The Triplets

This story is being written with permission from the parents of the babies.


On November 10, 2016, the hospital’s chaplain introduced me to a young couple; an 18-year-old female (Gina) and a 19- year old male (Prince). Gina, 7 months pregnant with triplets at that time, had been admitted for malaria and anemia management. Gina is an orphan whose mom passed when she (Gina) was 3 years old.  Due to what I will describe as complex family issues, this couple had trouble paying their hospital bills. In addition, they were being evicted from their home. We settled their bills with help from the Anidasowoha fund and followed up on their accommodation issues.

After multiple discussions with family members, we found accommodation for them; the boy would stay with his mom until high school graduation (he is in the final year) and the girl, with her sister (Tina) until the babies were born. During this process, we met several family members including the young girl’s family head. The family head is the person in charge of the extended family unit. Culturally, it is advisable and appropriate to involve the family head in such issues. Since the girl was an orphan, it was necessary for the family head to be notified of the current situation and our involvement in providing aid.

Around 12:30 am on December 17, 2016, as I prepared to go to bed, I received a panic call from Tina informing me that Gina was having severe abdominal pains. Gina had been staying with Tina due to accommodation issues. Gina was in the 30th week of pregnancy at that time and I knew this could be early labor. So, I advised them to come to the hospital. Public transportation at that time of the night was difficult to find but Tina’s landlord had a van and agreed to bring them to the hospital (a 45-minute commute) for a small fee.

I made coffee (I had been up since 6:00 am the previous day), took my trusted flashlight, left my house at 1:00 am and got on the dark dusty road for my 10-minute walk to meet Gina and Tina at the hospital. They arrived around 1:30 am and we rushed Gina to the maternity unit. After paying the driver, I rushed back to the maternity unit to assess the situation with the midwives. We discovered that Gina was in labor and was 3 cm dilated. So, we notified the Gynecologist who directed us to initiate IV fluids and wait for further instruction. He finally showed up around 4:30 am and Gina delivered the first baby at 4:45 am. Because they were preterm, the triplets had birth weights of 1.3kg (3lbs), 1.8kg (4lbs) and 1.6kg (3.5lbs) respectively. Despite their low birth weights, they were active and had vigorous cries (a good sign).


The week-old female triplets undergoing phototherapy at the tertiary hospital in Kumasi



Because our facility isn’t equipped to manage critical cases such as this, the plan was to transfer them to the tertiary hospital in Kumasi. Unfortunately, we had to wait for a family member to arrive before we could transfer them (her sister, Tina, had traveled back to their house to gather some items for the babies). Due to complex issues, hospitals wouldn’t receive patients without a family member accompanying the patient. I left the hospital around 3:00 pm because the triplets had been stable since birth. Around 5:00 pm I received a call that they had been taken to the tertiary center for further management.

By God’s grace the triplets are doing well. They’ve had a few setbacks concerning feeding and weight gain but we are trusting God to keep caring for them.  On January 13, 2017, they were discharged from the hospital. Again, we helped with the hospital bills using support from the Anidasowoha fund. Special thanks to Emilie Conant of Andover United Methodist (Lexington, KY) whose generous donation has helped us in providing support to Gina and the triplets.



Peacefully sleeping after Kangaroo Care. 

 Thank you all for your prayers and support. Please keep the triplets and their parents in your prayers because they have challenging days ahead. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
The Beard must go…. The past week has been very busy albeit interesting. Esther (my sister) visited on Wednesday and advised me to shave the beard I’ve been growing. Apparently, having a beard in Ghana is associated with being a Muslim. She is scared of men with beards. Nevertheless, she hugged me so that was nice. We had a good visit and it was good to see her again. Esther and I at the mission guest house in Tanoso. She says the beard must go ;)  The team spent 4 days (Thursday – Sunday) at Agona Swedro (Central Region) with clinics and crusades held at Beseadze (about 30-minute drive from Agona). Agona Swedro is in the Central region and about a 2.5 hour from Kumasi (Ashanti region). The location of the clinics and crusades was between a shrine and a mosque. In Ghana, shrines are used by traditional believers (they worship tress, stones, rivers and animals). Therefore, we found it interesting that such a location was approved by the chief. But, the chief has aut...
Read more

One week Medical Mission in Ankaase

It’s been a while since I posted anything on here. Lots have happened since my last post including a recent marriage and job transfer to the Philadelphia area. The Lord has been good to us. On September 21, 2018 I joined Randall Brooks, Dan Chettleburgh, Leigh Scott and Linda Forbes, physical, occupational and recreational therapists from South Bend (Indiana), at JFK for a flight to Ghana. We traveled to Ankaase to work on improving function for stroke patients. We will also be working with  patients with musculoskeletal injuries/pain. The team's Facebook page and pictures can be assessed   here    The journey to Ankaase was uneventful. We arrived on Saturday September 22, 2018  1 pm local time and settled in the hospital’s guest house. Currently, Ghana is 4 hours ahead of eastern standard time. After a brief resting period, we toured the town and took in the sights and scenes. On Sunday September 23, we attended a community church service that was ...
Read more

Preventive Healthcare

Image
On Friday May 19, 2017 I joined community health nurses (CHN) from the hospital and traveled 3 miles Northwest of Ankaase to Dumakyi, a small farming community, to conduct vaccination screening, also known locally as a health outreach program. Dumakyi lacks running water, electricity and basic public transportation. Residents, mostly cocoa farmers living in mud thatched houses, walk to the hospital, 3 miles away, when they are sick. The distance and lack of transportation discourages them from bringing their children for scheduled clinical review and obtaining the required vaccinations. To combat this problem, CHNs visit and vaccinate the children right in their backyard. CHNs setting up under the teak tree. Some students milling about the place before class. We arrived at 9:30 am on Friday morning and set up office under a teak tree in front of the local primary/middle school. Despite bringing the free vaccination exercise to the community, parents are still reluctant to...
Read more