Tia Patrick, MD

Oh yeah, that’s right, just hand me my medical degree right now! Wednesday was so much fun. I had asked Dr. Duggar (no relation to Jim Bob Duggar and his family of 20+) ,who is an OBGYN visiting for 2 weeks, to let me know when he had c-sections on Tue or Wed b/c Joey was off and I could go to the hospital and watch. Well, Tuesday he forgot to tell me and had tons of c-sections. So Wednesday came and it was late in the afternoon and he had none. At 5:30 he told me there were two c-sections being prepped and I needed to hurry if I wanted to see them. So I quickly put on Joey’s scrubs and called Krista, b/c she also wanted in on the action, and was up there in no time. I got there just in time to see them start the incision. I had a wave of heat hit me when I saw the ladies white flesh and didn’t know if I should continue to watch. But I pushed through and saw the whole miracle of birth in the most unnatural of circumstances. It was a baby girl! The sewing up took a while and Krista and I saw another surgery taking place in the other O.R. We hopped over there and got to see some sort of colon surgery. It wasn’t too interesting and it looked like a scene from Saw. We then went to another c-section and it was another baby girl. We were so proud of “our” baby girls that we had to go and see how much they weighed and look at them some more, so we made our way down to the maternity ward. Secretly I was hoping my nursing student friends were still on the OB rotation and would let me watch a natural birth. Sure enough I get down there and see Alfred and Gilbert (national nursing students who I met with community health) and sure enough there was a laboring mother who was going to give birth within the hour. Krista had to leave at this point and I stayed behind. The babies that we had just seen were in a cradle behind this laboring mother but I was still told I could go see them. They were both healthy and one was 5.5 lbs and the other over 6 lbs, which is huge for Kenya. The nurse then asked if I would carry one to the nursery! Of course I would! The proud grandmother was waiting anxiously near the nursery and I got to show her the newest member of the family. Gilbert told me to hurry b/c the mother was going to push at any moment. This was her 4th child so she was expected to go quickly, I got back just in time. It was so amazing. The baby just came right out! The mother did so well, no screaming or anything. But as soon as the baby was out and she heard its first little cry I heard her speaking something softly to herself. It sounded like some sort of praise. It was really beautiful. Then the most amazing part happened, b/c of a nursing shortage they asked me to grab the sterile blanket and get the baby after the cord was cut. Gilbert also gave me the suction bulb and told me to suction and stimulate the baby! I felt honored by his confidence, but was not worthy of it b/c I had no idea what to do! Thankfully, Alfred came to my rescue. I finished watching the afterbirth and was able to “examine” the placenta with Gilbert to make sure nothing was still in the mother. By this time it was 8 PM and I needed to get back home. So, I’m ready to deliver if any one wants a home birth or needs a midwife! We’ll be a husband/wife team!
Bethany is doing well. She's become quite the little bossy thing. She has named her stuffed dog Emma in honor of her favorite animal at Tenwek. Emma is some sort of boxer that belongs to the White family. She looks ferocious but is a really sweet dog. Bethany instantly fell deeply in love with her and has given her dog Emma's namesake! Well, the Whites have a 3 (almost 4) year old little girl, Anna, that is a girly-girl if I've ever seen one. One day Anna was telling Emma to "SIT". Bethany paid close attention. And every day she will demand to her stuffed animal, "Sit Emma, SIT!" Then she'll throw it off the couch or bed and say "Down Emma, DOWN!” She demands for us to kiss Emma and sit, too!
I can’t believe we have less than 2 weeks at Tenwek. At times it’s felt like a long time but it really has been a short trip and it will be hard to leave Kenya behind. I’ve really loved the missionaries, the nationals and all the visitors who have been here with us. We ate at the Fitzwater’s tonight with the Gainy’s, too. It was a good time b/c we are like the “young” couples around here :) , that’s what everyone says at least. Tomorrow we are having game night at the Bemm’s, they are teaching us Settlers so we can whoop all the Greenwood peeps! We miss everyone and appreciate all the encouragement and prayers.