More babies!

Life in Raxaul continues. I left the guest house late (well 10 pm) to go to the computers last night. Outside, so many people had found a spot on the floor near the entrance to the hospital. They were all waiting to see a loved one in the hospital. Some relatives come in sometimes in shifts (a few hours at a time) to ventilate the lungs of their family members. The patients inside get food from the family outside. When we use new equipment or drugs from the cupboard, we write them down on a piece of paper, so that a relative can go to the pharmacy to replace these items. Guards stand at the hospital gates everywhere on the compound. Sometimes they get yelled at by the relatives outside. Sometimes there are numerous people at the gates hoping to come in. i am not sure how they know who should come in and who shouldn't.

Here are the births we have attended today:
1: precipitous, caught by Leah, no complications
2:A woman delivered outside before getting to the labour room in hospital compound
3: A grandmultip had a failed vacuum and the baby was born by forceps, the baby needed resuscitation
4: a young woman had a small belly, Leah and I thought that this baby will be born way too young. When her water broke and there were 2 little moving feet at her vagina. An umbilical cord soon followed (BAH!!) Baby was born quickly though. (occipital-posterior!) I brought the baby to the resuscitation table and went back in the delivery room, and the woman was pushing out another breech baby. Both the same size, 1kg. I have a picture of the twins beside each other holding hands. SO cute! These were undiagnosed twins. SURPRISE! This woman was young and before getting into labour, she was saying that she was afraid to die. Poor thing.
5: A term baby was caught by a student. All went normally.
6: A woman with hypertension (blood pressure of 200\140 after her spinal) delivered by c-section a small preterm baby.

We were hoping to go to Nepal today (since we are only 10 minutes away from the border by horse-rickshaw) but it didn't work out, since all the doctors are busy and couldn't come with us.

When we are not doing a shift, I SLEEP, read, eat, clean my clothes (often) by hand and sleep! I saw the American midwives doing Bikram yoga (hot yoga) at the guest house. I don't know how anyone can move more than they need to in this humid humid heat. However I do miss going to the gym and the awesome feeling after a good workout.

I wish I could roll around in snow... and speak Hindi.

I hope you all enjoyed the longest day of the year yesterday.

Lyly Bean