A Gift

Last night just as I was pulling out the pizzas for Family Fun Night and talking to Tim's parents...my neighbor called. She told me our friend down the hill, Zhuan was having her baby and wanted me to come. I was so excited. I think I said good-bye to the in-laws...but I can't be sure. I love pizza but I was so excited to get to the hospital, I skipped the  meal. I got there in plenty of time though and was able to go into the room to help her labor. I wish I could have taken other pictures...but I didn't want to offend or draw more attention to myself. So I will have to use my words to describe it. Picture a really dirty room. Dirtier than your brother's room when you were a teenager. I am talking years of dirt and filth. This room has 6 beds, all covered in blue vinyl. There were at least a dozen women in this room. There were 4 patients though. One was my friend Zhuan, 2 others were women in labor and another was a woman miscarrying her 3rd child. This was horrifying to me. This woman in particular was cramping terribly and moaning. Everyone was talking about her. There was NO privacy. One woman stayed rolled up in a ball on her bed and silently cried through each contraction, while her mom rubbed her back. Another woman who was having her 6th child and was HUGE had a terribly angry look on her face the whole time and her young, teenage daughter was frightened half to death trying to support her giant mom through each contraction. Zhuan was amazing though. She walked through each contraction and just sat on the edge of the bed in between contractions. She would grip the side of the bed and bend over during the hard ones, but hardly made a sound. Each woman must come prepared with their own rags, blankets and anything else they want for the baby. They labor completely by themselves. Their are only 2 nurses on duty. No doctors! Each woman brings a couple of women to help them. I got to help rub her back during contractions and pray over her continually. She was scared to actually deliver the baby. I couldn't imagine why...she seemed so strong to me. But when we ended up in the delivery room...picture something really old and dingy and dirty. The nurses were wearing white jackets...or they used to be white and their street clothes. Their hands were horribly dirty. But they did wear gloves...however in between contractions they were touching poles and tables and even other women and re-using the same gloves. So horrible. At any rate...I will spare you the gory details, but the delivery was so ROUGH. For those of you who think you had a rough or grumpy delivery nurse...think again! These women were straight out of the village or the 1800s. They were nice and laughed, but they could have cared less about their patient. She was allowed to scream or cry out. They rushed her through the entire process. It is NOT what birth is supposed to be about.  But somehow my friend made it through. She kept her eyes locked on mine while I held a leg and I just quietly reassured her that she was doing a good job. After a short time, her baby was quickly delivered. It was SO amazing! She was perfect in every way...except VERY blue. But her color quickly came back and she seems to be fine. Of course there was no apgar test or anyone to care for the baby. She was given to an old woman who roughly dressed her...NO bath...and then left lying on another bed. I ran to her and scooped her up. I was the first to whisper words of love to her. I told her how beautiful she is, how loved she is by the Father and how special she is. What a gift to be the first to whisper those words to a little gift from heaven. The women here do not know how to emotionally care for their children. They do love them, but they remain aloof and distant for the most part. Zhuan hadn't even touched her baby by the time I left 2 hours after her birth. God redeem these women. Redeem this sweet baby, may she grow up always believing those first words spoken over her.