Thursday was another one of those days that reaffirmed our claim:

You just never know what a day may bring here at RHFH!

Around 9:00am, a small group of people showed up at the Clinic carrying a woman on a bed.  They began their walk down the paths of the mountains at 3:00am, knowing this woman was in dire need of help.  For six hours they carried her, determined and hopeful.  But you see, it wasn’t just a woman on that bed; her newborn son was laying there on that bed as well.  She had delivered the good-sized baby boy the night before at 10:00pm.  For some strange reason, the placenta would not deliver.  The baby still was attached to the umbilical cord, which was still attached inside his mother’s womb.

Licia and Nurse Benita cut the umbilical cord.  The woman, whose name is Rajina, was helped up to her feet and walked into the exam room, accompanied by her midwife and the midwife’s assistant.  The anxious father waited outside.  Lori proceeded to assess the situation, which didn’t make much sense at first.  The fetal Doppler was then brought into the picture, just to see if there might be something else in that belly besides a placenta.  That’s when we heard it – a heartbeat!  It took just a minute for Lori to confirm that the heartbeat the monitor was picking up was absolutely not the mother’s.  Rajina unknowingly was carrying twins, and this second baby was turned in an odd position, unable to pass through the birth canal.  Lori carefully tried to turn the baby, but was unable to.  Rajina was still dilated, but wasn’t in pain.  Very odd, indeed.

Lori explained the situation to a very scared Rajina, a stunned papa and the midwife.   The decision was made to send them in to Arcahaie to a clinic that had recently been set up where Cesarian sections can be performed.  No vehicles were available to take Rajina, but thankfully the RHFH truck was here at the time.  Some bedding was set up in the bed of the truck, and a birthing kit was given to the midwife just in case a delivery happened en route.  Rajina, the papa, the midwife, and a small crew of RHFH folks loaded up to make the bumpy, rough drive to Arcahaie.

Driving slow to ease the intensity of the horrible Cazale Road bumps, the trip took about 45 minutes.  The sun beat down and the dust was thick, but the trip went well.  It was miserable for that tired momma, and about the time her discomfort was about to be unbearable, the truck reached the pavement of Route Nationale 1.  A fairly smooth ride for the remainder of the trip allowed Rajina to rest.  Upon arrival at the Arcahaie clinic, she was eased into a wheelchair and whisked away by a nurse and doctor.

The RHFH crew returned to Cazale and the wait for news began.

Friday afternoon, the news finally arrived.

Rajina stopped by RHFH on her way home from delivering her second baby, a girl!  Several doctors had to work on the baby’s positioning, but they were finally able to turn her so that Rejina could deliver her without requiring a Cesarian section.  Incredible!  Momma and babies are doing great.  Papa seems good, too!

Two babies, alive and well!

A very proud and relieved momma and papa pose with one of their new babies. In the background, Licia puts a new hat on the other baby.

Baby boy - he is one day older than his twin sister!

Baby boy was a BIG baby for being a twin!

Baby girl looks great and seems healthy. We wonder if she will be a shy child? 🙂

Baby girl was only a little bit smaller than her brother.

Rajina rests with her son as a very pleased midwife looks on.

We are all in awe of the strength of Rajina.  She is one tough momma.  We are also in awe of a gracious God who hears our prayers, and gave this sweet family a happy ending to a story that could easily have turned out tragically.

Won’t you join us in giving Him thanks for protecting this momma and her precious babies?

TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY!