Day 19: DS/Swimming in the Rain

We had Day Shift this morning. Jordan & I both were assigned 2 postpartum patients, who needed their vitals checked. Mine's baby was really, really sleepy, & fell asleep every second, making nursing very difficult. I worked with the mama & baby for at least 1/2 hr., stimulating him, getting him latched on, waking him up, etc. etc. etc. Finally (by instructions of my Super), I took him to the Birth Room, put him under a bright lamp (face away, of course! :o), washed his face & extremities with a wet washcloth, & exercised his hands & feet, to try to get him to wake up!! He did, & we actually got him nursing....for a little while. Finally, we took a break.

Jordan & I with the my PP Patient

I was then asked to assist Claire in a Labor (L1) who had just came in. It would be my first 'real' assist. Unfortunately, it was not 'the dream birth', by any stretch of the imagination.
 L1 was extremely anemic (80/90's), only had 1 prenatal (which showed high blood pressure), & she was 3 weeks early. Throughout the whole labor, her blood pressure ranged between 150-165+/120-135. YIKES!!
It was also a fairly fast birth, with heavy mec. (meconium) staining, which means that the baby pooped in the water, which usually means that he swallows it as well, making problems.

When doing the IE, right after she came in, we found that the baby was already 2cm, head visible w/o pushing!!! Thereafter, we had at least 5 people in there at one time, so though I was 'supposed' to be 'assisting', I was more like semi-assisting, because there wasn't the time or leisure to really walk me through what to do, (like the one yesterday would have been ;D).

All in all, I wouldn't have changed anything. It was a VERY good experience, & I learned a lot!!! The baby was a beautiful little girl, who weighed 4.4 lbs., & had a good dose of mec. inhaled, which was obvious by her labored breathing & chest convulsions, poor baby!! We ended up transporting her after she'd nursed, had a bath, & had the physical done on her, because the hospital had what she needed. I got to too, which was a a lot of fun.

This time, we went to the regular ER, instead of the ER/OB (which we usually go to), because the baby was already born. WOW!! That was an experience!! Right out in front, they have what's called the "Resuscitation Room" (labeled in big letters). There are no curtains, so you can see exactly what's happening!! Basically, there are a ton of dentist-type looking chairs in their, as well as stretcher-type beds, with people on & around them. There is no 'real' order to, with the beds going every which way. All the people are together too. There were 2 patients on stretcher/beds outside the room too, that looked like they were in pretty bad condition, & they were being fixed up right there!!! It was pretty incredible!!!

When we came back, I took some more vitals from my pp patient, got baby nursing again, & discharged her & baby. When I got done, Jordan was just starting to take vitals on another Laborer (L2), who had just come in. Since I assisted the last birth, Jordan assisted this one, while I charted.

This birth was a lot nicer: L2 came in at 9:50am. She used the CR (bathroom/comfort room :d), where her water broke. Jordan took vitals at 10am, & IE (internal exam) was conducted at 10:06am by the midwife, where we found that L2 was FULLY dilated!!! She had moderate mec. staining & FHT of 130's, so the baby needed to come sooner than later.

Up to the almost the time that L2 gave birth (2nd baby), she never got the 'urge to push', or had contractions that were more than 2 minutes together. We tried a bunch of different positions & techniques to help with labor, & kept monitoring the FHT (fetal heart tones), which stayed in the 100-120 range (too low/low normal).
L2 was starting to get tired, & so we started an IV & gave her supplemental O2 (oxygen). Guess what? Within 3 minutes of the O2, the baby was born!! It was a beautiful baby boy, who started nursing instantly, & though he had light mec. staining, his 5 minute APGAR was 10 out of 10!!! (The 1st out of the births I've attended here.)

The "Birth Team" for Jordan's Assist:
Jobee (Super), me, Jordan w/ baby, & Sylvette (Primary)

Stephanie with Jordan's Assist, during the "Changing of the Guards"

Goofing Off at Clinic (looong morning!!)

After that getting the births all cleaned up, the shift was pretty dead. Right after, Heidi & Fonda (2 of the Students) & Chantal, Jordan & I decided to go swimming at a B&B 5 min. down the road. None of us had been there before, though I guess the Students in years passed have.

The swimming was glorious, & the pool was 4-8 feet deep!!! The water wasn't as buoyant as the the pool we have gone to the other times, but price is cheaper by half, it's closer (means no transportation cost), & the water's deeper, so we can't complain!! (Besides, it makes us work out more). We had a lot of fun swimming, & after that, we ate dinner next to the pool (delicious), & jumped in the pool again!!

It was crazy, because while busy talking in the middle of the pool, we noticed this GIANT dragonfly, who started (literally) doing laps around the pool!! It kept going faster & faster, & we started getting dizzy turning to watch it, & finally, we started cheering for it, reprimanding it for cutting corners, etc.!!
It must of done at least 10+ laps! The worst part though, was that it would all of turn off course, & fly diagonally, right in between us (making us scream), before resuming the next few laps!! Talk about Weird!!

Soon after we got in the pool after dinner, it started thundering, & then raining, & then "lightening" LOL. They made us get out, because of "storm warnings", (though I would have been fine with 'meeting my Maker' then, as well as any!!) ;p It was raining so hard, that by the time we got out the door (10 min. later), there was standing water in the roads of 2-3", & it was still coming!! (When it rains, it pours!!)

Fonda, Chantal, me, Jordan, & Heidi at the Orange House

See this short video of what it is like in Davao when it rains!! (taken a few days ago)

COCKROACH! Last night, Jordan & I were talking to her family on her bed (the top bunk), & Chantal was on her bed (across the room), when we saw a cockroach (total of 5 in our room/bathroom alone!! YUCK!) crawling on our bedroom floor!! We started making jokes about it, & laughing, before it scuttled away, just to reappear a few minutes later!! This happened a few times, with Chantal sometimes trying to catch in in the Trash Can (we screamed each time it got away).

Finally, she really tried catching it, & finally did (while we screamed the louder...irresistable, you know)!! It looked to me (from the top bunk), that it's head & antennae were sticking out from the outside of the container, & so Lydia came from the other room to see (neither Jordan or I felt like getting down from the bunk. Right then, Stephanie walked in the room (she had been out), & we all screamed simultaneously, ending up with Steph standing on Chantal's bed. It was disgusting: the Roach was decapitated, & it's body fluids were all over the floor. What's worse, it's legs were still moving!!!!

Disgusting Decapitated Cockroach!!

I'm working Clinic & Swing tomorrow. Tata for now!