Tim's refusing to post....

Greetings! So once again, I have promised to have Tim blog, but alas, he refuses....so you will have to settle with more birth stories...I hope I am not boring anyone. There are MANY things to report regarding the water project, but Tim has decided that he is too busy to blog as of yet. Maybe in a day or two....

For me, life has been a whirlwind...in other words...not much has changed. :) October 4 brought me a swing shift to remember. I had the privilege of delivering a very beautiful baby girl to my patient, Josie. It is her 5th girl! She was hoping for a boy, had boy baby clothes prepared and the perfect baby boy name, but her baby had the most gorgeous lady features...ALL girl. Slightly disappointed, though happy her baby was healthy, she gave the job of naming the baby to me. :) After a very full and mildly frustrating swing shift, I was hoping the name I picked would be one that suited the cherished baby...so that despite her 4 older sisters, she would know that she, too, is precious....Hence, I got to name her Precious....aka: Peanut. Yes, many of you who have been following the blog know that my very first handle was the fourth baby girl of a patient of mine...I named her Precious, too. It's a very good Filipino name for a family of all girls!
And here are Josie and Precious...aka Peanut.

The next two shifts gave me lots of transports to Davao Medical Center. The first patient had BOW rupture over 12 hours and the baby's heart rate was tachycardic (too high)..however, several hours after transport, she delivered her very first baby girl after 3 boys and 10 years without a full term pregnancy. The baby is still recovering from a postpartal infection most likely received as a result of premature rupture of membranes.

My next transport, unfortunately, was my continuity. Remember Macaria? I delivered her baby boy early last year at MMC. Well, when I found out she was preggo again, we met and I had the pleasure of taking her again as my patient. However, she shared that her husband was moving to Macau before her baby was due and he would be working there for 2 years. Heartbroken and fearful, Macaria decided she would sacrifice his presence at her birth for a hopeful future of financial security (many families from the Phils do this). I personally do not recommend this and I could tell that Macaria was struggling with him leaving.

Her prenatal was last Tuesday and my peer, Tiara, and I got to spend a long time praying for her that Jesus would bring her peace and wisdom. She is pictured above. We also prayed that she would have boldness to tell her bana how she felt about him leaving. She stated that he planned on leaving Sunday and she really wanted him to be there for the birth. At 33 weeks, I explained that it was just too early for her baby to come safely and to just hang on for another 4 weeks.

Well, 2:30 am that night/Wednesday morning, I got a text from her. "Ma'am, daghang dugo sa gawas...sige busog. Balik sa MMC?" Her labor had started, she was bleeding and contractions were coming every 3 minutes. We raced to MMC. Sure enough, she was 8 cm dilated and her baby was quite small. Premature. We transported and within 3 hours, her baby came out barely breathing. The baby was moved to the nursery and briefly incubated when he started to pink up and breathe without assistance. Miracle.

When I visited her in the hospital at 11 am Wednesday morning, she still had not seen her baby at all, had not been able to breastfeed and had no idea what the status of her baby was. Her husband had gone home to get some supplies and was still planning on moving to Macau for work. Macaria, scared and alone seemed grateful that he had been able to see the baby briefly before leaving, but knew the road ahead would be rough. Please pray for Macaria as she parents two young boys alone for the next two years. Because her baby John Carl, was premature, he may have difficulty in lung development and may be predisposed to lung infections. Please pray for his safety and total healing. Thank you. She and baby John Carl are still currently in the hospital.
Here is that Tuesday prenatal day...and there I am teaching the patients about labor and delivery....with my three visual aids...Tiara, Willow and Ate Melody. :)

Thursday began the first of many Bible Studies! An-An and I arrived in the prenatal room at 3:15 pm with boiled eggs and pandesal (bread), pens, papers and prizes. We prayed for 15 minutes and asked the Lord to bring whoever He desired to the Bible Study. We prayed that those that He had handpicked would come with willing and excited hearts....and then we waited. And waited. Start time was 3:30 pm. At 3:45 pm, we decided to head downstairs and see if maybe someone was waiting outside....yup, one lone patient....she was waiting for a friend to go with her...we told her she was the only one...embarrassed and slightly annoyed, she lumbered upstairs...then one more patient trailed in. We were four. An-An and I shared how blessed we were that they had come and gave them lots of food.

First An-An shared her testimony...how she met Jesus, how He has given her peace amidst heartache and how she has found joy being in His presence. Then it was my turn....I shared from beginning to end...lots of details and areas in which Jesus is still changing me. Then we asked them (I will keep them anonymous) if they had ever seen Jesus work in their lives....that's when the Spirit of God fell.

As the two patients began to tell of years and years of abuse from family members, bitterness, fear, and sleepless nights, they began to see God's hand in their lives....He had removed them from the situations of abuse in miraculous ways and gave them incredible stories of survival. They began to understand how Christ impacted their lives without them even recognizing it at the time. The joy on their faces was incomparable. An-An and I shared that going through trials and recognizing God's hand on us through those times prepares us to be an encouragement to others struggling in the same areas and that we have a purpose to proclaim the glory of God because we have SEEN it with our own eyes! They got it. We had an amazing time of prayer and we talked about ways of stopping the cycle of abuse in our own families. It was rad.

Upon reflection, An-An shared with me that she had never seen a Filipina open up about their life so freely before. She was encouraged and suggested we open the Bible Study up for any and every patient that comes to MMC. So we'll see how many come this Thursday! We're diving into the Word this week, WAHOO! And here we are...just us four. :)

The weekend came and Tim, Promise and I got to witness the death of our Thanksgiving Turkey. A few of my peers, Jenna and Kinshasa, bought a wild, Filipino turkey from the local meat market and decided to slaughter it on their front porch. We attended the ritual and cheered for joy knowing that this evening, he will be gracing our bellies. :) Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

And finally, this morning, I had the privilege of delivering my 57th baby. Ter came in fully dilated at 10 am and at 10:49 am, she powerfully pushed her baby out. I mean...stubbornly! She did not want any help or any instructions...she was focused and determined. Despite my warnings of slowing down, she popped her baby's head out slicker than snot and this was a BIG baby. A 7 1/2 pound baby girl came flying out creating a first degree tear in her momma. She is a beautiful baby...healthy, strong and stubborn like her mom. I sutured the tear and with the help of a new friend, Maria, got Ter to the postpartum area in time for shift change. Both momma and baby are well. Beautiful baby, Jammy and momma, Ter. :)

Well, Tim, Promise and I are headed to the orange house to have Canadian Thanksgiving with the other Canadian midwives....I was able to pump out three pies...kalabasa (squash similar to pumpkin), raspberry (from a very expensive can!) and dutch apple (made with fuji apples...it's all we got here!), but I am sure they will be grand! WAHOOO!

Blessings to you all on this very Happy Thanksgiving! Thanks be to God!