In His Time

I wiped the sweat from my face with the top of my scrub sleeve as I bent over the low clinic bed to check my patients pulse. I smiled at the beautiful picture in front of me: A brand-new mother holding her little baby pretty much fresh off the press. :) Not even an hour old, she seemed to have already made herself at home in this strange, non-fluid environment. I congratulated Claire again; I was so proud of her. It had been a long hard labor.

The day before she was texting me throughout her labour, and I encouraged her to stay home and get lots of rest. At 10pm she texted me again: "Ma'am Sarah I don't know what my feeling is now so I think I should come to Mercy." I had to smile- what a sweet girl!
I met her at the clinic and admitted her soon after since she was far enough along in labour to stay. At around midnight she came to the desk where I was charting. and I leaned over to massage her back through each contraction. She was tired and having bad back labor, and I could see in her eyes that she really needed companionship and comfort. Her husband was sleeping on the bench outside. I took her back to the bed where she non-hesitantly lay down and relaxed as I stood in front of her. I quickly exited the cubical to get to the other side of the bed so I could rub her back, but I had barely shut the curtain before she bolted up out of the bed. NO way was she going to let me leave her alone! :)
By the time the pushing stage began, Claire was exhausted. "Saaaarah, it's so pain!" she kept moaning. "You could can do this Claire." I tried to sound enthusiastic. She would nod in agreement until the next contraction hit. "No, I CAN'T do this! SarAH....is it far?" And so the cycle continued with each contraction. Finally at 6:30am she delivered, and we all cheered as I handed her her little girl. Suddenly she forgot she was exhausted: It was a beautiful moment.

Less than an hour after the birth, I sat beside Claire to monitor her closely and begin charting. But I had barely sat down before my cell phone went off... It was another one of my patients, and it sounded like she was in active labor. She came in soon after, and delivered her baby at 9:30am. It was an eventful morning to say the least.

I finally left the clinic sometime a little after noon, exhausted but full of gratefulness to God for His goodness and grace. Although there had been some major complications, both patients were now stable and recovering. And God had also provided me with the exact number of continuities right on time. It can never be emphasized enough; Great is His faithfulness!

Thank you so much to those of you praying- God never ceases to answer!

"Till next time!"