Grace's Miracle

Friday morning I got a call saying that Ruth was on her way to the Maternity Center in labor. My head was flooded with different thoughts and emotions. Ruth had been in our program for 4 months. Over that time we had gotten to know more about her. Ruth was pregnant with her first child. She lives alone and works selling home brewed liquor. She is soft spoken but exudes independence and self reliance. You can tell the heaviness of life weighs down on her. This isn't something I have seen much in first time moms in our program. I think part of the weight comes with her age. Ruth is older then most girls are, having their first baby in our program. Ruth's birth was something I had great anticipation for. I was excited to get to support her through her birthing experience.

When Ruth got to the Maternity Center she seemed excited that her baby was finally coming. She labored very well. Her quiet, calm spirit worked to in her advantage in labor. She would calmly breathe through contractions, wanting her back rubbed from time to time. She labored quietly into the evening and night. Most women in labor you can tell by how they act and what noises they make how far they are into their labor. With Ruth because she was so calm we really couldn't tell. She never seemed scared of the pain. Both her and the baby responded well with labor all the way through until she began to push.

It is normal for a baby's heart rate to fluctuate some in at the end of labor as the baby is making it's way out. As Ruth began to push, her baby's heartbeat dropped some but returned to normal after the contraction was over. We continued monitoring the baby's heartbeat closely. After a few more pushes the baby's heart rate started dropping and instead of recovering it kept dropping. We were all alarmed by what we heard. We knew that this was a serious situation. With out dramatic improvement this baby could die. We quickly flipped her over on her hands and knees from her side hoping that with a big positional change the baby would recover. Once she was on her hands and knees we started listening to the heartbeat. The baby's heartbeat went from being in the 50's to 150 within seconds. I felt like God had done a miracle. Twenty minutes later she delivered an crying baby girl. We were all so relieved that the baby was okay. Because of the way that the heartbeat dropped, we presume that as the baby was being pushed down, it compressed the umbilical cord in such a way that the pressure did not release after the contraction. We praise God that we were listening right when the heartbeat dropped so dramatically. If we listened only a couple minutes later it might of been too late. If she delivered most anywhere else the chance of this baby's survival would be very low. Without monitoring the heartbeat you wouldn't know about a situation like this. Turning her over on her hands and knees was enough movement to release the pressure on the cord. I believe God has very special plans for this baby's life. Ruth's birth shows me once again just how precious and fragile life is.

Ruth named her daughter Grace. It is not common for Haitians to give their babies a name at birth. Partly this is due to so many babies here dying. The last few women we have delivered have already picked out names before they deliver. This shows us that they are expecting to have a live baby. It is very special to be a place of life and hope.

We have seen Ruth a couple times since she delivered. She is adjusting to a whole new life. Please be praying that God would encourage her and give her much grace and patience in being a new mother.

"For I know the plans I have for you" declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future" Jeremiah 29:11

Fractures, amputations, and a baby too!

Last night was another one of those memories that will not fade any time soon. I was at Troy and Tara's house for the night getting ready to go to bed when Troy got a phone call from Beth saying that were was a girl in labor needing a place to deliver. She had fell of her belly during the earthquake and had been bleeding since she started labor. We decided that we would take care of her. With our team of doctors we have an OB/GYN with us right now. He is great. He has done some work in Kenya and other parts of the world and is used to doing obstetrics in more dire situations. When we got to the clinic and initially assess her we discovered that the baby was not doing okay. He was in severe distress. She still had hours of laboring to do before she was ready to deliver. Chris (our OB doc) decided he would do a c-section. We brought her downstairs to our trauma area and called the Steve the anesthesiologist, Jenn our pediatric doc, and Tara to come help. I was trying to figure out how to start the generator while Chris was pulling supplies off the table and creating a sterile field on the desk. I finally got the generator started and got the flood lights working. Chris and I quickly got our sterile gowns on, Steve gave anesthesia through the IV and we were ready to go and got the baby out within 90 seconds of the first incision. When the baby came out he was blueish-white and unresponsive. I clamped and cut the cord and handed him off to Jen who started working on him and resuscitating him. When we opened the uterus to deliver him the placenta had already abrupted. I assisted Chris in closing back up the uterus and abdomen. The little boy came around after a few minutes and pinked up. As of now both mother and baby are okay. That was the first c-section I have ever seen in person or assisted with. I am honored to have been a part of it. If she wasn't able to get a c-section the baby for sure would of died, and the mom would of been at high risk of bleeding to death. I praise God that didn't happen. In the middle of all this devastation it is refreshing to bring new life into the world

A Week Ago Today

Tonight I read one of my friend's blog who lived through the earthquake here in Haiti. Reading it gave me courage to share my story with you.

