Every One Counts

While here in Arusha I have been attending the Vineyard church. It is like many churches a random assortment of people drawn from Tanzania and all over the world who are here to do the thing they believe God has put on their heart to do.

There are a number of people at the church who run orphanages . And it is so lovely each week to see an eclectic mix of families, adopted families, foster families etc. A grandpa from America or Australia with a little toddler snuggled up and fast asleep on his shoulder. He looked more content than the toddler!

Well for the first time in the 4 months I have been there a lady stood up on Sunday with one precious little baby in her arms. She had been abandoned in a drain. As the woman was saying this she was weeping, you could just feel her love and compassion for this little thing. And as she stood there she simply said I am not sure if any of you know anyone who would give this little girl and there was a year old boy too, a home?

I thought a bit of a strange request almost like an auction but filled with love!
Well to cut a long story short during the time of sharing  a woman stands up just to say she has come with her friend from Nairobi. They both travelled to Arusha as God had told them this was the time to visit. The lady had tried for many many years to have a baby. Lots of pain and heartache for her.
Anyway there and then in the service she had the little girl on her lap, was giving her a bottle. And God had brought her here on this very weekend to collect the baby He had assigned for her.
I am reminded again that nothing is random with God. He is working out his master plan even when it looks like nothing is !
I was thinking also about that verse where he says look how I care for the sparrow and the lilies etc, how much more is his eye on every little baby.

This brings me to a patient I will call Anna. I met her 9 weeks ago when she was 20 weeks pregnant. She is a 42 yr old lady who has had 3 pregnancies but no live children. In this culture here for a woman to not have born children is a great great sadness, you need to prove you are a woman with your fertility. For many reasons she just touched my heart so deeply. She was admitted with severe pain and we thought she was losing this baby too at 20 weeks. She has a very large fibroid in her uterus and  it was expected that she would not carry the baby past the first trimester. Her plight just touched me and I have been praying so fervently that God would not let her hope be disappointed. Anyway by the Grace of God alone she is now 29 weeks pregnant. A miracle in itself. I am so praying that she will be able to carry the baby for a few more weeks then the chance of survival here in Tanzania would be good.

Some patients just seem to creep into your heart.  And she is right there deep in my heart. I am so scared for her and to be honest for myself too, that she will not see the fulfillment of her hope. What can we do but trust and pray, God knows. Every little one counts with Him and he knows the days and hours and years he has planned for this little one. And I just pray for her that she will be spared another sorrow.

Triple Blessing

So yesterday was a very hectic day in the labour ward. It always amazes me how it seems to be all or nothing.
Anyway the ward was full with 5 woman in labour. I had just assisted one mum with her birth, she had walked in ready to push, assessed another lady who needed to go to theatre for obstructed labour and then came to the final Mum who had to deliver.
My 2 colleagues were busy with a Mum on the other side.
This mum was so emaciated. I asked my colleagues what her HIV status was as they had checked it on admission. I presumed her to be positive as she looked  so skeletal. But gladly she was HIV neg.
She was a maasai mummy, who was not able to speak in swahili. Fortunately the lady in the bed next to her, who had just delivered was able to speak maasai to her. So this is how it went. My very limited, broken but improving swahili to one mum, who translated into maasai and spoke with the other Mum. Occasionally one of my colleagues came to give some clear instruction.
I still have to remind myself that I am not in a movie sometimes with this Mum lying there in her maasai shukra and lovely beads and earrings looking like the authentic masaai lady, which she was.
Well this Mum was ready to push. We had a vague suspicion that there may be twins inside, but then after looking at her I thought maybe her tummy looked big cause she was so thin - how wrong I can be!
Well out popped the first little boy, screaming away. I felt and as suspected there was definitely a second baby inside. After breaking that baby's waters she slipped into the world. Poor Mum was feeling a little overwhelmed at the sight of 2 of them. Before I gave the oxytocin injection which helps contract the uterus post delivery, I thought let me just check there is not a 3rd one. Well surprise surprise there was. Another little girl arrived bottom first. Well by this time the [poor Mum was overwhelmed.
After the placenta was delivered and she was tidied up. I weighed them one at a time. Their weights were 2.08kg, 1,78kg  and  1,27kg. After weighing they were all put skin to skin on their Mummies chest to keep warm as we needed to transfer them to a special care baby unit.

After the initial shock I think Mum felt like the hero of the day which she surely was. Staff from all over the hospital came to inspect. While she lay there her Mum fed her some much needed lunch.
I went to get my camera to capture the moment but alas it said Battery exhausted - I thought to myself , the battery is not the only exhausted thing in this room. 

New Blankets, New neonatal unit and replacement blood

It was with great excitement that we got new blankets for all our patients in Maternity.
This hospital is built for the summer so now in the chilly months the patients are so grateful to be able to snuggle down with their babies and keep warm.

This little newborn snuggled close to its Mum (Kangaroo Care) and having a jolly good feed.

Mum and baby nice and warm.

2 Lovely medical technology students have spent the last month with us, fixing and calibrating all our equipment. It is such a blessing to have them as it is very hard to get things repaired and calibrated here in Tanzania. They also took on the job of transforming a little room we had  in anticipation of it being used as a neonatal unit. They painted , made curtains, tidied and sorted as and we are so very grateful

We felt the crosses on the curtains very appropriate for a Lutheran mission hospital

Nothing like coming to Arusha on holiday to see your family and the crazy midwife friend phoning to beg you to give blood. David brother of my friend Andrew here, is rhesus blood group. We were needing negative blood for a lady who had been on the ward about a week but had now become more critical and she was really needing blood.

So bless David, he came to donate, supported by his brother and nephew he came to donate before setting off on his safari!