Jonnel Ken...DOB 11/24/08

Greetings! Thank you all for the comments on last post! I have an exciting (well, exciting to ME!) update on Cathy, my continuity from a while back!

Tim and I were having a leisurely evening basking in the joys of infant-dom feeding the wee Lady Bird around 9:30 pm when I got a text from Cathy. "Ma'am B, in labor na...I come to Mercy now." That sent me into the fastest change into scrubs ever known to man, the quick feeding instructions for Tim were laid out and I was off to meet Cathy in labor.

She arrived at 10 pm and was NOT smiling. Contractions were coming every 2 minutes and were lasting a good 90 seconds. This baby was coming soon. :) She didn't feel the urge to push, yet, but she was certainly wanting to moan and grunt a bit. Her bana, Arnel, came in looking like a deer in headlights....he had done this two times before,  but it seemed as though it was the first time again. He sat quietly next to her as I took her vital signs and did an internal exam.

All normal, baby was happy and ready to come, and momma was 7-8 cm dilated with a VERY stretchy cervix. She was progressing quickly...as I waited for a contraction, I could feel her cervix dilate to 10 cm leading up to the contraction, then back down to 8 cm after the contraction...we'd be meeting her baby soon!

We prayed and I made her drink some water...she was not too pleased with me about that...no sooner did she have a drink that her bag of waters burst with a giant POP! Thankfully I had gloves on and announced to my assistant, Jenn...."SROM" She came in just as I sat down to start delivering the baby's head....But Cathy was pushing fast...the baby's head came down so fast, I had to yell at Cathy..."Hinay, Hinay!!!!" Slow down! I had to hit her leg and Jenn grabbed her face, "SLOWLY OR YOU'LL TEAR!" She stopped pushing a bit and breathed her baby's head out....it was a tight space....the shoulders weren't coming....the baby's head was turning a deep purple and the shoulders were just refusing to come out! YIKES!

I asked Cathy to push with all her might while I manipulated the shoulders into popping out from under her pubic bone...slowly the anterior shoulder popped out followed by the posterior..then Cathy stopped pushing...the end of the baby's body was still stuck inside her...we laughed a bit and said, "Cathy, one more push, your baby is ALMOST out." She gave a quick push and out came the rest of her new baby. I summoned her bana over to take a look at the baby to find out the sex...he said, "Ah..lalake."...A boy. 

Jonnel Ken, this new precious boy with a slightly square head came out with a full head of hair. We needed to administer oxygen as he was a bit purple still, but his cry was music to our ears. Cathy pushed her placenta out with little bleeding and managed to wash and go to the bathroom without any dizziness or problems. She's such a strong lady!

I got her situated in the postpartum area, got Jonnel bathed and clothed, gave immunizations, prayed again and said, "Goodnight, see you on Wednesday for your baby check!" Then I lumbered on home at 2:30 am, thankful to head to my bed....OR NOT!

I opened our LOUD fortress gate door and started climbing our endless stairs to hear from an angry husband, "OH THANK GOD YOU'RE HOME" followed by a loud shriek and scream from a small certain baby girl. I started to go a little faster up the stairs....Tim shared that little Lady Bird had been screaming since the time I'd left (9:45 pm) until now (2:30 am) and refused to be comforted...he was tired, frustrated and ready to be DONE. He said, "Just PLEASE, take her."

I quickly ripped off my dirty scrubs, hopped into a cold shower, slipped on some PJs and grabbed the Bird...she stopped crying, but was WIDE awake. Tim collapsed into bed and so, the Lady Bird and I had a slumber party in the guest room without slumbering until about 5:30 am when she finally fell asleep on my chest. I was ZONKED. She woke up again at 8 am for a feed and that was my cue to get ready to go to a meeting at the clinic with my director. With 2 hours of sleep under my belt, I felt like I could probably make it until noon, but then, it was OVER. 

Had the meeting, took Promise with me for her immunizations, and FINALLY at 2:30 pm, I got a 2 hour nap. Ahhh...sweet sleep! Thankfully, Promise slept those two hours, too....only to be roused to get in a feed and head to Doctor Estrella's place for another immunization. Poor baby. But she is up to date on her immunizations. :) She's almost 12 pounds now, too! All is well.

I am headed into another birth shift on Friday and have a new assignment due on December 19..it's a long one, but not as bad as the last. Tim is out today making purchases for the water project...things are going well in that neck of the woods. Here are two pics of Cathy and little Jonnel with me and Promise...

Thank you for all your prayers and encouragements, we feel so supported. Keep praying, it's working!

Many blessings!