TIM IS HOME....and then...7 labors for 4 midwives...

Greetings! My love made it home Saturday night around 5 pm....it was soooo wonderful to see him!
I will let him share in posts later, but first....I have to tell you about my last two birth shifts.....

Swing shift Friday....2pm -10pm....after my exam (I think I did well, so thanks for praying), I headed downstairs to the birth room to find no labors, no postpartums....RATS, not again! I said to myself....but then I heard music....BAD music....Videoke...aka, Karaoke with video. It was coming from upstairs in the prenatal waiting room....

There they were, students, midwives and Filipina midwives singing songs from the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s and doing 'interpretive dance'....it was hilarious.....a great way to spend swing shift.....we had a GAS!

We sang from about 5 pm until 10 pm laughing hysterically as each person (with the help of her friends....that means ALL of us) sang songs like "Wooly Bully", "American Woman", "Breathless", "It's in His Kiss"...some songs were even in Cebuano and for you Generation Xers...we even sang Michael W. Smith's "Place in this World"...complete with interpretive dancing...Filipinas sooo love their videoke! We could not stop laughing.

We decided that for every shift without patients, we need to sing...loud...with the microphones and the videoke machine.....I only got a few pics, but I will post more later when I get them from friends....

So that was swing on Friday....then came last night.....Saturday night shift.....

Check out the very first picture above.....yes, that is right....7 labors....every bed in the birth room full...ALL night....
There was no time to sleep, no time to rest, no time to get a bite to eat, no time to pee....only time to run to the next cubicle, take vital signs, chart, deliver, assist and check up on the beautiful babies being born! Three of the patients were ladies that I had the privilege of doing their prenatal exams! We were so excited to see eachother!

Three babies were born on our shift and instead of five to six midwives available, there were only four of us! So I got to assist in the birth of Jonna and my continuity, Ofelia (pictured first). She had a gorgeous baby boy named Prync and we had a great time praying for and with her during her labor.

The other picture below Ofelia is of Lois and Gaga....Lois is my dear friend and midwife who delivered Gaga's beautiful little girl....I also got to assist in her birth. Lois is an amazing midwife who just exudes excitement and peace all at the same time.

After assisting, I got to run from one cubicle to the next to assist in labor watching....busy. very busy....then at 6 am, we endorsed 4 labors that were sure to go at any time! Sunday day shift were both excited and mildly shocked at the volume of births....I wish my father-in-law had been there.....he commented on how quiet the clinic was during his visit (partly because we were short staffed), but I think he would've had a heart attack if he had been anywhere near the birth room last night!

I lumbered home....my feet were dragging on the pavement....I was SOOOO tired, drained and ready for my bed or a coffee.....I climbed our 36 stairs, fed the buns, drank some green tea, showered off and FELL into bed....to sleep 90 minutes and then head to church.....

I am so tired now.
But I am feeling so blessed, so thankful....but then again, it IS Canadian Thanksgiving! Thank you, Jesus for your provision of healthy babies and mommas on my shift and for your grace. Be blessed and Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
PS. I found pumpkin! I made REAL pumpkin pie for Tim....it tastes...ummm....FAMILIAR! YEAH!