Chattanooga Medical Team - SUNDAY NIGHT/MONDAY MORNING SPECIAL NEWS!!

Sunday night, after a long day of qualifying and preparing for surgeries for the week, the team decides to take a walk.  We didn’t get far though, God had other plans.  A father of a young lady met us at the front gate and asked if we could perform a cesarean section on his wife who was experiencing complications.  The team sprung into action – we weren’t supposed to begin until tomorrow, but they were excited to bring this baby into the world.

As it turned out, she was in labor and the decision was to wait.  The baby’s vitals seemed fine, the woman was doing well, and the “bleeding” she reported was not a problem.  So the team turned in for the night while the local nurses cared for the woman.

12:05, August 26, 2013, there is a knock on our door.  It started quietly, but soon the dogs got in on the action and I finally jumped up to find out what was going on.  “We need Dr Del” was the reply I received when I opened the door.  Del Ashcraft got up and headed off and I went back to bed to try to sleep.  However, just 10 minutes later, Del reemerged in the room and said, “we are doing a C-section”.  Instantly the room was alive with action, and I went down the hall and awoke the women. 

Because of the earlier situation, the team knew where everything was and where everything needed to go.  As a result, by 12:20, our team members were in the operating area and were ready to go. 

Jonathan and Stephen took care of the spinal anesthesia, the nurses had the warming bed ready, and the supplies ready for the surgery.  Surgery began without much of a hitch.  The bevel (the cauterizing unit) was not functioning correctly, but that was remedied rather quickly.  Within moments, the uterine wall was exposed and shortly after the little girl entered the world.

This is where the real excitement began.  Dr Del, with the little girl still in his right hand and his left hand in the uterus, exclaimed, “we need to get another warmer ready!”  That’s right, this woman was having twins.

Just a minute after his sister, the young boy, much smaller than his sister, entered the world as well.  The team handled the surprise very well, and both babies were cared for well.

Why is this such a personal story?  Because today, August 26^th happens to be my 45^th birthday.  And for a present, God started my day with a woman, who, apart from the intervention of this team, might have lost a child, lost 2 children, or may have even lost her life.  God gave me the gift of reminding me how much He loved us by bringing our group here to “save” this woman.  This is just the beginning, as we have shared the truth of the gospel with the woman and her family, and our prayer is that both of these children also come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.