Looks can be deceiving!

Greetings! Tim is still in Manila, but should return today, so I will have him write a gargantuan post this evening. :)

Pictured above is Jine and baby Karl Sheina. She was endorsed to me by Heather, another midwife at Mercy, when I came for day shift on Friday morning. I was warned that she may be a transport as she is only 18, it's her first baby, and she had been there ALL night laboring.

So Jine spent the day with me.....laboring quietly. Then around 9 am, she looked significantly different....she was visibly in pain, writhing, and getting a little annoyed with all my checks. I called her bana (husband) in and was shocked to see a 48 year-old man with a giant smile. Yup, this 18 year-old had a 48 year-old husband...except he wasn't really her husband....he was her boyfriend, but they wanna get married in the new year....

Needless to say, I was mildly concerned about the situation as I didn't know the status of their relationship....it's pretty rare to have such an age gap and sometimes it indicates possible abuse....but then he walked into her cubicle.....

Her eyes lit up and he rushed to her side. He was AMAZING....he coached her through her long labor and when she said she couldn't do it anymore, he was the one who reassured her how strong she is and what a beautiful baby they will have. And when she was at her very last wit....he was there to stroke her face and squeeze her hand. I was blessed.

And then as the baby started to crown, I was certain this primipara was going to tear, but she followed all our directions and once again, her boyfriend joined in the coaching and she pushed out the littlest, most beautiful baby girl...without tearing. :) The two of them burst into tears and thanked the Lord (they're Catholic) for their baby. I was so humbled by them.

Despite losing a lot of blood, Jine is doing great and enjoying motherhood. So young, but well-supported. Her bana has even offered to stay home with her until she feels confident enough for him to go back to work. That seldom happens! I was so humbled and convicted that my first look at this couple made me so suspicious and to see this well-supported couple was a pleasant surprise.

Here is Jine, one day after having her precious daughter. And pictured below is Karl Shaina's very first baby picture. :)

God is faithful. The crazy part about this shift is that between four midwives, we had 7-9 patients, three transports, 4 births, and plenty of newborn checks.....whoa. It was so totally crazy. I was sweating buckets and we ended up having to call one more midwife in to help.....and yet, everything got done....crash course in midwifery, though!

Be blessed.