The Adventures of Sunshine Gypsy: Sad Day

WARNING: EXTREMELY SAD CONTENT ABOUT A BIRTH

I stayed in Namatanai for a few days with Melanie and Belinda before heading back to Kavieng. We vegged through the weekend which was very nice after being on the go for the last couple weeks. While I was there a mother went into labor. Oh, I do love a good cuddle with a newborn. The mom was in labor for several hours. (In Western countries this is nothing out of the norm and you often hear women say they were in labor for 18 or 20 hours but here that is not the case. After a couple hours of second stage labor the mom and baby are at risk). This mother spent 7 hours in labor. The baby finally came but was very, very small – 1.6 kilos which is about 3 pound (1 kilo = 2.2 pounds). Then the midwife said there was a second baby. The twin started to come out, but instead of head first a foot and hand were coming out. You could see its tiny foot and hand sticking out and when the midwife and doctor checked the head was coming as well. The midwife repositioned the baby and some how managed to get it so only the head was coming. After over an hour the twin working its way into the world it came out flat. Doctor took the baby and began using an ambu bag to breathe for the baby while Belinda did CPR. I didn’t know what to do so I grabbed the baby’s legs and held them to try to keep it warm. After over 30 minutes of CPR and two adrenaline shots to the heart the baby still wasn’t breathing on its own and had a very faint heartbeat. It was incredibly sad and had it not have been for the mother watching me I would have broken down. I hadn’t had anything to drink or eat since breakfast and felt like I was going to faint. I held back tears until I came home. I hugged my puppy and had a cry before getting food and water. When Belinda came home she said she put the twin that survived in the bassinette with his sister and he put his arm on her. We had a cry together and talked about how if we were in a Western country this wouldn’t have happened. The mom would have had prenatal care and the babies would have been delivered by c-section the second there was any sign of distress for the baby. But we are not in a Western country, we are in PNG where access to adequate healthcare is not an option. And moms and babies don’t always survive childbirth and this realization weighs heavy in my heart.

SLIGHTLY HUMEROUS

To leave things on a lighter note here’s a slightly comical story. While sitting at home with all the windows open I heard a song blaring from someone’s cell phone across the street. I recognized the beat and was a little proud that I was beginning to identify PNG music. After enjoying the song for a few moments I realized it wasn’t, in fact, a PNG song. It was Justin Beiber. Oops! It looks as though I’ve been out of “civilization” for a bit too long.

If that story wasn’t enough to end on a good note, here are some cute, cuddly critter photos to bring back the warm and fuzzies.

Davos's first bath. He was covered in fleas and would have
preferred to keep it that way rather than to endure a bath.
Baths are not among his favorite pastimes.

Davos and Kitty Cat quickly became besties/rumble buddies.
These two would spend hours wrestling together.

After hours of rumbling together came hours of napping together.

Hide and Seek anyone?

More rumbling

And more napping

Davos - "Do you really think something this adorable would have done
something as naughty as chewing on the couch? I mean, honestly?"
(By the way he did not chew that hole. It was already there. He was
only chewing on the string hanging down so he was still a naughty puppy,
but not as naughty as it looks)