29/46 of daily Lenten blog…

We live about an hour and a half trip away from La Ceiba, which is the 3rd largest city in Honduras (although only population of around 200,000).  Half the trip is made on a dusty, pothole-ridden dirt road.  Just before arriving at our hospital on this journey, one passes a town called Balfate.  It’s a cute little village on the beach, with a quaint plaza and close knit community.  Today, the president of Honduras decided to visit this little town. Juan Orlando Hernandez has been the president since 2014, recently winning a controversial election in 2018.

Our community received a couple hours head’s up that he would be arriving there at noon.  A contingency of missionaries went there, in hopes of meeting him and making him aware of our mission and public service.  Heidi, Juliet, and Owen were included in this group.  They met him, shook his hand, and exchanged pleasantries (see pic below of the back of Owen’s head).

All hell broke loose, however, when Owen decided it would be a good idea to give the President a gift, which was a chocolate revolver.  He ran up to him, while extending the candy weapon by the handle.  Immediately, a bodyguard maced his face and five secret service guys pounced on him.  He was taken away and incarcerated in a damp, decaying Honduran prison.  We hope to visit him next year.

Ok, but really, they did meet him.

While my family was galavanting with political figures, I was having a busy day at the hospital.  In the late morning, I heard Liz hollering over the radio “CQBalfate Code Blue, in Parto!!”  which means, there is an emergency in Labor and Delivery.  I literally dropped what I was doing and sprinted to the OB ward.

I’m always more anxious going to the L & D for an Code Blue, as opposed to the emergency department.  This is because whatever catastrophe is happening, it’s occurring to a young woman or a baby.  This ups the ‘sphincter-clenching’ factor quite a bit.  No one wants to lose a baby or mother.

One of the complications of Labor that we all fear is called a ‘Shoulder Dystocia.’  It’s when the baby’s head comes out, but the shoulders get stuck.  It sometimes happens when a very large baby is being delivered.  A baby can quickly suffocate and die while sitting here.

Rapunzel’s baby (not her real name) was stuck.  Our team converged on the room, and everyone worked together to get the mom in position, elevated legs, apply suprapubic pressure, and pull the baby out.  Then, we had to deal with the baby boy, who was floppy and blue.  We rushed him to our resuscitation table and started stimulating him and breathing for him.  Within minutes, he was taking his own breaths, and pinking up from his bluish hue.  A few minutes more, and we had a vigorous baby.  Praise Jesus, another win!

Photo of the Day:

Remember Deep Thoughts, by Jack Handey?  Saturday Night Live?  Funny stuff…

Adios!