I arrived back in Haiti five days before the earthquake struck. I had commited to stay in Haiti through the end of July. My first few days back were great. I got to see friends I hadn't seen in a long time. I even made a new friend named Joanna Thiele. She is an OB nurse who came down to Haiti about a week after I left in November. She was helping out at the women's program during my time away. We decided it would be fun for her to stay at the clinic with me Monday through Friday. Monday night was great getting to know her better. We both have a passion for caring for and serving women. Last Tuesday we had our childhood development class for our haitian ladies. It was great getting to see all the ladies and babies. Later in the afternoon Joanna and I were alone at the clinic chilling and preparing pizza for dinner. Pizza is one of my favorite things to make. I made the dough and was letting it rise till about 5pm. A little before 5 I headed down to the kitchen to chat with Cherline, our house helper. As I was walking down the stairs I could feel them starting to shake. I immediately looked at Cherline and smiled and asked her if she could feel it. It started out little at first and then it got more violent. My smile immediately turned into panic. I ran to the kitchen door and pinned Cherline to the door frame. The water jugs started falling off the counters and the fridge opened and started emptying on us. I was trying the best I could not to fall to the ground. I kept looking up at the ceiling watching for cracks, wondering if the ceiling was going to fall down on top of us. Soon Billy, Cherline's brother, came running through the kitchen, slipping and falling on the puddle of water and food on the floor. He yelled at us to get out of the house. We opened the kitchen door and all 3 of us ran outside, jumping over fallen cement blocks on the way to the gate. Once outside the earthquake started to fade off. I started yelling for Joanna who was still upstairs. I didn't hear a response. Once the quake stopped I ran back inside yelling for her. She answered just as worried about me as I was about her. She was also yelling for me inside and she couldn't hear me. She came down stairs and asked what happened. I said there was an earthquake. She knew it was but was in shock. As we were talking my hands were trembling from the high levels of adrenaline in my body. We all went out into the street. The whole city was screaming. I have never heard anything like that before, and hopefully will never again. There was a lot of people on the move on the main street. I kept calling people and couldn't get through to anyone but Sara Wallace in Jacmel. She said she was okay. The haitians living on my street all were freaking out. A few of them thought Jesus was coming. After a little while John McHoul arrived on his bike. He reported everyone else was okay. After a couple of hours we headed down to his house for the night to sleep. It was scary walking down the street at night in the dark with hundreds of terrified people passing by. About 12am Troy stopped by the house to tell John that he went down town to check on an orphange. He stopped by some other missionaries named Bill and Suzette who had started started seeing wounded people outside their house. He said they needed supplies and help. Joanna and I jumped on that. We went to the clinic to get supplies then headed across town to help out. Driving there was my first glimpse of the city. I could see a few buildings down in the headlights, but what made the biggest impression on me was the thousands of people who were camped out in the median of the street, terrified to get near any buildings. When we arrived at Bill and Suzettes I was put right to work cleaning wounds and suturing. It was exciting to get to help out and do something instead of feeling helpless. The reality of what I saw that night was hard. The type of wounds these people had were really unpleasent. Wounds created mostly by flying cement blocks during the quake. The reality of thousands of people still trapped in buildings was hard to even think about. Because the earthquake happened right before dusk nobody really knew how bad it was. Darkness fell before we could see the extent of the damage. In the morning when the sun started coming up I was fearful of what it would show. I didn't want to face the reality of what happened. With dawn arriving their was no escaping the devastation. A helicopter flew over the residence and I knew the world was going to see how bad it was. We kept working hard at the clinic. As the sun rose people started flowing in with extensive injuries, some people covered in cement dust from being trapped under rubble. The 3 main injuries I saw the first couple days was lacerations, broken bones, and compartment syndrome. It was overwhelming to see how badly people were injured. I kept questioning why I ended up so lucky. Any of these people could of been me. It is unbelieveable how one minute can change everything. In one minute Haiti was physically broken. Thousands of people died, and thousands more yet to die. By midafternoon I had sutured five head lacerations and an elbow. I took a break and headed to the guest house. I layed down and started bawling. The reality of what happened was overwhelming. A couple ladies held me and prayed for me. It was so nice to have that comfort. Not too long later Troy came back to pick us up. I was exhausted to the core but didn't want to leave. So many people needed help. Joanna and I left and went back to John's to sleep a couple hours then headed back to the clinic later in the evening. We stayed again through the next afternoon helping take care of the wounded. By the second day we had 4 or 5 haitian doctors from the neighborhood helping. It seemed like the longer I was there the wost the injuries I saw. We headed back to Heartline territory thursday afternoon. By this time we realized their was a gas shortage and we wouldn't be able to get back over to the clinic. I was privledged to get to help out and sobered by all that I saw. Driving back to our house we saw quite a few bodies on the sides of the street. Many buildings were destroyed. Like I said, it is unbelievable how so much can change in just one minute. On friday morning I was up early talking with John. He mentioned the idea on doing a medical outreach at the women's center and having doctors come down from the states to help. I was so excited about the idea. My heart is to take care of the sick and suffering. Later that morning all the heartline people in Haiti met and talked about the idea and decided to go ahead and do it. The idea was to have medical people show up by Sunday and start seeing the wounded on Monday. That gave us a couple days to try to prepare. On Sunday we had our intial team come in. It was such a relief to have more help. Monday we opened our doors and started seeing the wounded. It is incredible knowing that these people have been suffering for a week now without getting good or any care. I am relieved that we are able to physically help people who would otherwise not get help. There are SO many people wounded in Haiti. The hospitals that are still standing are incredibly overwhelmed. There is just not enough medical care for the need right now, and people are dying cause they are not receiving help. Our doors are open to the wounded. We have no idea at this point how long this will last. Is could be a couple weeks or longer. There are many people in haiti who have received amputations this last week, and many more who will need them. This is leaving potentially thousands of haitians disabled. It is overwhelming to think about what these people are up against now. Haiti was bad enough before. One thing I know though is that haitians are tough people. It is unbelievable the pain and suffering so many are going through right now due to their injuries and lose of family and friends. Please continue to pray with me for Haiti.

