Part 2 Thank You for the Blood

Relieved and ever so grateful that Joelle had been delivered safely and was beautiful and healthy, I turned my attention to the next stage of delivery. I had remembered with my firstborn that the placenta came out fairly easily and so I wondered after two tries and a couple of injections why this placenta was not coming out. I could tell there was a bit of concern on my doctor's face but doctors are always serious when blood is involved. Smile! After the third and incredibly painful try to deliver the placenta, I knew something might not be right. When my friend AC told me to give her my hand because they were going to put in an IV, I knew there was trouble. Shortly after the IV was in, my doctor came to my side, took my hand and in his very, sweet, gentle Indian voice told me he couldn’t get the placenta out because it was “stuck to the uterus wall.” He told me he had to take me to the “theatre” (the term here for Operating Room A.K.A. OR). I asked him if I really had to go to the theater after all that hard work and all that natural work, and he answered me with a sad yes. I aksed immediately if he would have to cut me open to get it out and to my and Matt’s relief he said, “No!” But he did tell me he had to put me under.

For one split second, I thought would panic but because I knew I had no other choice and knew God was on the throne and in total control, I decided to trust Him. Several people were moving quickly preparing me for the trip and Matt was off with baby. There two very sweet people who helped me transfer my tender body onto a gurny and I will never forget the sweet man who wheeled me to my destination. His calm, sweet voice was a comfort I needed before I entered a very chaotic environment. I chose to keep my eyes closed so I wouldn’t see anyone looking at me nor the sights around. This proved to be a great choice because the hospital was under construction so in order to get to the OR, I had to be wheeled OUTSIDE and quite a distance. Giggling to myself of what I must look like, the Lord began to put worship songs on my heart and I began to sing. My friend AC was quickly by my side, and promised me she would stay as close as possible. That was a huge comfort and I smiled knowing I was loved.

As I entered the OR room that was incredibly noisy and bright (even through my closed eyes) I was so grateful for the amazing peace I felt from the Lord. My doctor came to me and for a brief moment I opened my eyes to ask for water as I was desperately thirsty. I was met with a, “No please!” from my concerned doctor. I later learned that I was loosing a lot of blood and he was anxious to get the procedure done to stop the bleeding. I was wheeled into a corner that was sectioned off by what seemed like a curtain in my quick glance. There were people buzzing all around me and when I opened my eyes to see who was near me I saw two men in green masks and quickly decided keeping my eyes closed was still best! I began to sing from my heart and out loud. With what seemed like a quick examination, I was wheeled speedily away but a problem arose. My arms were attached to things that were still attached to the wall in the corner. Not only was I still attached to the blood pressure cord, my IV had been attached to the wall and anymore pulling might have tugged the needle out. As my arms were being stretched above my head, people were calling out in their Kenyan accents, “Wait, wait, she is still attached!” I almost laughed out loud thinking this couldn’t be real.

When I knew I was in the OR room I was comforted again by a sweet lady who turned out to be my anesthesiologist and my doctors wife. She kept telling the men handling me (the ones in the green masks) to remember I was a person and a patient and to me more gentle. I was in total agreement with her feeling the tenderness of just having birthed my girl. I continued to sing and knew the Lord was present with me and there was nothing to fear. On a 1, 2, 3, I was lifted onto to the hard, stiff operating table. There was one more chance for a panic moment feeling the hard table and imagining where I was but the Lord continued to fill me with His peace and put the song, “Thank you for the blood” on my heart. The chorus says, “Thank You for the blood, thank you for Your Son, thank you for Your love, thank you for Jesus.” I kept singing with my dry mouth and as the sweet anesthesiologist told me she was going to put me to sleep, I asked her if I could keep singing. She replied, “Oh yes, it is comforting me!” I knew I wasn’t the only one feeling the chaos in the Theatre. Smile! The last thing I remember was singing the last line, “Thank you for Jesus!”

All glory to God, everything went smooth and well and when I came to pleading for water, I could only speak Kiswahili. Now, I am learning the language and can speak a little but I am by no means fluent, so to be able to only speak Kiswahili was amazing. I really didn’t start speaking English until I was fully awake. Ha! A friend told me she thought it was more in my heart than I knew. When I thought about things later, I thought how funny it was and how cool it was that God had put that specific song on my heart. I could only imagine what my doctor thought as I sang, “thank you for the blood” as he prepared to fix a blood issue. My sincere prayer is that he and his wife would know the cleansing, powerful, loving blood of Jesus Christ and always remember the peace that filled that theatre that day. All glory to our mighty God!!!

When Matt came into our room with our little girl, she was all dressed in cute clothes wrapped in sweet blankets that had been given to us as gifts from friends in the States. Daddy had done an amazing job through it all and we were so happy the Lord had faithfully brought us through. What a Mighty God we serve!

Peg for The P4