Busy Days....

Greetings! As Tim shared last post, we've been having some good times with his parents and the weather has been spectacular!

Despite their visit, my work in the clinic continues! This week was my last week before the hiatus until the new students arrive and school starts September 8th. So I was hoping for a fairly eventful week and the Lord provided!

My birth shift on Wednesday was a great one....two baby boys born! The first was Ana Rose's "Anderson"...healthy and happy, this little guy was born posterior and had trouble getting out. But God was good and Anderson is doing well. The picture of the nursing momma is Ana Rose and Anderson.

The second birth was difficult as well. Emelyn labored long and hard for her baby boy. He was very big and when his head came out, he got a little stuck and turned pretty blue. But with help from his midwife, Laura, he came out and turned pink within a few seconds. He had a good cry and began to nurse. I was able to chart for both births and actually felt totally comfortable doing so! What a blessing. I feel like I am truly learning and getting more confident in supporting these beautiful ladies!

Then on Friday, I had prenatal exams from 7:45 am until noon and saw 14 ladies! I gave them their prenatal exams all by myself and Christina, my mom-in-law got to watch a bit! My wonderful director, Krys, gave me the opportunity to do their entire prenatal exams without supervision! AND I gave 5 tetanus injections, too! Krys was in the next cubicle just in case I had questions and would check the chart when I was finished with the exams to make sure I didn't forget anything, but I was so humbled giving these ladies their exams after only a month and a half of observing and taking baby steps towards doing them alone! I also began to understand just how much I need to learn!

Then today I got a text from my team leader, Jonna, saying that our continuity, Janeth, had come in at 4 cm dilation. Jonna decided that the two of us should do this continuity together because we just fell in love with this little pregnant lady. At 18 years old, she carried a maturity far beyond her years. She was very overdue and after applying Evening Primrose Oil to her cervix, we were certain that she would deliver soon....we even later checked at the hospital to see if she went into labor there, but couldn't find her.

But she showed up at Mercy today (quite a few days later!) around 10 am and slowly progressed to 6 cm around 4:45 pm. However, because she was overdue and her belly was soooooo large, full of excessive amniotic fluid and possibly a HUGE baby, Jonna decided that it would be best if she delivered at the hospital, just in case as she may need a C-section.

She had labored with us for so long that it was hard to say good-bye to her, but Jonna inserted an IV (pictured), we prayed and then accompanied her to Davao Medical Center. We waited to see a doctor for two hours.....the emergency room was filled to the brim with children with Denghi Fever, adults with fevers, LBMs, ectopic pregnancies, and a doctor who had been working for 24 hours already. The only doctor working in emergency, Dr. Pen saw Janeth well after 6 pm and shared with us that she was only 7 cm and a C-section would probably be their next course of action. Janeth was so strong....quietly laboring with her boyfriend and her cousin.

Janeth shared that she was nervous, scared and that she didn't want us to leave....we were happy to stay as long as we could. By 7 pm, Janeth was being taken to another room to wait some more and we had to leave. Jonna and I were so exhausted, but grateful that Janeth would soon have her baby.

We are praying for a safe delivery whatever happens and we are going to visit her on Sunday to see her new son and see how she is doing. Please pray that all goes well and she continues to have peace. She is a beautiful woman and her smile brings such peace....I will post pictures of her baby if we get to see her tomorrow. :)

Tim, Steve and Christina's day was quite different! They headed to Paradise Beach to rest and read the day away. They had an amazing time and I am sure Tim has pictures that he will post later. They leave Monday, so we are hoping for two more great days with them.

Please continue to pray for us, for our health, and God's wisdom....Tim is looking at an opportunity to head up north to preach and do more with the water filtration stuff, but he needs lots of prayer that the Lord would pave the way for him and that it would be clear whether he is to look further into that plan or if the timing isn't right.

Thank you for all your comments and prayers! They are such a blessing to us, so keep 'em coming!
Be blessed!