I'm drinking water

This is my lovely continuity...my last one before our baby arrives! Macaria is due June 18 and oddly enough, my belly is closely approaching the size of her belly! Macaria is a wonderful lady who is expecting her first child...she thinks it's a boy! At only 21 years old, she is married and has told me she and her bana have a bright future. I am so excited for her and hope to get to know her well in the coming weeks. :)

Next photo:
Yes, this is a 10-inch round worm....and yes, this was found in the birth room...

and this is where you may want to stop reading....
Really...you can bail out now.....

So you were too curious to go to a better blog or find something better to do with your time, eh? Okay....here's the scoop...

This worm was delivered by one of Mercy's patients this week just after she delivered her healthy baby! No kidding. After delivery, she just leaned away from the bed, coughed a bit, spit on to the floor and a little while later, one of the midwives was cleaning up and found this guy, still alive, squirming around.
The really odd part about this was that the last time this patient had a baby, she coughed up another one of these pleasant creatures....apparently she has a problem with round worm infestation! And beyond that, her family owns a bakery....she works there. Mmmm, appetizing round worm buns anyone? Needless to say, Mercy is providing worm pills for her and her family ASAP. Nothing ceases to amaze us at Mercy anymore. Next picture...

Remember Weensee? Well, I haven't had a chance to see him since he was discharged from the hospital, but I hear he is coping okay, but still waiting on surgery. Praise the Lord he is slowly healing! God is so good. So here is Weensee and his momma waving goodbye to their visitors....his momma is amazing. Just thought you'd want a face to go with the stories! Keep praying! Next picture:


And here is my dear patient, Helen, and her little lady, Jaz Mea. I delivered this little one just before my back went out, so I didn't get to do any of her baby checks....until yesterday! With our prenatal room without power and the intense heat of midday, us midwives did 78 prenatals and at least 10 baby checks combined. It was a busy day. But I was so thankful to see Helen again and she was even willing to pray for ME and my pregnancy. It was a neat time....so good to be back at the clinic.

This has been a difficult season for me...keeping up with school work and clinic hours has been tough. My day shift on Thursday yielded a close delivery, but my patient, Bel, fought so hard to get her baby out and the baby just needed a bit more help. Then Bel's blood pressure began to rise, her baby's heart tones dipped and she began to swell up....we knew we needed to transport. Twenty minutes later, I had successfully inserted her IV (on the first try!) and got her on oxygen, and sat wearily in the ambulance with my good friend and midwife peer, Laura. We prayed and God was faithful to answer our prayers.

Bel delivered her new baby girl by forceps sporting a 4th degree tear and needing suturing. But she is healthy. She still hasn't seen her baby, yet, but after visiting her, it seems as though she is encouraged that everything will turn out okay. Praise God.

I went home from that shift exhausted, sore and barely making it up the stairs, but God sustained me through the next days' business and while I have to take things incredible slow, I am no longer immobile! So little by little, I am pressing on with our precious baby kicking everyday reminding me what a treasure this short time is. Humbling me. I am thankful.

Tim is still busy with water stuff and things are still going fantastic in his world....I am amazed at God's provision in the water ministry and how Tim is regularly given opportunities to get into places that would seem untouchable.

We've been having a lot of talks about the future, what we want to be as parents, how things might be when Promise arrives...no doubt any deal of "thinking" will make much difference, but we are trying to trust the Lord's timing and His grace in learning to parent here in the Philippines....it is so different from home and from what we imagined our environment would be....

Please continue to pray for God's mercy over us during this time of transition....no doubt we a re on a wild ride! And please begin praying for me...I am nervous about giving birth with my back in the state that it's in and we are planning on having the baby here at home with two midwives and two dear friends. No doubt I will be well supported, but please pray that there will be no complications in the delivery so that I (or our baby) do not need to be transported to the hospital....it's very different to be transported to a hospital here in the Phils than at home!

Enduring the stares of the Filipinos as I lumber and waddle by....some just think I'm a fat American (they actually tell me so!) and others can't believe that a white lady is pregnant in the Phils...they always ask me, "You have Filipino bana?" The stares get tiring, but I am learning to smile and say, "Buntis-ko, 6 months lang." In other words..."yeah, I'm pregnant, 6 months!"
Praise the Lord....and pass me more food!

Thank you for your prayers! Be blessed!