronounced when I'm trying to deliver a strangers baby...but when it's my neighbor???  It goes up exponentially!!  Before every shift I'd stop by and say "Hey!!  Has your belly started hurting yet?  No?  Alrighty!" :)  My biggest fear was that I'd be down there by myself and something bad would happen!  I'd been following this "case" since the first question was asked..."is she or isn't she???"  I couldn't bear the thought that I might mess that up what she'd been "cooking" for 9 months!  

A couple weeks ago I got all excited because we thought the time might have arrived (and I wasn't working!!) but....false alarm.  Yesterday was my last day of work before I go to Freetown tomorrow......and fly home on Monday!!!  We were all joking that I'd been waiting and waiting and waiting, but the baby wasn't going to come until I left.  Last night the husband called me and the first question I asked was "does she want to give birth tonight!?!??!"  Negative.  Bummer.  

This morning I was up early as usual and about 5:30 heard some noises coming from their house.  An hour later I noticed that she'd come outside and as I watched her (yes, I have stalker tendencies) I noticed that when she started making her little noises, she would also grip the metal pole beside her.  Could this be?  The day before I'm supposed to leave? When I'm not working so wouldn't be the only one down there?  A little bit later she and her husband came to the door and said that she hadn't slept all night because her belly had been hurting so much.   

I had to go down to chapel this morning even though I wasn't working to say goodbye to everyone and give them their early Christmas presents....a pen.  I know, not very interesting but seriously people are always asking me for my pen!  Seemed appropriate.  I told them I would meet them in the OB ward when I was done.  

When she arrived there was another woman in the labor ward who was getting ready to go for an emergency c-section.  I took her to another little room and checked the baby's heart rate...fine. I did the vaginal exam and she was 5-6 cm.  Awesome!!!  She's going to have this baby today!!  I couldn't believe how awesome it was that after literally waiting for weeks, I was going to get to meet him/her before I left!!  I told her I needed to go up to the house for a little bit but would come back down. I figured I had a good 2 hours before things got too exciting and since I hadn't started packing or cleaning yet, I'd work on that for awhile.  

Fast forward several hours, past the oxytocin drip, past the rupturing of membranes, past the normal crying that would occur when trying to push something very large out of somewhere very small etc to being fully dilated and ready to push.  Wait.  Let me hit pause to tell you that my favorite thing she said through those hours of waiting was when she asked the nurse if all women experienced this kind of pain while giving birth?  When the nurse said "yes," she said "Why do these women have so many children?!?!??!!?"  Precious! :)  Also...good question!  

The delivery was not an easy one.  I called the doctor when she was ready to push.  Did I forget to mention that in addition to me not having to be the only one down there, we also have a great Sierra Leonean doctor here right now who was eager to help us?  I had told the doc that I was concerned about the baby having some decelerations (heart rate going down) so as soon as she was fully dilated we wanted to get the baby out.  We ended up having to use the vacuum and do an episiotomy to get the baby out.  It had some shoulder dystocia so we really had to work to get that baby out.  Because of the difficulty of the delivery, the doc told me to prepare to resuscitate.  NOT what I wanted to have to do!

After quite the struggle, the baby came out.  It's heart was beating strong, but it wasn't breathing.  We bagged it for awhile, the doc gave a medicine through the vein in the umbilicus and finally it started breathing on it's own.  It didn't have that strong, angry cry that we love to hear, but it was trying!  

Now for the gender. Oh the gender.  Part of the excitement of delivery here is revealing the gender. I often get in trouble because I'm always so excited to tell the mother and father the sex of the baby that I don't ask them for the kola (money) that is traditionally paid to the midwife before telling them the sex.  Since I'd feel weird asking for that anyway, if I don't really forget, I just pretend that I did.  :)  

A few months ago my friend had an ultrasound that said the baby was most likely a girl.  Later she had another one that also said it looked like a girl.  When I told one of my friends that my neighbor was going to have a girl he said, "Well, I will still pray for a boy."  So it became a thing.  Emily and the "machine" versus my friend.  When the baby was born and I got to say it was a GIRL....I won. :)

The most precious thing about this is that a couple months ago my neighbor started telling people that if it really was a girl, they were going to name it Emily.  Now, as I mentioned above, people tell me that quite frequently but I never really put much stock in it so when they would tell me that, I would just nod and smile.  As the time kept getting closer and closer though, both the husband and the wife kept talking about it.  Last week I was talking with the husband and he said that if it was a girl, Emily, but if it was a boy the were going to have some problems because so many men were vying for the baby to be named after them.  When this little one was born today, people started saying, "Yeah!! Baby Emily has come!"  

So here she is.  My first official "namesake."  Baby Emily.  

Reasons I'm thankful for today? 

1) This baby was born JUST in time.  Literally the day before I'm leaving.

2)  I wasn't working so I could just help and try to encourage...without all the stress of being "in charge."

3) We had a doctor there who is very knowledgeable

4) We have a vacuum and scissors to do episiotomies

5) After breathing for her for awhile, she started breathing all on her own and shows no sign of any kind of anoxic brain injury from the rough delivery

6)  I got to see the looks of delight on this daddy and tired mama as they posed for their first family photo :)  Thanks Jesus!!!

Don't worry, I took one without the crazy white lady in the picture too.....

Can I See That Hand?

Last night I was in the OB ward, minding my own business listening to my IPOD when a pregnant woman had the audacity to walk in.  At first I thought she was just visiting someone until I saw her bend over in what seemed to be some kind of distress and I went over to investigate.  Oh yes, she’s come to give birth.  My stomach did the drop that it always does as my adrenaline starts pumping. I asked if she’d had an operation before (hoping it would be a clear case of “take her to the OR quick quick like a bunny”…shout out Alanna!)  But alas, no previous C/S. 

