Greetings! I had a great day yesterday.
On Thursday, my continuity, Irish, came sharing that she was only having a few contractions and was doing great...I asked when she thought her baby would come to which she replied, "Saturday morning." I said, "Okay, we'll pray for Saturday morning!".
Irish was having her second baby and seemed very "in tune" with her body, so I didn't fret or push any ideas on how to get the baby out on Saturday, we just prayed and I waited for her text.

Saturday morning arrived and at 8:00 am, Irish texted. "Ma'am, sakit." She was coming to Mercy. I gave a quick kiss to Tim and the Bird and headed to work.

Irish came in looking in pain, but coping really well. I did an internal exam....5 centimeters dilated. She would have her baby on Saturday, just as she hoped.

Her bana and I chatted a bit, ate a bit, joked a bit and waited for baby. Around noon, Irish was very active, though you wouldn't know it! She used the birth ball (a giant exercise ball) to rock back and forth between contractions and then breathed deeply and focused during the intense times. She was AWEsome. Seriously, I have never seen a woman labor better. She was peaceful, focused, and driven. My job was simply to ensure normalcy, which honestly didn't take much.

Around 1 pm, the baby's heart tones started to drop and I thought Irish was close to full dilation. The heart tones dropped a bit more, but seemed to respond well to position changes. We continued to monitor them. I asked Irish if she wanted to rest and lay down...she rolled over on to the bed and closed her eyes between contractions.

No more than ten minutes later she announced, "Ma'am...I HAVE TO PUSH!" Sure enough, head was visible....she was ready to rocket launch the baby's head out into the world, but I quickly and firmly said, "IRISH...HINAY, HINAY!" In other words, "SLOW, SLOW!" We caught each other's gaze and she literally blew her baby out staring into my eyes...I wasn't even looking at her baby sliding through my hands, I could not take my eyes away from her gaze...slowly, controlled and without a tear, her baby slipped through into my arms. Her little baby girl, Angel Beige, arrived after only 6 minutes pushing. She had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck which accounted for the drop in heart tones. Perfectly healthy and 7 lbs, Angel Beige is beautiful.

The best part was watching Irish talk to her baby...they were deep in conversation for quite a while after birth. She breastfed immediately and lost only a tiny bit of blood. It was the best birth I have ever had the privilege of attending. We cried. It felt like a Holy moment. I know Jesus was smiling. I was, too. So here above and below is Irish. Her bana, Bernard, was amazing and Angel Beige is doing fantastic.
And above is Ivy and baby Xaviar. They came for a visit this passed week and we had a great time of prayer together for her baby. She prayed to Allah and I prayed to Jesus that the jaundice would disappear in Xaviar. She is an amazing woman and though this is her first baby, she seems so mature in her parenting.

And, did I ever tell you about Lenita, Rex and baby John? They came in for their 3 week (or s0) check up and things seem to be going great. Lenita is just getting over an infection in the cesarean incision, but other than that, they are doing well. Please pray for them, as Rex's job requires him to travel quite a bit, so Lenita is home with 6 children! She is amazing. Tim and I are hoping to visit them in their home in Calinan in late August. :)

And once again, the Bird accompanied me to work for a while this week, as Tim was swamped with meetings. The Lady Bird LOVES babies and is quite the social bird. Ate Estef and Kinshasa were happy to entertain her while I checked in a labor. We had an interesting shift! A birth in the CR (bathroom) and a host of labors walking in at shift change.
So that's just the Reader's Digest version. A busy week. I had to take my CPR training once again and received my updated certification, had quite a few busy work days full of hospital transports and complications. Alas, the week has ended and I am so looking forward to a break! Only 3 more weeks until we leave for Canada.

That leads me to a prayer request. Thank you all for praying for the immigration situation...please continue to do so...we haven't heard anything for a few days....please also pray as finances are pretty rough right now due to some promised funds for the water project that haven't arrived yet and we have yet to secure someone to stay in our apartment while we are away to help pay for the cost of living here in the Philippines while we are staying in Canada. God is always faithful and despite the added stressors, we are not worried.
Thank you all for praying! We'll see what God does next!
Be blessed.