The last few weeks in Labor and Delivery have been… hectic for lack of a better word. It is not always a happy place and when things go bad they are about as bad as bad can be. This particular Sunday night in L&D had the potential to be quite volitile for reasons I will not share here. On my way to work the thought came to me that we as nurses really need to seek God together as a group before we jump into caring for others. I admit I don’t always pray before my shift but tonight was different. When I got to work I invited the girls to join me in prayer. There were 5 of us and all agreed. I quietly asked the Holy Spirit to pray through me and He was faithful. I asked for strength to be His hands, for courage to face whatever may come, I asked for covering and mercy and grace for each other and our patients and I prayed something I actually never prayed before. I asked for the blood of Jesus to cover us and to pour over this place.
That night was one bloody night literally. It started with a delivery in labor room 4 that left the room looking like a slaughterhouse. I was covered in blood, the room was covered and the patient was covered. My first clothing change and I had only been on my shift for 3 hours. We were joking around and I christened the room Slaughterhouse 4. My next patient wasn’t doing too well and needed an IV. I started it and for some reason the vein poured and I was once again a bloody mess. Second clothing change of the evening and a call to housekeeping. While sitting at the desk I heard someone in the hall scream and ran to find a woman had delivered her baby on the hospital floor and the baby girl was hanging from the umbilical cord. The nurses standing by were in shock and didn’t know what to do. They ran for gloves while I picked up this very bloody infant barehanded from the floor and placed her in her mothers arms. I asked for clamps and scissor and freed the baby and all was well. The nurses pushed the women in a wheelchair to an available room and the blood trail was significant. Third clothing change and housekeeping call.
Later we were talking about the night and how bad things could have gone but didn’t and about our bloody labor and delivery department. We were joking and saying how glad we were that we had prayed before our shift. It was then that I was reminded by a fellow nurse of the prayer I uttered asking God to cover us and this place with the blood of Jesus. Jesus presense and protection that night was tangible and visual and warm and wet and sticky. He covered us in His blood and I am humbled and grateful.
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