Not what was planned

So, I was planning on writing a blog post on spending thanksgiving in another country. I wanted to explain how it was fun to spend thanksgiving with strangers that I only met a week ago. I couldn't help relating to the pilgrims who relied on other strangers for help! But, a more exciting story happened that pretty much wiped out any excitement I had over thanksgiving!

Where do I start?... Well, on Friday we were planning on flying from my small town, Mabaruma, into the main town, Georgetown, so that I could get my temporary nursing permit. The plan was to leave around 10. This gave us time to "sleep in" and get ready to go at a relaxing pace. At 6:30 Gregg, the pilot/nurse practitioner, came into my room and said that we had to do a medical evacuation for a pregnant lady in a neighboring town. I of course was excited, this was my first one! We quickly threw our things together and Gregg, Serena (14 year old daughter), and I took off for the airplane. We fueled the plane and after Serena and I discussed who should sit in the front seat we took off to the neighboring town called Mathews ridge. We decided that I should sit in the front seat because it was only my second time flying in a tiny plane and I could easily talk to the pilot.

Landing in Matthews ridge is a little story by itself. The airport had a cloud cover of 600 feet and working with the spare GPS they didn't feel comfortable landing without actually seeing the runway. After a few attempts to find a clearing to get below the clouds there was finally an opening and we dove down under the blanket. I of course was kind of nervous by the maneuvering, so we did one more loop in order to land softly on the dirt runway.

We picked up the laboring patient along with a doctor and nurse. The patient was having a long labor so they were sending her to a more developed hospital. During the flight I noticed the doctor starting to fidget around more. He kept asking how much longer. Shortly he started moving the luggage in the back of the tiny plane and put on surgical gloves... I knew what was happening; the baby was about to be delivered! The nurse moved to where the doctor had been sitting. Being in the very front seat of the plane I was completely useless. I could barely see, but was updating the pilot with what little I saw and could deduce what was happening. On Nov 28 at 9:31 with an elevation of 5500 feet, in a 6 passenger plane, filled with 6 passengers, a baby boy was born! Once he started to breath they placed the baby into Serena's hands. ( at this point I was REALLY wishing I had not chosen the front seat)
With about 20 mins left on the flight the placenta was delivered and everyone had to get into their seats for landing. Well, everyone except the mother who way laying down. In order to move all the luggage around the baby was passed up to me! Oh I was SO happy!!

As I sat there holding and suctioning the baby I couldn't help but giggle. When leaving for Guyana I knew I would have an amazing experience and just prayed to God that I would get at least one story worth telling. I definitely got my story!
It is amazing looking back now to see how God led this adventure. Because we had to do the medical evacuation our flight into Georgetown and from Georgetown to Mabaruma will be completely paid for. The doctor and nurse were not planning on coming, but decided to last minuet because it wouldn't hurt. I apparently didn't have to come into Georgetown to get my nursing permit but, because we thought I had to I was able to have a once in a life time experience!