more stories for my gore-hungry readers

Today was another marathon morning at the maternity hospital. From the minute I arrive until I leave, my adrenaline is pumping hard and I feel energized like in no other situation. When I arrive home, it usually takes a couple hours to come down off the high. Since there is no one at home but my husband, he has the privilege of listening to all the stories fresh in my mind. I just have to tell someone. Maybe that's why I'm telling YOU, because there's only so much a guy can take of this stuff:)Upon making my rounds this morning I looked in the delivery rooms to see what was going on. I found a young 18 year-old girl having a hard time so I went to her aid. Halfway through the delivery I discovered that she spoke Arabic so I continued throughout the rest of the time to speak quietly in her ear and give her instructions on how to breathe and push properly. The midwives were all throwing up their hands in despair, telling her she was going to have a C-section because she didn't know how to push and threatening her that if she didn't get the baby out soon, it would die! I, on the other hand, was whispering in her ear that she was doing a great job and that she & I together would push that baby out. She told me afterward that if it hadn't been for me, she could not have made it to the end. It was a rewarding experience. She delivered a 4-kilo baby boy that unfortunately had some sort of deformity. I went and looked at him and his one arm was grossly oversized, as well as some other parts of his body. It was so sad. I learned later that her husband had divorced her when he found out that she was pregnant. You can't believe the heart-breaking stories I hear every time. I again went around the delivery rooms to see if there was anyone that needed help. I found a woman crying quietly; the cleaning lady translated that she felt so alone because her mother hadn't come with her and everyone in her family abandoned her. I wiped her tears and rubbed her back and she grabbed my face and hands and kissed me. Such small acts of kindness that make all the difference and yet I rarely see the nurses or midwives touching the patients in any way. I attended at least 4 other deliveries this morning, some very quick and easy; others pure hell. One of the deliveries that I attended was also being watched by about 30 nursing students. Some of them watched in horror with their hand over their mouth; one male nurse told me he's never getting married. This particular baby ended up being pulled out by the vacuum so there was extra tension & drama. As I was getting ready to leave. I saw a nurse running up the stairs and through the hall with a baby. When I went down to the lobby, I discovered that a woman had just delivered twins; one in the taxi and one on the waiting room floor. Both babies were fine but the taxi driver was very traumatized! Since there is only one baby examining table on the whole floor, there are always nurses running through the hall with freshly-delivered babies. I often get to help clean up the babies and dress them and I love that. Until next time...