On Having a Baby in Africa

As you've likely heard, Brennah LaDynne Huckabee was born March 6, 2011 at 2AM Uganda time. When we told our families they told others "My niece was born tomorrow!" 😀

Having her here has been quite the experience all around. It put me way out of my comfort zone. First of all, in the states I know who to call and what to do to go about getting prenatal care. Here I didn't know anyone. After asking around a little, a Dr. and hospital were recommended in Kampala. I made an appointment and saw her last fall. We really liked what we saw at both the hospital and with the Dr. It looked like a "real American hospital". As we talked with her, though, she kept asking us why we were driving all the way to Kampala to have our baby. She recommended a good hospital in Mbarara for us to check out. I didn't really want to. In my mind having as close to an American experience with the whole thing as possible was my goal. Each time I saw the Dr. she said the same thing – that we should check out the hospital here in town. Still I wasn't convinced.

However, as the time drew closer and I realized how little I enjoyed trips to Kampala, the idea began to seem a little more appealing. Not to mention the fact that the Dr. wanted us to come and stay in Kampala around my due date until she was born. Its very expensive for a family of our size to stay in Kampala even for a day or two, let alone for more than a week!

So James and I went and saw the hospital here – Mayanja Memorial Hospital. What we saw impressed us. It was very clean, very organized, all the staff that we met seemed knowledgeable in their job. The rooms were very nice! So, after much prayer and thought and consideration, we decided to try for the delivery here, rather than in Kampala. The midwife we met and saw there said, "We'll see you soon! Just come in when you are in labor!" If only it were that easy!

So we waited, and waited. The due date came and went. We kept up with my blood pressure and stuff and all was well but no baby was born. On Monday, February 28, James and I talked and I asked him "At what point do we do something about this instead of just waiting?" He replied, "Let's give it until Friday. If nothing has happened then, we'll see what the Dr. suggests." So Friday I went and saw the Dr. at the hospital here. They couldn't get a good feel on the babies position or size and since I was past due they wanted to do an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed that the placenta was alarmingly calcified and that we needed to deliver the baby right away. I suggested waiting until Monday but he didn't even want to wait that long. He told us to come in the next morning and they'd start the induction then.

Next morning we arrived at 9AM. However, one of the Drs that they needed to be there didn't arrive until almost 11AM so we sat and waited for a LONG time in our room. Then they assessed me and determined that we had to go the long road – half of a little pill that should help things get ready and maybe even start labor if my body was ready to do that. So I took that half of a pill. Within half an hour, contractions started. They weren't super painful but they were there. After six hours, at 6PM, they checked again. No significant progress so they gave me the other half of the pill. WHAM! In 30 min. The contractions were coming very hard and very regularly! I couldn't hardly believe how fast things went then. By 10PM I was 6 cm. dilated and by 12:30AM I was complete. However, the Dr on duty in the night didn't want to check me until 2AM!!! James told the nurses they better get him before then or we'd be delivering that baby without him. 🙂 At 1:30 I started pushing. I was so tired that it was hard to work with my body to finish it. After a couple pushes I was finally able to start to feel and remember what to do. By 2AM she was born. It was such a relief to hear her little cry and to have her laid up on my chest for me to hold and touch. Then they took her off to clean her up and finish things with me.

There are so many things that were quite different than the other deliveries I've had in America. For one thing, the nurses and midwives kept coming in to make sure I was eating and drinking. I was encouraged to eat all the way to the end of the labor process. For another thing, they were avoiding as much as possible doing anything intrusive. They never even suggested an IV. We were pretty much left alone except for brief visits to check my blood pressure and the baby's heart rate. And after all the clean-up from delivery was finished we were left to sleep until morning. It was wonderful!

We've been having random water outages and I guess Saturday was one of those days. So the hospital was without water by the time I finished delivering. They did have water that they brought in so I got a sort of sponge bath, but there wasn't water for a shower or anything. By next morning the water had been turned back on and we had some water for flushing toilets and washing hands and stuff. It was interesting to say the least!

The morning after Brennah was born, several total strangers came to visit us to see the Mzungu baby. Since white people don't have many babies (they think) seeing one who did was quite the novelty. Three ladies came to visit and all wanted to hold her. Then, a little later another lady and man came in to see her. It was pouring rain outside and kind of chilly, but I had Brennah wrapped up and warm with a hat on. Still, they thought she was cold and kept telling me that. They said she needed a "shawl" which is a big heavy fleece blanket. Whew! It made me hot thinking about it for her! I just kept telling them she was fine. Even the Dr. told me not to let her get cold and to wrap her well. Sigh. I told him I'd had babies in America where it was MUCH colder than here and she seemed fine to me. 😀

Our discharge was super easy. James paid for our bill and we were free to go. Less than 12 hours after she was born, we were home and able to rest in our own beds and be around our family. It was really nice! The kids were so excited to meet her and she seemed really content as they took turns holding her and we got pictures. She still really likes to have them all around and tries as hard as she can to see them. It is so precious to see all of the kids so excited about their new sister.