An Amazing Couple of Days

What a great couple of days it has been. The rain has gone away and the skies have been beautiful blue with hardly a cloud. I cannot begin to describe how beautiful it is here. I know I've said that before, but it continues to strike me day after day. There's a view on the way from the hospital to my house that is just breathtaking when the weather is nice like this. I think I have about 10 pictures of it, because every time I pass it, I think "This is so beautiful, I have to take a picture."
This afternoon, I sat outside on the grass just outside the maternity ward and played with some of the kids from the peds ward, including little Emily, who I'm now calling my little African Violet, because her personality and mannerisms are so much like Violet's. It was wonderful and I also got to talk to some of the mothers.
Yesterday I had a milestone. I delivered my biggest baby yet. A lady came in to the hospital in labor with her third baby. The nurses called me and asked me to scan her, because she was so big they thought she must have twins. No, it was one baby and I knew it would be huge - I estimated 5 kgs (approx 11 lbs). I contemplated letting her try and have a vaginal delivery, because she had delivered a 3.8kg baby before, but then I saw that she had been circumcised, which greatly narrows the room for the baby to come out. When I saw that, I thought "No way!" So, we talked her into a C-section and boy am I glad we did! He came out a whopping 5.04kg and it was a struggle to get him out even with a C-section. I took a picture with him to mark the occasion :) All the nurses and students were stopping by to see him - he looks like he's about 3 months old and about 13-14 lbs.
Today was also eventful. It started out with me giving a lecture to the nurses about postpartum hemorrhage, which went well and I think was much appreciated. After that we practiced our songs for tomorrow - the maternity ward is leading the chapel service at the hospital tomorrow. During our practicing, one of the medical students called and told me that a patient had come in overnight that had delivered a dead baby at home and was bleeding. I was told that she had had a D&C when she came in and now was in a lot of pain and could I come see her when I got a chance. I asked her if she was stable and she said yes, to just come see her when I was done with rounds. So, when I moseyed over, I looked at the patient and saw that her abdomen was distended and tense - for all you docs out there, she had a surgical abdomen. When I looked through her chart, I found that she had been nearly in shock when she came in, but improved with blood and fluids. She had not had a D&C and had a previous C-section followed by now 7 normal deliveries. So, I was very worried for a uterine rupture, which can be life-threatening. I grabbed the ultrasound and did a quick scan of her abdomen - when I saw fluid (likely blood), I knew we had to head to theater (OR). Unfortunately, they were in the middle of removing a thyroid and there is only one anesthesia machine. So, we waited for an hour - what an hour that was! When our turn came, I did in fact find a uterine rupture (my first) - a very impressive one actually. She also had infection in her abdomen. We did a hysterectomy and the patient is already improved. Praise the Lord for His mercy and wisdom! Sorry for all the medical talk, it's just that this is my way of keeping track of everything that happens, and I know there are some people reading this who are actually interested in it.
As many of you know, I celebrated my 30th birthday here this past weekend. It was nice. I rounded in the morning, went to a Swahili church service (approx 2 1/2 hrs long) which was awesome and I hung out with the medical students that are here. We were invited to the hospital administrator's house for dinner, so I got to eat some Kenyan food, which was wonderful. Here's another interesting thing about Kenya - they are very interested in our elections and they are all Obama supporters! This is because his grandmother lives here and they all think that if he is elected, it will be good for Africa. Whether or not this is true, they are all very much in support of him and watching our politics like they were their own. It was the topic of conversation at dinner that night. All of them are asking if I will be home in time to vote :)
As my time here draws to a close (tomorrow will be my last day at the hospital), I feel sad that I will be leaving. I'm not sad to be at home, as I have a new little "niece" or "nephew" to deliver. But, I am going to miss it here. I could definitely see myself being here for the 2 years after I finish residency and would ask for your prayers as I pray about whether or not to come here. It is a wonderful place and they are doing a great job. There is, however, definitely a gap in women's health care. All of the nurses keep telling me that I must come back. I am excited about what the future holds.
Thank you all for all your prayer support and encouraging words. This will likely be my last blog from here. So, asanti (thank you) and Mungu akubariki (God bless)!