Weeeeeeeeeee! (an exuberant cry with slight sarcasm)

Greetings! Sorry for the long delay in posting....after reading Papa Mc's comment on the last post, I decided a new post with new Lady Bird pictures was long overdue!

We've had Tim's parents here for the last week and it's been sooo wonderful to spend time with them. They came bearing gifts from home such as chocolate, Starbucks, and more baby things from family members, friends and the like. We were soooo blessed. Christina has been watching Promise as I head to work and has been significantly lightening my load! What a blessing! Once again, God has provided for us beyond our wildest imaginations and we are so grateful! Promise is a blessed and well-loved baby. I am humbled by His gracious mercy over us.

With Tim's brother, Jeff, here, as well, the house is full and always buzzing with water talk, giggles, hearty laughter, laundry, dishes, and the ever-present cooing and gurgling of the Lady Bird. Although she's been sick with a mucousy cough these last two weeks, she is almost always smiling and is now talking non-stop.....not sure what language she has adopted yet. :)

In addition to the busyness of visitors and mommy time, I've delivered two new babies into the world since we last talked. Remember my continuity, Cherry Mei? She went into labor late Friday night. We texted from 2 am to 4 am and at 4:45 am I received a phone call from the clinic, "Uhh, your continuity is here with head visible, come right away!"....I think I might've sworn and jumped outta bed....I was gonna miss her birth! She hadn't text me to say she was coming to Mercy and I had advised her to rest for awhile as her labor was just beginning, but apparently, her labor was speedy and only lasted 5 hours total! Insane for a first baby! So Tim drove me as fast as he could to the clinic while the Lady Bird slept...I got there with no shoes on, my scrub top backwards and without gloves....slipped on some gloves and as soon as she saw me, she pushed her baby out so fast I thought her new baby boy was going to take flight....alas, I caught him. She didn't even tear! And baby Charles entered into a new world. Cherry did great and there were no complications, Praise God!

However, upon the latest baby checks, Charles has developed a rash around his eyes...we're not sure what it is and it has caused a fever, so please be praying for complete recovery for Charles. Thanks!

My other delivery was a fun one, too! Reginnlie came in complaining of just a little blood showing up in her undies. She told me that her labor started at 5 am (it was now 7 am) just after she had rubbed an oil on her tummy. Now, normally these oils are pretty harmful and induce contractions so we always advise patients not to use them. They are not regulated well here and they can cause a significantly difficult labor and delivery if the mother's body is not naturally ready to deliver. So I asked her to wash off the lotion from her belly and then I would do an internal exam to find out her dilation and how her baby was doing. She was in very little pain and I thought that because this was her third baby, she would communicate to me any abnormalities as she progressed.

Just five minutes later, Reginnlie came running out of the bathroom with her bag of waters leaking and her saying in Visayan..."I think the baby's head is here!". Without panicking, we got her situated into a bed and sure enough, her baby's head was slightly visible! Time to be born! That was the fastest labor and delivery ever! Well, besides my continuity above! ha ha. BUT, baby and mother did great, are healthy and everything seems to be normal with them. I would post pictures of the happy couples, but alas, my camera is broken so I have been using a disposable camera....maybe in a month I will get it developed!

In other patient news, I have 5 other continuities due over the next few months with Ana due first on January 28th. She is an amazing woman with an overwhelming sense of joy...we tend to excite each other until we're both speaking animatedly with arms flailing and little giggles. She is 35 and having her third baby. She really wants a girl, but according to the ultrasound, it will be another boy. But she is gracious and happy nonetheless. I was so blessed by her this week....I did her prenatal last Friday and she brought me a very precious gift. She had made a coffee mug with our picture on it! She told me that whenever I have my morning coffee, I can think of her and pray for her baby....what a precious gift! I was soooo blessed. I am currently having my morning instant coffee in it. :)

So in addition to the births, visitors and baby-craze, I have been having class 5 days a week, as well! This month, Monday, Wednesday and Friday is college algebra (IT'S HARD!!) and Tuesday and Thursday are Herb days. I thought I was done with Math and thinking that because I have a BA in education, I could just scoot by that class without having to take it, but my D+ in my university math class did not persuade the National College of Midwifery that I was well-versed in math. Ouch. Therefore, I am frantically trying to make up for all the concepts I didn't understand over 6 years ago. BAH! But my teacher is fantastic and very patient with us non-math-doing girls.

Herb class is awesome and our teacher is so knowledgeable on what herbs can be used to promote health and healing to the expecting mother. This is an extremely important class as many of the countries we will be serving do not have access to pharmaceutical drugs, but they may have local herbs that can save a woman's life! I am loving this class! I just wish I was a better gardener so that I could have a traveling garden of herbs! Herbs from Peppermint to Cohosh to Black Haw can make an expecting woman have more peace, have a shorter labor, have more energy or even stop her from hemorrhaging! God really did think of everything when He created the earth! I am even learning how to make tinctures, oils, liniments, and capsules of the essentials. Despite the crazy schedule, I am thoroughly enjoying what I am learning.

Meanwhile, Tim is hanging out with his fam, working with his dad on the water project and fighting off the cold he got from his Lady Bird. He definitely has a lot of work on his plate, but things are going smoothly and I will have him share more next post.

The fam is scheduled to head out on Sunday, Steve and Christina off to India and Jeff to Manila. We then get a few more visitors. Lisa, a friend from White Rock, will be joining us for a bit to learn more about the water project and volunteer in the clinic. She is arriving on the 22nd.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers as this has been a difficult season and time commitments are intense. Please pray for protection over our health and our minds as they are being stretched and please pray for our finances as we need to pay for our last semester tuition in a month and we are trying to raise enough to go home for furlough in June. God has been so faithful to us and has continued to sustain us even when we feel as though we're sinking. He has been so gracious to provide a life-boat or raft in the midst of the open sea.

Be blessed.