My dear MJ

Greetings! Thank you all for your prayers regarding my continuity, MJ! She had her baby boy Tuesday night at 8 pm. Unfortunately, I did not get to deliver her first baby named Ynnoah (pronounced E-NOAH). And this is the story:

So Saturday night was the looooong text message session regarding the marital issues. She was already in very early labor and deeply wounded by a fight she and her bana had. Things were looking grim to say the least. They had only been married since October and Saturday night showed signs of a marriage ending....BUT GOD. After texting until 2 am, I heard nothing more from her.

All day Sunday I worried about her....texted her....didn't hear from her....decided to visit her Monday if I didn't hear from her....until she finally texted at 10:30 pm. She was concerned that her "tubig came out her puerta"....that is...her bag of waters ruptured. I asked her to put on a maxi pad and tell me the amount of leakage, what color it was, how it smelled....asked her to time her contractions....received another text....no contractions....little water.....I assured her that this was probably her mucous plug given the following details she shared and told her to get some rest....12 am, I fell asleep. She did, too, because the next text I got was at 2:30 am....she had some bloody show....Mmmmm. Contractions coming about 20 minutes apart....Mmmmm. Suspicious, but highly improbable....she was worried, so I met her at Mercy at 3 am Monday morning.

The birth room was a ZOO....babies, births, and labors everywhere....before doing an internal exam on MJ, the supervisor advised me to monitor the discharge coming to see whether it was her BOW (bag of waters) or just mucous. I was convinced it was just mucous. And her contractions seemed to stop completely. By 6 am, I was ready to do an IE on her...and she was, too. Only 1 cm, very posterior cervix, BOW intact, baby's head was high, but sutures were felt, -1 station...that baby wasn't gonna come out for a LONG while. So I sent her home with the advice of resting, eating and drinking, pelvic rocks, nipple stimulation...the works.

I fell into bed. I fell asleep...until I had to get some work done and make something of the passing day....it might've been 10 am when I finally came to!

Monday night...7 pm....text from MJ....water broke...."POURING OUT!", she said nervously as if sensing the impending doom of active labor. We raced to Mercy...sure enough...water broke...baby's heart tones were great....so I did another internal exam....2 cm. Baby's head was high....posterior cervix....0 station. This baby had A LONG way to go....and she had very few contractions. NOT a good sign. So, it's Mercy's policy that once the bag of waters has ruptured, the patient has 12 hours to deliver her baby or we have to transport to avoid fetal distress and possible infection. Only 12 hours to go another 8 cm!? We needed a miracle.

I stayed the night checking on her and her bana every 1/2 hour and the fetal heart tones every hour as well as her BP and temperature. She did nipple stimulation, pelvic rocking, sleeping....We were both exhausted. Her contractions were coming faster, but they were still only mild to moderate. She was feeling more pain, but it was only a little. She fell asleep for a while only to be awakened by me poking at her to do more checks....

Tuesday morning now....2 am. Time for next internal exam to check progress. I held my breath...so did MJ...and her bana. After 6-7 hours, her cervix was still 2 cm! Baby was still high and cervix was still posterior. I tried to stretch it to 3 cm and pull the cervix forward and it snapped back like a rubber band. I knew in my gut that we needed to transport to DMC. It would have to be a Divine act of God to get her cervix to dilate 8 more cm before 7 am when her 12 hours were up.

So I talked to my supervisor and told her my plan of taking her to DMC now at 3 am before it is too busy and she is too exhausted. She agreed and we loaded the ambulance with MJ, her bana, all their things, and me...

At DMC, she begged me to stay, but understood that the doctors do not allow midwives to stay with their patients....she cried, but was so brave...we prayed, prayed again...then prayed some more. As I was filling out her transport papers, I had to ask her what she wanted me to put as her "religion"....she thought for a moment, looked at me....and said, "Christian"...I thought that was pretty cool....Mmmm...Things are changing.

I got home at 4 am and once again, fell into bed...but couldn't sleep.
I tried to sleep on and off throughout the day...totally exhausted and concerned for MJ, but knew God was doing something....I received a text at 12 pm Tuesday....3 cm induced. From 2 cm at 3 am to 3cm at 12 pm!? Slooooow!

Next text...6 pm, 8 cm and pushing!! ACCCKKK! Not fully dilated! I was mildly concerned, but I was texting with the bana, so I had no idea what was really happening....8 pm, little Ynnoah was born. MJ's bana and I texted for a while after and I promised to go see her in the morning when she was transferred to the postpartum area.

12 pm Wednesday, just after prenatals, Tim and I drove to DMC, eager to meet Ynnoah and see MJ....Couldn't find her....paged her bantay (watcher/helper)....a little older lady ran down the hall saying "Ma'am Bethany, Ma'am Bethany! You are here! MJ has been waiting for you!" I was stunned, blessed and mildly overwhelmed....

Her mother-in-law, the baby's "lola" or grandma took me through the crowded OB ward filled wit baby's, bantays, and mommas to MJ who was fast asleep...without a baby.

Lola shoved her and poked her saying, "MJ, your best friend is here!" I was honored! MJ looked up, eyes wide and begin to tell Tim and me her horrible tale of her LOOONNNGGGG labor, painful contractions, pushing at 8 cm giving her a cervical tear (NOT GOOD) that needed suturing, plus a tear on her perineum which also needed suturing and they took the baby to the ICU before she was able to see him. Apparently they were monitoring the baby and doing blood tests, but she still had not seen her new son. She explained how disappointed she was, but how grateful she was that her baby was alive and that she would heal. She asked dozens of questions about going to the bathroom, how to wash now, how to breastfeed....we talked a while and Tim was right there the whole time somewhat pondering the fact that DMC is terribly disorganized, messy, dirty, and mixed up....

We gave MJ her baby present, an egg and a mango, prayed and set up some baby checks at Mercy for when she is discharged. I left her feeling grateful for her life and her baby...disappointed at her dismal situation, but thankful it was not worse. She said, too, that she was thankful to Jesus for keeping her alive and her baby, too. Mmmm. God is moving.

Thank you again for all your prayers and concerns for MJ. I am praying that the whole experience will draw her into a knowledge of Jesus that passes all worldly understandings and that the Lord will draw her into Himself. I sure love her and I know the Lord loves her far more than I ever could. He is a good God...even when things do not go quite as planned! So I leave you with MJ's pics....PRE-labor....I will get pics of her and the baby soon!

Be blessed!