A hard day

This is a hard post to write. So, actually, I am not going to write it. I am copying below an e-mail Dan wrote to some of our family members (with just a little bit of editing). I will write more later. Thank you for your prayers.

We are okay.  Sarah started to have some bleeding on Friday afternoon.  We went to the local clinic on Saturday evening and got an ultrasound.  Sarah had gotten an ultrasound there 2 weeks ago.  The doctor confirmed that the baby had not grown at all over the past two weeks and was probably not alive anymore. 

This morning (Sunday morning) was pretty scary, as the miscarriage was in full swing.  A Canadian midwife was here to help Sarah.  Together, we monitored her blood pressure and were in nearly constant contact with Sarah’s dad (Roy, who is a medical doctor) in North Carolina via cell phone. 

Sarah was losing a lot of blood, and her blood pressure was going down.  I asked my co-workers to get a plane ready so we could fly Sarah to the coast where there are “better” medical facilities there, but it quickly became apparent that Sarah would not be able to make the 1 hour flight. 

Because it was Sunday morning here, everything is closed.  All of the pharmacies are closed, most doctors are not around, and I think the local “hospital” is pretty much closed too.  Thankfully, after a bunch of calling around, the doctor who gave Sarah the ultra sound the night before was willing to see her at the local clinic. 

We got Sarah over to the clinic.  The doctor wanted to do a D&C procedure, to remove the baby and all that was causing her to lose so much blood, this would require her to be put to sleep.  I was really not excited about this.  Roy told me on the phone that this was probably what Sarah needed, that it would probably save her life.  So, we had the procedure done.  I was able to stay at Sarah’s side the whole time.  She came through like a champion, though there were a few times I was scared that she had stopped breathing.  Sarah finished one more bottle of IV fluid at the clinic, then we were released to come home.  Sarah has been resting on the couch since, and has done a good job eating and drinking. 

We are okay.  I am very thankful Sarah is still with us.  Of course we are very sad that our baby is not, but my fear was that today was going to be much, much worse than it was.