Burgers, more babies and rolling with the punches!

(Heather)

So this week at the hospital was much of the same. Monday I was in antenatal watching the doctor give check ups to the mommas and in the afternoon we were in Admissions. Admissions is the interesting place to work in the hospital.. (not that working at MGMH in itself is not an altogether interesting experience mind you. As we walked into the room that we normally change into our uniforms a cat from outside bolted through the open window scaring us half to death!) Everyone who spends a significant amount of time in the hospital has to go through Admissions. You see everything from women in the beginning stages of labor to eclamptic women who are having seizures. The post grads (residents) in Admissions have been great to us so far, allowing us to follow them and check the patients and then compare notes as to our findings. It's a great way to learn!

Tuesday I was in the Labor ward and spent the day with a sweet laboring momma who ended up at the end of the day going for a C-section. I followed up with her the next morning and mom and baby boy were doing great! 

Momma and baby after C-section

visiting them on Friday in the postnatal ward. Bruce and the kids came to see them as well.

Near the end of my day I delivered a baby boy whom I named Paul which means humble. I named him this because he was going to slip into the world without anyone even knowing. I literally turned around to find this momma pushing and out was coming little Paul! Thankfully I turned when I did! 

baby Paul

Wednesday Bruce and the kids and I with some team members went to Niriksheena the clinic that Bruce has mentioned in the past posts. It is for HIV patients and run by a beautiful Indian Christian couple who are both doctors.  Bruce and the kids spent the first part of the morning doing home schooling in the back offices of the clinic while the few members of our team and I taught 2 groups of women about anemia. We taught them how to recognize it and what to do to prevent and treat it and we also shared the Gospel.  6 women came forward to give their lives to Jesus and to learn more about him. One of the best parts was a local Indian woman who stepped forward and asked to give a testimony to how God was healing her. She and her husband both were diagnosed with HIV but through prayer both of them continue to have great CD4 counts (CD4 count is the monitoring factor of an HIV status) She was able to lead the 6 women who came forward to the Lord in their own language which is such a blessing! After the teachings I went back to continue the kids home schooling work and Bruce was able to see patients in the clinic.  It is always such a blessing when both of us have an opportunity to serve and learn from those who are already serving in healthcare.

Thursday I was back in the labor ward and delivered a little girl who decided to enter the world face up!! This is a very difficult delivery for the momma and we were unaware that the baby was coming this way and I had a post grad that was very unwilling at first to let me conduct the delivery.  I convinced her that we could work together. When the momma was having a hard time in her pushing progress I got her up into a squat and she made some progress. However the PGs are very uncomfortable with any position other than flat on the mommas back so the PG decided she didn’t want to be involved anymore and I was able to do the delivery. What a surprise when little Liliana decided to come out face up! No wonder this momma was having such a hard time! Lilanna was such a precious little one and she looked like a little elf! Momma was in hysterics by the end and was very happy when it was all over.  

Sweet Lilianna

Friday I was back in the Antenatal clinic and got some great experience palpating mommas bellies and listening to the fetal heart rate with only a stethoscope. I was also able to get out early and spend some time with Bruce and kids which is always a welcome surprise!! We did some exploring and shopping for Josiah's birthday outfit. He turns 3 this next Sunday! We thought it only appropriate that he needed a prince outfit. 

trying on some outfits.

some market shots

break for ice cream!

always a crowd of interested people

home schooling Josiah style!

before heading to Hard Rock Cafe Friday evening. my first attempt at wearing a sari although I wore a t-shirt underneath.

Josiah was able to get a hotdog at Hard Rock and was so excited!!

beef hamburger. and it didnt even taste like Indian food as most attempts at Western food do! 

(Bruce)

This week this kids did awesome at school. I'm really amazed at Abigail's ability to learn and it's a pleasure to see her get so excited the more words she is able to read. Josiah is doing great too although at his age he learns more from playing. Monday we were learning about geography and the planets so on a whim I decided to take them to the local planetarium. Too bad! We got there and it was closed until the afternoon. In India however, anytime you make a plan you have to expect that it may not turn out so you have to roll with the punches. There was a science museum next door and so we went there instead and the kids loved it. They had a lot of different interactive things to do. One was a blowing machine that kept a plastic ball suspended in air. Holy cow! The kids laughed and laughed about that forever. And that's all they talked about all week! You never know what's going to amaze the mind of a child. The museum also had a full dinosaur skeleton on the upper floor and multiple works of art on the lower level. They spent the rest of the week asking to go back. 

the famous ball in the air machine!! (notice the paparazzi in the background.)

Friday I wanted to take them to the Sala Jung museum which is a local art museum located very close to the hospital where Heather works. Too bad! Closed on Friday.... roll with the punches again. That's when we went to shop for Josiah's birthday outfit and also to visit Charminar. Hyderabad was originally located at Golconda Fort (hopefully we'll have some photos posted from there soon when we visit!) but due to a water shortage, the city was moved to current day Hyderabad. After all the diseases due to the water shortage ceased because of the move, the Sultan built Charminar to celebrate. It's kind of like Hyderabad's "Arch de Triumph". Anyway, it was beautiful and we climbed the very narrow winding staircase to the top. There were no foreigners there though and so we were a bit of a novelty and kept getting asked to have pictures taken with our kids. After a while it got exhausting and headed down another very narrow winding staircase to the ground. Our calves and thighs were talking to us the next day. 

Charminar

on the top

view from the top

our chance to be paparazzi I (Heather) couldn't resist a picture of this beautiful young mom and baby

That's it for this week. Love to all!

P.S. Doesn't my wife look great in a sari!! 

P.P.S. I've grown a mustache just for fun since Indian men are so big into mustaches. I'll put a photo up next week. Lookin pretty creepy by American standards. (and I (Heather) cannot wait for its dismissal!)