25

Earlier in the week I made a point to contact one of the doctors in the millennium theatre to see if it was possible for a few of us to join him as he performed some C-sections.  Today was our appointed day and we were had the privilege of watching several operations. We came in on the first when the baby had already been taken out and we realized that she did not survive. We went in to the OR to watch the rest of the surgery and it became increasingly apparent that the mother needed to have a hysterectomy as the walls of her uterus were paper thin. She is a diabetic who has already had 3 stillborns. The physician called for assistance and mama’s uterus was removed. All of this took place while she was under full anesthesia. My prayers are for 32 year old mama Florence, who will wake up to find that she does not have a child and she does not have a uterus.

After this instance the doctor pulled the 3 of us aside to explain. He said that the mother was experiencing something called Plancenta Previa (sp?) which means that the placenta has blocked the birth canal and the baby cannot makes it way out. When labor begins the mother will bleed and that is when she usually comes into the ER. He also explained the complications of a diabetic pregnancy, including having a very large baby due to the glucose imbalance in the mother’s system. He explained that she had not had any prenatal care and that she had not come to the clinic when she first started to bleed. He explained that when the after-birth was being removed from the uterus some of the uterine wall came out with it and that is why the entire uterus had to be removed.

The next two cases that we saw were much more encouraging in that both mama and baby made it through the procedure. The first was a very quick process lasting maybe 10 minutes and a healthy baby girl came into the world making her little baby cries. The next one was interesting because once the little boy had been removed from the uterus, the doctors pulled the uterus completely out to suture up the incision and it was about the organ was about the size of pee-wee football. The three of us stood gaping in wonder at how a woman’s body can adjust to accommodate a baby in so many ways.

Because I had seen a C-section earlier in the week I think the initial shock from the situation had subsided and I was really able to think about the process in a different way this time around. Mostly I just kept catching myself placing both hands on my torso in amazement of what my body is capable of. Often girls my age begrudge the fact that we are the ones equipped for childbirth while men just sit happily by, but today I realized how powerful this experience can be. Don’t get me wrong, it is still disturbing and terrifying that an entire human being can be grown inside of me, but it also strangely empowering to know that your body has the strength to handle this situation. Call it feminism if you will, but I was feeling pretty impressive (albeit hesitant) as we left the operating room.

The entire situation has solidified the feeling that I always get when I get this acquainted with the human body: we are made by a God who knows exactly what we need.

This evening we returned for a short night shift and I got to suture another head injury. This one was on a small boy, Samuel, who was a character and was really brave about the whole procedure. Things got theatrical when my assistant, Homayon, had a bit of a slip up when applying the local anesthetic and managed to spray us both in the face with it. We immediately rush to the sink (fortunately there was running water today) and neither of us have had any repercussions from the incident. It was quite the spectacle for two sutures but we managed to get Samuel sutured and dressed.

                                                                       Opening

                                                                   She made it!

                                                                   After a good clean :)