It's a GIRL!

Today started just like any ordinary Afghan day until we received a message on the radio saying that there was a local Afghan woman who was having "complications" from her pregnancy. She delivered a baby boy yesterday. When she came in our aid station, I was told by the interpreter that there was another baby in her abdomen. Men are not supposed to see what was going on so the males were on the other side of the divider while the woman, her mother and I were on the other side. I pulled out the placenta from her previous delivery and when I inserted a finger in there, the other baby's placenta was not open so I had to cut it with a scalpel. When I opened it, I saw a foot poking out and I was sure that the baby was dead. I started pulling on it while I told the interpreter to tell the woman to push. Her mom was helping me hold her other leg. I kept pulling on the baby and as soon as I saw the head, it started to cry and I almost cried too because she was alive! I asked the medic to give me a bulb syringe to clear the baby's nose and mouth. The baby was beautiful! I immediately put her on her mother's chest but I think the mom was too tired because she was expressionless. I also felt a bit sad because the baby was a girl and maybe the mom wasn't too excited because it wasn't a boy.

We had donated clothes in our aid station and I dressed the baby to keep her warm and we put her under a bulb light. I worked to control the mom's bleeding and I hope that she will be alright. The health care system is not too good in this area and with the mom having twins, I hope the girl survives. I know the boy will be taken care of real well, but it saddens me to have to wish that the girl will be treated the same but I know she won't be. But, for a day in her life, her first day, she was our princess in the aid station.

I was thinking of my experience with my own pregnancy on how my circumstances were so different than the mother who laid on our make shift bed today. I remember my husband being there the whole time. Although my experience was painful, it was comfortable and I had no worries if my baby girl was going to survive. It puts life into perspective when I get experiences such as today to let me know how fortunate I am in life. This fortune is something to be shared with others which we tried to do today for this local Afghan family who unexpectedly showed up in our doorsteps and asked for our help. I feel blessed and proud of what we were able to do.

Well, now I have to go so I can continue to help clean up. Child birth is messy! :-)

Listen... Listen Closely...

Compounded by my current deployment, the silence and darkness of my environment and watching the movie "The Hours", I was moved to write this poem.

Death is here
It's all around you
It keeps calling
Calling out your name

Try to avoid it
Avoid it as much as you can
Ignore the whispers
As it draws
Draws closer to you

Once you start
Start to finally listen
It creeps in you
Creeps In your soul

Like a virus
Virus out of control
Did you let it in? "Suicide"
Or did it force itself? "Homicide"

Listen
Listen closely
As close as you can
Death is all around you.

Boo. "Happy" Halloween.