Mayhem on Maternity

Maternity was manic today.  When I walked onto the ward first thing this morning, my houseman Anita informed me, “Dr. Pike, we have a sick baby.  Momma was transferred here this morning, she delivered, and now the baby is not breathing well.”  Long story short, mom’s water had broken 4 days ago, the baby’s APGARs were very low at birth, he was bagged via tube for quite a long time, and once extubated (since we don’t have ventilators) his spontaneous respirations were only 1-2 agonal breaths/minute.  We explained the situation to the parents, who were obviously shaken.  I expect he will pass sometime later today.  Anita and I also had to do a spinal tap on a different newborn today, trying to rule out invasive infection.  We also had to talk with a mom about possibly placing a feeding tube in her baby’s belly.  Other cases on the ward today included a VBAC, another PROM-er, a patient with marked polyhydramnios (AFI of 48!), and a 32-week IUFD (intrauterine fetal demise)—baby was transverse lie but mom happened to progress to labor and ultimately a hand/cord presentation…never seen that before.  It was hard to have to tell that mom she had lost her baby.  Through her tears, however, she said to me, “Thank you for helping me, doctor.  Know that my hands are like this…”  She placed her hands out before her, palms upward—a gesture of openness.  “God is in control.  This was not my will, but God is in control.  He will take care of me.”  What a statement!  What courage!  This young lady in such a tragic situation had the resolve to immediately confess her faith in the Lord.  It reminds of Jesus, praying in the garden, “Not my will…”  I can only hope that kind of faith would be found in my heart.  I prayed with her then, and she thanked me over and over again.  Although it was a tough situation and an outcome for which no one would hope, I feel privileged that the Lord allowed me to be an encouragement to this young lady and her husband at such a dark time in their lives.  Little did she know that she too was an encouragement to me. 

Thankfully, not all on maternity today was sadness.  My little now-9-day-old buddy, Praise, is actually doing quite well.  He was the preemie who had developed such severe respiratory distress.  Over the past several days, he has continued to improve.  He is now off oxygen with no signs of respiratory distress, he is feeding well on breast milk, and he continues to gain weight daily.  Truly, PRAISE the Lord!  His mother is a bright young lady (who sadly lost all three of her previous pregnancies due to various problems) that, appropriately so, is playing the same praise and worship songs everyday on her little cell phone.  Praise’s success thus far certainly helped to lift my spirits today amidst all the other losses.  Below is a picture of Praise and mom.

Mom and Praise

Praise and his incubator roommate, one week ago

Linda, Praise's previous roommate.  Each has their own incubator now, since Louisa graduated from incubator status!

God is good.  Whether tragedy or triumph meets us each day, we have a God that is in control and that is able to sustain His children.  I am thankful that He continues to demonstrate to me His faithfulness.  Even though I may not and often cannot understand His ways, there is peace in knowing that He loves us and that He is sovereign.