It's Not a Dog, But . . .

For the few months prior to our departure, Anna was in hot pursuit to get a dog for a pet. This desire was fueled by her cousins recent addition of a puppy to their family. The standard response at our house was, "after Africa, we will consider it." It would seem prudent to own a home and have a steady income prior to having a dog.

For any of you that follow the McCropder's blog, the following will sound familiar...It only took Anna 2 weeks to find her first pet here. Can you guess what it is? Hint: it is sitting on the banana in the fruit basket below.

We have also provided a more magnified view for those of you not familiar with possible African pets.

Yes, a chameleon. His name is Franklin and he is fitting in quite well. He is gentle and from what we can tell, his sole purpose in life is to eat bugs. He resides either on the fruit basket or between the window and screen. We are unsure what the next pet will be, but we promise to keep you all posted.

Loss

Ironic that our last post was the "The Perfect Day," and now I am writing one entitled "Loss." This probably best exemplifies life for the Kenyan people. Although there is much sun and smiles here, life in a developing country is fragile. Loss is woven into the fabric of life for Kenyans.

My first call was Friday. I was called to the Operating Room for a woman who had presented at 35 weeks gestation with a baby in the breech presentation. She had been bleeding, but fetal heart tones were briefly auscultated at the time she arrived. The patient was being prepped for surgery when I got to the OR. The C-section was complicated because the baby was actually in a transverse lie (sideways) with an arm presentation. The baby was delivered lifeless and did not survive.

Was it the difficult delivery, the bleeding prior to her presentation to the hospital, or the fact that fetal heart tones were not continuously monitored that resulted in the lost? I will never know. In the States, if mom presents with a live fetus to the hospital, she usually leaves the hospital with a liveborn child. But not here in Africa. Fetal monitoring is not available and loss is unfortunately inevitable. I'm acutely aware that this will not be the last loss of a patient I will have while serving in Africa. I must find peace with the limited resources and put faith in God's plan. I ask for prayers for this patient and all the Kenyan people who have experienced loss.

A Perfect Day

Yesterday was an amazing day for me - a working mom searching for balance between career and family. My day started with a run at 6:30 am with Heather and Alyssa, new friends who are both missionaries here at Tenwek for 2 years. Between the hills, high altitude, and mud caking onto our shoes from the unpaved roads, I had to stop and walk a few times. The walking did give me an excuse to take in the beautiful scenery: lush green valleys, exotic flowers, and a huge waterfall. Did I mention a donkey and a cow leisurely walking along our path?

I was home in time to let Bryan get to work - morning report at 8 am. Anna and I then started her homeschooling at 9 am. This may be one of my most challenging yet rewarding jobs. I get one-on-one time with Anna, and I have the opportunity to learn all kinds of fun topics. During this time, Leo plays with our Kenyan nanny, Miss Sheila. We took a break at 10:30 am to walk Leo to preschool, then back to the books. At 1 pm, Anna and I were done with school for the day.

We then had lunch with Daddy. Bryan has made it home for lunch every day that he has worked so far. It helps that it is only a two minute walk from our front door to the hospital. It's fascinating, though, that at a hospital with many deliveries per day and a busy gynecology service, that people find time for lunch.

At lunch, Bryan informed me that he had a patient scheduled for a LeFort procedure (a surgery to reduce complete uterovaginal prolapse). He asked if I wanted to scrub with him...He didn't have to ask me twice! Between the two of us, we had only performed four of these surgeries - which we found out later was more experience than anyone else had there. The patient, a sweet 70+ year old women, had eight vaginal deliveries in the past and presented with one year worsening history of prolapse and pressure. Before the surgery, she grabbed both our hands and with genuine gratitude in her eyes thanked us. We prayed with her before we started the surgery.

An hour and a half later, Bryan and I were done with our first surgery together. It was so fun to work together, since we don't have the opportunity to do this in the States.

We then performed a bilateral tubal ligation on another patient. The patient only received local anesthesia and she didn't even flinch once. Boy, are these women stoic!

So between 2:30 pm and 5:00 pm, we did two surgeries. We were both home by 5:05 pm to let Sheila go home. We then had dinner at home together and spent the rest of the night reading books. I have to say...It was a perfect day. I know there can be many challenging days ahead (both at work and at home), but I am happy with the way it has started.

Teachers

It seemed odd to have a scalpel in my hands after a 2 month break from the OR. Today was my first day at the hospital. I delivered my first Kenyan baby - a girl. (Please do not ask me her name as my Swahili is nonexistent). I also performed four other surgeries. As many of you are aware, there are 3 families at Tenwek that came from Michigan. Rachel McLaughlin is part of this group, an Ob/Gyn that trained in our residency program. As our day started today, she said "I think I am more nervous than you." For her 4 years of training I was her teacher, but today the tables were turned and I was looking to her for answers and reassurance. For anyone that knows Rachel, she played the teacher role flawlessly.

Speaking of teaching, Toanh has had the opportunity to spend 2 days with Anna as her 2nd grade home school teacher. It appears to be going well. Tomorrow there is going to be a substitute teacher - Dad!

Our House

The backyard

The fireplace in the second story porch

Steve in our kitchen

Our living and dining room


Office

Hall bathroom

Anna and Leo's bedroom

Our room

Guest room

Homeschool room

Safe Arrival

We arrived safely to Tenwek Hospital on Wednesday night. Slowly but surely, we are unpacking and adjusting to the 7 hour time change. Even by Day #3 of life at Tenwek Hospital, we realized we could not have scripted it better. It is humbling to witness the generosity here. We are meeting so many wonderful people. Anna and Leo have made instant friends with the other missionary children. We toured the hospital today and are looking forward to starting work next week. Leo started preschool today with 3 other missionary kids and he loved it! Anna starts homeschooling on Monday. Thank you for all your prayers and support and we will be adding more to the blog soon. Just wanted all of you to know we are safe and happy.