She came with an older lady who was a TBA (traditional birth attendant) so since the pregnant woman was in a wee bit of pain I directed my questions to her.  “When did the belly begin hurting?”  “An hour ago.”  Huh. An hour ago?  Something didn’t make sense.  TBA’s never bring patients that quickly to the hospital unless there is some major problem.  Also, the woman seemed to be in quite a bit of pain for the labor to have just started an hour ago.  I asked the TBA what it was that made her come and she said she just wanted to get the woman checked.  Ok………

I took her back to the labor ward to check her out.  When we got there I again asked when the pain had started and this time the patient responded that it had started at about ten that morning.  OK!! That makes a little more sense!!  I started with the exam and when I got to the vaginal exam realized…something was fishy.  At first I thought it was the cord that I was feeling and had a moment of panic. Last week I lost a baby with a prolapsed cord (when the cord comes first) and it really really really sucked.  I did NOT want to do that again.  But as I started feeling around, I realized it was the hand that I was feeling.  Instead of the head being the presenting part, the hand was.  Oh boy.  Something else I’ve never seen before.  Oh, have I mentioned that OB IS NOT MY THING yet in this blog?  In case someone forgot…..there you have it. 

So the hand is presenting first.  Now what? When I did the vaginal exam I noticed a meconium stain (when the baby starts pooping inside the belly) which is a sign that the baby’s in distress.  I listened to the fetal heart tones they were 186.  Too high.  Another sign that the baby was in distress.   I knew that our doctor was in surgery so there was no way we could take her for a C-section right now anyway. I ran down to the OR to see if they were almost done. They weren’t.  Shoot. Well, I told the doc that when he was done I needed him to come down to the OB ward. 

Ok. So I can’t take her for a C/S right now.  What next?  I decided to do an ultrasound.  If the baby was breech than I was pretty confident that only a c-section would save this baby.  But if the head was down, is there any way she could push it out?  This was her fifth time giving birth so shouldn’t she be pretty well…..expanded by now?  I did the ultrasound and sure enough, the head was down.  I grabbed my book to see if I would get any inspiration there, but all I could find was how to deliver the foot first.  Blast.  Ok Emily, think.  The hand is coming first, the baby is in distress, and the woman is not fully dilated yet.  We need to get this baby out, but surgery is not an option right now. 

So what do I do until surgery is an option?  I can’t just sit and do nothing!  Ok, here’s the plan.  I’m going to augment her labor to try and get her fully dilated to see if there’s ANY way this kiddo is just going to slide right out.  After I started the drip I tried to see if there was any way I could push that hand back up there so the head would come first.  Negative Ghost Rider

Fortunately just as I started the oxytocin, the doctor showed up.  Thanks Jesus!!!  I told him about my exam, what I’d done, and my concern for the baby.  C-section it is.  Since I’d been pretty sure that’s what we were going to end up doing I’d already started all the preparations so as soon as they closed the other woman up and cleaned the OR we could take the woman right to the OR to pull this kiddo.

Because of the distress of the baby we wanted to be quick about it so instead of doing an epidural we used local anesthetic.  That’s right.  We used lidocaine to numb the incision area and cut into the woman while she was wide awake.  Don’t you want to have surgery over here!??!!  Usually they will give a medicine to knock the patient out, but in cases of c-sections they try to wait until after they’ve pulled the baby out because any medicine they give the woman will affect the baby as well.

Unfortunately this woman didn’t appreciate being cut open like a fish and started fighting.  In cases like these they take the risk and go ahead and give the sleeping medicine because if the woman starts fighting than everyone is in danger. 

As they pushed the medicine my heart sank a little because I HATE it when they have to do that (which they have to do pretty frequently......turns out most women don’t like being cut open. Weird.)  I almost always have a harder time with the baby when this happens.  Since this baby was already in distress I knew that this wouldn’t make things any easier.  Sure enough, as they pulled the baby out he wasn’t breathing.  

I took him over to the little incubator and immediately started bagging him.  I listened to his heart and it was beating, but slowly.  I knew that the medicine they give during surgery usually wears off in about 15 minutes, but the 15 minutes of waiting is FOR. EV. ER.  Also, I wasn’t sure how much of his present situation was because of the medicine and how much was because of the prolonged, stressful labor.  So I kept bagging him and slapped him around a little bit to try and make him wake up and scream at me.  Finally, his color started looking better and he started moving around a bit more.  Eventually he started breathing on his own and I just put some oxygen on him to give him a little extra help. 

All of the sudden, all the power went off in the OR.  The solar was finished.  A few months ago we got solar power for the entire hospital.  There is generally enough to do two surgeries and if we have to do more than that we run the generator.  Unfortunately this time the solar decided to cut off right in the middle of surgery.  And the surgeon was in the middle of sewing this woman up.  So what did we do?  Well obviously, myself and another guy pulled out our cell phones that have lights on them and shined the light at the woman’s incision.  After about 30 seconds of this I just started busting up laughing.  Is this really my life right now?!?!  When a fly was attracted by the light and kept trying to land on the woman’s open belly I started laughing even harder.   Fortunately my co-workers weren’t offended and we all started laughing at the absurdity of the situation.  Ten minutes later the generator came on and there was light.

Like to remember these ones!!!

My little patient wasn’t doing so great off the oxygen so I took him back down to the ward so I could keep him on the oxygen.  His right hand was extremely swollen, bluish in color and cool because the circulation had been cut off for awhile while he was in the birth canal.  However, by the time we got down to the ward he was moving all his fingers and crying a little. I think he’ll be A-OK.   It’s always an adventure………