Busy times...

Greetings! Above is Mary Liza, Baby Rozan and her daddy, Ronie! Yesterday on swing shift, we had discharged two patients and sent another home....it was quiet....peaceful. I was first up...ready for the next patient....

And then, suddenly, a multi-cab pulled up to Mercy with people screaming Visayan....one of the Filipina midwives yelled, "Taxi birth!!"....we all jumped to our feet to run outside into the rain only to see this little lady writhing in pain, holding her groin, held up by two of her children, her bana and a friend! 

Needless to say, we were telling her to "GINHAWA, DILI UTONG!" In other words...BREATHE, DON'T PUSH! We really didn't want her baby to come spilling out in the street in the rain!

We raced her to the bed, found out her name, someone grabbed her chart and I tried to do a vaginal exam to see where the baby was....but it was too late....the head was visible just behind the bag of waters....

She was still panicky and writhing, so I instructed her to breathe, relax, reminding her that she was safe now and her baby was almost out. She couldn't stop moving! So again, I yelled her nickname and told her to look into my eyes! She tilted her head up and our eyes met and then she got it...she was safe, she was ready, and her baby was coming. She breathed and suddenly relaxed. It was pretty incredible!

Then her relaxing made her bag of waters burst and the head nearly popped out! But I instructed her to breathe again, slowly and the baby's little head came out without a tear or abrasion. Perfect. Followed by the body, Rozan Kay was brought into the world in a mad rush!

It's a good thing she came when she did, too! She was only 36 weeks and one day, so technically, if she had come in during labor, we would have transported her for prematurity! But this little baby girl of 5 pounds 9 ounces didn't want to be born at DMC. She wanted Mercy. And her mother was grateful, too. 

Her mother and I had a great time getting to know each other AFTER the birth...found out she and her bana have been married for 13 years and her last baby was 12 years ago! They are Jehovah's Witness and were very interested in what I thought about their choice of religion, why I was in the Philippines, how many months I was pregnant, where my bana was, and where we lived now. Then I asked her dozens of questions and we had a GAS telling stories, giggling about my poor Visayan and how grateful to God we were that their baby was healthy and strong. Small, but fierce. It was a great shift and an unforgettable patient.

 Meet baby Matt. No, not Matthew, but Matt. I almost made a huge blunder on his birth certificate thinking his name was Matthew....I couldn't pronounce his middle name. But his momma, Lorna, pictured above at her 1 week check yesterday, was insistent on his name being just Matt.

Born very differently than what I described above, Matt was born after a looooong time....his momma desperately trying to push him out. And it's no wonder! The kid was 8 pounds 1 ounce and his momma is so little! He was pretty jaundiced the first few days, but now....he's a ham....healthy and strong. Yes, things are busy in the birth room these days....and finally, last picture.....

Our last evening with Ate Elai was last week and consisted of prayers and songs, plays and poems all to honor our dear teacher and friend. Now she's gone and has left quite the void at the clinic. The days are full, but everyone misses Ate Elai. 

In other news....

As Tim shared in last post, I had the opportunity to accompany him on a water filter delivery to a little village not far off the highway. We were able to bless the community with the installation of a filter at their church site and Tim and Toti took orders for more! The people were so excited and I totally understood why Tim loves his job. What a joy! 

I'm sure he will share more in the coming days with pictures and all as he has been tremendously busy. 

As for me, I have one particular assignment that has been fighting me to get done....too many pages, too many questions....extremely interesting info...helpful, too....just long and my preggo body aches from sitting too long! BUT! As we approach our 17th week of pregnancy, I felt our baby move for the first time....like a little jelly donut in a water balloon floating in my belly. Mmmm....God is so faithful. 

Tim is on the water with our friend Glen Knight delivering water filters to an island off the coast of Mindanao...I will have him share about his journey later. I think he comes home this evening! 

And finally, we are looking forward to our dear friends, Heidi and Kate, who are arriving here on Friday night for a visit before heading up north to do a Journey of Compassion with Impact Nations on Sunday. A short, but exciting visit for us!

Keep commenting and let us know how you all are....we miss hearing news and really could use your prayers, too. Lots happening and we know we have an enemy who desires to squash us...thank you for praying!

Be blessed!