Perfect Ending to an Outstanding Week

So the rest of last week was pretty hard to top after delivering my first baby but it honestly got better! I am now friends with pretty much everyone on the unit, doctors, residents, nurses, EVERYONE! Fernando and Maria Fernanda greeted me this morning (Thursday) with a kiss on the cheek and we saw a birth right away. Actually, Fernando was the pediatrician and almost forgot!! I looked behind me and saw him sprinting to the scrub station as this lady was pushing. The woman was my age (22) and she had a girl. During the birth, Jen and I held her hands and caressed her shoulder but I noticed she was not breathing right and her lips were turning blue. After the birth, I thought she might perk up when they brought in her new baby girl for a kiss on the cheek. Instead, she just layed there and showed completely no interest. Fernando, although being up since 8 AM the previous morning, whisked the baby away to the nursery. She was really blue and I got nervous so I left and went back to check on the mom. Unfortunately she was not much better and they began giving her oxygen as they called other doctors (anesthesiologists, internal medicine, I think?) to help intibate her. Apparently she went into shock because she suffered from pre-eclampsia. As I returned the nursery, Fernando was giving the little baby oxygen and suddenly she began to cry. I can not describe the joy and heartwarming that comes with hearing a baby cry for the first time. It chokes me up and gives me goosebumps each time. She was only 30 weeks only and tiny. From what I could understand between Fernando and Maria, the mom became hypoxic and was loosing a lot of blood after delivery. Apparently, she came into the ER that morning around 6 AM and they diagnosed her as pre-eclamptic and gave her magnesium sulfate to help lower her blood pressure. Unfortunately, the ER docs did not make a note of the dosage on her chart so the doctors in Sala de Partos gave her even MORE mag. The membrane around the baby had also ruptured and no one had reported that as well. Therefore, because of the overdose she went into shock and they had to sedate and intubate her. It was a scary sight to watch but after a few hours they had her stablized and I was assured she would recover fully. That would be a lawsuit waiting to happen in the US. Fernando and Maria are so great!! I absolutely loved working with them. Fernando was teasing me because I told him Ecuador was NOT a third world country in my opinion and for an example, I said, "You have cell phones." He laughed and then I asked later if they gave Rhogam to women who were Rh- and he said, "Of course! Yes Hilary, we have cell phones and rhogam here." I about died. I love talking with him and he´s absolutely brillant! I learned that when they are "on call" they spend 28 hours straight at the hospital with 1 or 2 hour nap the entire time. Dr. Marquez has beeing amazing as well. He taught me how to feel the baby´s body while it was still inside mom and I also got to watch him perform a c-section today. Fernando told me hates gynocology but he loves babies! He wasnt to be a urologist in 2 months when he graduates. I am so sad that tomorrow is my last day! I have met and became friends with so many people even though it has only been 1 week! I learned Maria studied in Montana for 11 months and speaks English very well. She also told me that a lot of girls here, name Maria, prefer to be called by their first and last name because ¨Maria¨sounds like a housewife´s name. Her and Fernando are absolutely incredible and are going to be outstanding doctors. So right as I was getting ready to head out another lady goes into birth and Fernando runs and asks me if I want to do his job, which includes taking the baby after it is born to the nursery, basically being the pediatrician. Uh, YES!! So not only did I get to deliver a baby, I also got to play pediatrician and take care of it afterwards. After the OB doc sets the baby on the mom´s stomach, I suctioned the mouth and nose and began stimulating the feet and back. It was a little girl and she started crying immediately! I even got to give AP GAR scores, MOM! She was an 8 after 1 minute and 10 after 5. A perfectly healthy baby :) I couldn´t have asked for a better way to end a perfect week at La Maternidad. Fernando invited me to come back whenever and I may have to take him up on the offer later this week or weekend!