Just like with the streets, the clinic was empty - only two people came in during the whole hour and a half we were there. We asked to leave an hour early because Soniya, Aunty's daughter, wanted to take us to the bazaar herself. Dr. Nanda had no problem with us leaving early, especially in this weather. *Side note: Dr. Nanda is Aunty's cousin...which makes him my roundabout homestay uncle.* We ventured back out into the pouring rain, what little we had been able to dry off soon got soaked again. We got another vikram and when it dropped us off at our connection stop, the street was flooded about 7 inches deep. The thing about the streets here is that the gutters are huge. Understandable. They run along the edges of the buildings and are about a foot and a half wide and are about 2ish feet from the main road. There's a white line for the outside of the lanes. The vikrams were parked on the other side of the street from where we were dropped off, and we had to walk through the fast moving mini road river to get to them. I walked fairly slow, my shoes were already retaining water, there was no reason to be in a hurry. One guy seemed to think running would make his situation better but his plan backfired when instead of reaching the stoop of a shop, he sank and fell chest-deep into the gutter. Immediately guys came to help him up and were quickly able to get him out. I think he only got some bruising, but hopefully no cuts because that gutter is also a sewer, or is at least used as one, so I was worried about his cuts getting septic. I hope not.
Our day is not even half way done and we have to venture out at least 3 more times. I hope all goes well...
Our last rotation with Dr. Nisha Gera proved to be one of the most special moments in my life, and the beginning to the awesomest weekend ever. We arrived a bit early, as usual, and one nurse let us in to sit down and wait for the doctors to arrive. We didn't really have a chance to settle down yet before another nurse said two words to us, "Go. Delivery." She pointed down the hall and that's where we went. We got confused on where to go because all of the signs were in Hindi, but the woman's family seemed to know who we were so they all eagerly pointed us in the right direction. We opened the delivery room door and there was Dr. Nisha Gera all dressed in surgical gear, standing in between the outstretched and open legs of the woman in labor. She looked up at us and said, "Hello girls." and went back to getting the woman ready. The woman seemed exhausted from her many hours of labor, plus we were told she had preeclampsia. I'm not quite sure what that is but I'm pretty sure it wasn't good. The rest of the entire situation was both amazing and amusing. The amazing bit was that I was watching a live birth. The amusing part was that, Mary, the future doctor, has a fairly strong reaction to the mere sight of needles. I'd thought it was just when she had needlework done to her, but apparently not. The woman in labor had to get a local anesthetic so that Dr. Nisha Gera could cut her perineum so that the baby could fit through the birth canal. I didn't even notice the needle, I just saw huge scissors cut into a certain part of a woman's anatomy. But still, all I had was a look of mild curiosity. When I looked over at Mary, she was drained of all color in her face and she said that she was going to pass out, she left the room. I had no problem stomaching any part of this that I saw - I even surprised myself at my ability to cope with what should have been a fairly traumatic experience. I was also stroking my ego for a while after because, I, not being remotely medical, didn't have to leave the room two times (unlike someone) for fear of fainting. All of this happened in a matter of minutes and the woman gave one last push and the baby came out in one big bluish blob. They held the baby at an angle and sucked the fluid from his lungs. He began to cry. The doctor cut the cord and handed him to one of the nurses. The nurse worked the baby until he was nice and pink. Dr. Nisha Gera began sewing up the cut she's made after she removed the placenta and made sure everything was out. I watched the baby being cleaned with wads of cotton and baby oil. He was the cutest little wrinkley thing with all 10 fingers and 10 toes, 2 nostrils, 2 lips, 2 ears, 2 eyes, and all the right plumbing. My maternal drive was kicking into high gear and I had a strong impulse to have one...but I'm resisting for now. Don't worry. We left the delivery room with the doctor and left the nurses to clean up the rest. The rest of the night was kind of dreamlike as Mary and I were both on a post we-just-witnessed-a-birth high.
UGH. Your brief description of an episiotomy, though very PG-13 is making me twitch. I know they call it the miracle of birth, but you have to admit, the plumbing of a female is the work of a sadistic engineer.Probably male.
ReplyDeleteYour maternal instincts will have to be enough for both of us. You have the kids, I'll be the auntie. That I can do. I can do diapers, that thing where their crying goes supersonic and you're not sure if they're breathing, but yes, yes they are. They're just wringing their lungs out so that they can refill for another deafening screech. I can deal with stuff once they're out. But I'm soooo not a mom. I will be that old lady with the 20 cats. Possibly a dog for giggles. But as far as kids go, you're ovulating for two. :P (If that last part makes you twitch, consider it payback!)