Mirlande

Last night we had a rather shocking delivery. Mirlande delivered on the street waiting for a ride to the clinic. She said that she was sitting then stood up and the baby fell out of her. Not too long after the birth, a man in a truck picked Mirlande and her family up and brought them to the clinic. Stephanie and I went out to the gate to see what was going on and to our surprise, Mirlande was in the front of the truck with her baby covered in dirt in her arms. We quickly cut the cord and delivered the placenta and got Mirlande and her baby into the clinic. I Primarily took care of the baby. Besides being covered in dirt from his peculiar birth, He seemed to be doing okay. I gave him a bath right away to clean him off, then weighed and clothed him. While I was taking care of the baby, Stephanie took care of Mirlande. Soon after that Beth and Paige arrived. I praise God that Mirlande had a normal birth besides the birth location. She did not lose a lot of blood, and the baby is doing okay. It could have been a lot different. This was Mirlande's third pregnancy. Her second baby died a month after birth.

After Mirlande and the baby were clean I gave the baby to her to breastfeed. With her baby in her arms she smiled and laughed. Then her laughing turned into crying. I think she is such a courageous women having experienced a birth like that. Please pray for Mirlande and her baby that they will recover well and he won’t develop any infections from being born in the dirt.

Malange

Early thursday morning Stephanie and I were woken up by the guard saying that there was a woman in labor at the clinic. Malange was standing outside with her partner and a few friends. Malange is a well known lady in our program. She is seventeen and pregnant for the second time. Last year she lost a baby 6 months into her pregnancy due to preeclampsia. This pregnancy we followed her very closely in prenatals. She fortunately has been fairly healthy. Malange seemed to be in good labor at first impression. Contractions were close together and lots of moaning due to the pain. After 4 hours of laboring at the clinic Malange gave birth to a baby boy. Later in the day our pregnant ladies showed up for the prenatal program. They were all excited to hear Malange delivered. After the health teaching the ladies went in and visited with her. It was really cool for me to see this. The women have been told that they can deliver with us now, and too see one of their peers just delivered with the baby gave a new sense of hope. Please pray for Malange as she adjusts to being a new mommy at such a young age.

