Sixty and Counting!

This weekend's hospital visit in numbers.

12 - mamas
7 - beds
4 - healthy deliveries in five hours
20 - deliveries during the previous night!
1 - suspected placenta praevia (which in the end was negative despite the incredible amount of blood loss whose origin is still unknown)
2 - ampules of oxytocin drawn up by yours truly (thankful for my medical training)
2 - postpartum hemorrhages
1 - MAJOR miscommunication where I thought the mama said, "no hope" and my mind immediately went to "the baby is dead" when in reality she said, "i no op" (not open), meaning that her cervix wasn't dilating. Wow. 
1 - visiting child; the son of a staff member
1 - small rat in the tea room (not Oscar)
1 - visiting child employing the use of a spoon to catch said rat and inviting me to join him in this endeavor
1 - rat escaping the clutches of a child, his rat-catching spoon, and a doula in the wrong place at the wrong time
3 - pairs of gloves 
4 - incredibly smelly armpits
1 - mama, banshee-screeching in my right ear
1 - back spasm
3 - delightful post-delivery conversations with exhausted but incandescently happy mothers
1 - mop bucket
1 - can of olives (lunch of procrastinators champions)
32 - full beds in the postnatal ward
4 - mamas given spots on the floor in the postnatal ward
1 - mama passing out and being caught just before hitting the floor
2 - mothers seemingly competing for "Who can scream the loudest?"
3 - cockroaches skittering past my feet
3 - water cups shared among 7 mothers
2 - slip-on shoes worn interchangeably by anyone who goes into the communal bathroom
0 - clean bed sheets left after a crazy-busy night 
3 - new labour beds with legit stirrups and removable ends for obstetric procedures!
1 - new baby warmer!
2 - midwives with terrific senses of humor
1 - bit of good news about my midwife friend and her new baby girl delivered by c-section two weeks ago
60 - estimated number of deliveries I've been actively involved in in the two years I've been going to the ward
100+ - estimated number of deliveries I've seen in the last two years

1 - full and happy day in the labour ward!