Busy prenatal day!

Greetings! Today I got to do some prenatals all by myself!! No joke!

Lois was my teacher and little by little she had me do every part of the prenatal exam and by the end of the morning, I had done 5 all by myself! She started by teaching me how to count the fetal heart tones, then she went through each question I was to ask the "buntas"...
"Any bleeding or pain when urinating?" I learned to say that in Cebuano! Then after a bunch of other questions, I got to measure the fundal height, listen to the baby, feel for the baby's position and chart the results. I also had the opportunity to give some helpful advice and pray for the mothers-to-be!

Pictured is Lois measuring the baby's growth and me charting the results. Fun! Lois is such a great teacher and I was blessed to have her place so much faith in my abilities....I really feel like I don't know much, but with Lois' encouragement and the permission of my supervisor, I was able to fumble through the exams. It was great. I asked my teachers tons of questions and they were always so gracious to answer each one.

The other picture is of my supervisor, Ate Susan. She is an amazing person. She is silly and goofy (like me!) and yet, can speak the truth, train and teach with grace. She is not at all annoyed when I ask questions and is always ready to give a smile or a giggle. I appreciate her. I really love prenatals...she makes them less stressful for a first-timer.

Prenatals usually begin with the buntas arriving and while waiting for their individual check-up, they get their blood drawn and their blood pressure checked. Then we all sing worship songs together, pray, get a few relaxing exercises out of the way, then listen to some Bible teaching. After that, the buntas are taught a lesson about good prenatal health and the importance of coming to their check-ups. (this is always in Cebuano). Then the ladies come one-by-one into the cubicles where us midwives are waiting to check them out. There are usually four midwives working and another three charting and making sure that the ladies are prepared for their check-up. After that, the ladies are free to go.

Today was exceptionally busy. I started out by filling the syringes for tetanus shots and then went to work with Lois. We had one lady who had extremely high blood pressure and had to be given an IV then taken to the hospital for preeclampsia! Then we had another lady who was struggling with high blood pressure and needed to chug tons of water, lay on her left side and be monitored every fifteen minutes. She was later discharged and encouraged to rest and drink tons of tubig (water). We also had a lady who didn't speak Cebuano, Tagalog or English! That was nuts....and then the numbers were high, too.

One of the things I love about this culture is that all the ladies have a nickname....so when you look at their chart, their name is written, but they also have their nicknames recorded....they like it when you call them by their nickname.....and some of them are hilarious! One little lady who was having her first baby at 16 years old was nicknamed "Love-Love" and another was "Li-li". I loved getting to know them and having them share how they were feeling about being pregnant. Some say right out that they are excited while others just smile and look down....as if they really don't know exactly how they feel. I can't imagine.

Tonight, Tim and I have invited over a couple from a church we have been attending. Pinky and Manny are the pastors of Faith Baptist Church and I have been told that Pinky is an excellent Filipina cook who enjoys teaching how to cook authentic Filipino dishes to silly Americanos! So THIS time I am cooking, but I am sure next time, she will teach me! We are looking forward to getting to know them this evening. Please pray that we are a blessing to them.

Tomorrow I work another birth room shift, so please pray for that, too...that I am not a clutz!.I really want to be a help and a blessing to the ladies in labor....and not a hindrance to the staff or ladies. I will keep you posted! Thank you for all your encouragement and prayers! Tim will be posting more pics soon, too!
Be blessed.