Simone Pelle

Last wednesday we held a mobile prenatal clinic in Simone Pelle, an innercity slum. Upon arriving I was informed about the significance of us being there. Lisa told me that a couple years ago this area was completely closed off by the UN cause the area was so unsafe. One of our guards at Heartline Ministries lives in Simone Pelle. He was the one who organized this prenatal outreach. This is the second time the team has gone in. We are planning on going in once a month to do education and prenatal checkups with the ladies. We are limiting the program to 30 women. This last week we accepted 2 women into the program cause two other women delivered within this last month.
Last month the clinic was held in a house. This time we had the privledge of using a church building. We started out by greeting the women then I gave a health teaching on preeclampsia. Preeclampsia is a serious condition some women develop during pregnancy. Preeclampsia is a common killer among pregnant women in Haiti. You can reduce your risk and even reverse signs of preeclampsia with a diet high in protein and salt. The women seemed receptive to what I taught. After the health teaching the women had their vitals checked by Beth and Lisa. After vitals they had a prenatal checkup by either Stephanie or I. I really enjoyed getting to do brief check ups on these women and encouraging them by giving them time, affection, and knowledge.

One of the ladies I saw had symptoms of preeclampsia. She also seemed to be carrying twins. It is interesting being in a position of having minimal contact with these women, only seeing them once a month. I doubt they are getting any prenatal care beyond that. It was humbling telling this women the warning signs of late preeclampsia. All I could do was offer nutritional advice and hope and pray that she will follow it and get better, or at least not get worse. Please pray for this women with me. I don't remember her name but God know exactly who she is. I will let you know how she is doing next month when we go back. I was honored to get to go into this community. Walking down the windy congested paths reminded me of being in the slums in the Philippines. Though they live in conditions that are unimaginable for some people, they have community that is unimaginable for some. That sense of community lights me up inside. Until next month Simone Pelle!

New Beginning

Yesterday morning we had our first birth in the clinic with Beth, Lisa, Stephanie and I. This was a birth of significance. Natasha has been in the prenatal program here at Heartline for most of her pregnancy. She has a special place in our hearts because of her circumstances in life. She has 5 children, 3 living with relatives, her 2 youngest living with her. She contracted HIV from the father of this baby. After becoming pregnant and finding out she had HIV she became very angry and wanted to abort the baby. She continued with the pregnancy with the decision to give her baby up for adoption. Towards the end of her pregnancy she began to develop acceptance of her situation in life. I only met her a couple weeks ago when arriving in Haiti. I had a soft spot in my heart for Natasha the day I met her. She is meek, has a smile full of crooked teeth, joy in her heart, and pain in her eyes. I was excited that she had the option of delivering in the clinic now that there are midwives here.

Monday night Stephanie and I were busy putting prenatal vitamins in pouches while watching tv shows on the computer when the guard told us that Natasha was here in labor. Stephanie checked Natasha while I informed Beth that she was here in labor. Beth and Lisa made there way over to the women's center in good time. Natasha was still in early labor so it gave us time to talk about the circumstances. Because there is the possibility of bodily fluids flying around during birth we need to be extra precautious handling birth with HIV. Also because Natasha had decided not to keep the baby, we needed to be sensitive to her emotional needs. Natasha stayed at the clinic overnight in early labor. Contractions got more intense in the morning. After a couple short pushes the baby was born around 9:30am. He gave a couple cries initially then calmly rested in my arms. Natasha had some problems with bleeding initially but did fine in the long run. She decided before the birth that she didn't want to see the baby. She wanted to know though if it was a boy or girl. A couple hours after birth she decided she wanted to see him. She held him for a while and gave him the name David. At the end of the day we took Natasha home and David to the baby home with Heartline Ministries.

I am still in awe of the significance of the birth. We are here for women like Natasha. I was so proud of Natasha for taking such good care of herself during the pregnancy and growing such a healthy baby. He weighed 8 lbs at birth. Please pray for Natasha and she adjusts to the reality of giving up a baby.