Busy prenatal day!

Greetings! Today I got to do some prenatals all by myself!! No joke!

Lois was my teacher and little by little she had me do every part of the prenatal exam and by the end of the morning, I had done 5 all by myself! She started by teaching me how to count the fetal heart tones, then she went through each question I was to ask the "buntas"...
"Any bleeding or pain when urinating?" I learned to say that in Cebuano! Then after a bunch of other questions, I got to measure the fundal height, listen to the baby, feel for the baby's position and chart the results. I also had the opportunity to give some helpful advice and pray for the mothers-to-be!

Pictured is Lois measuring the baby's growth and me charting the results. Fun! Lois is such a great teacher and I was blessed to have her place so much faith in my abilities....I really feel like I don't know much, but with Lois' encouragement and the permission of my supervisor, I was able to fumble through the exams. It was great. I asked my teachers tons of questions and they were always so gracious to answer each one.

The other picture is of my supervisor, Ate Susan. She is an amazing person. She is silly and goofy (like me!) and yet, can speak the truth, train and teach with grace. She is not at all annoyed when I ask questions and is always ready to give a smile or a giggle. I appreciate her. I really love prenatals...she makes them less stressful for a first-timer.

Prenatals usually begin with the buntas arriving and while waiting for their individual check-up, they get their blood drawn and their blood pressure checked. Then we all sing worship songs together, pray, get a few relaxing exercises out of the way, then listen to some Bible teaching. After that, the buntas are taught a lesson about good prenatal health and the importance of coming to their check-ups. (this is always in Cebuano). Then the ladies come one-by-one into the cubicles where us midwives are waiting to check them out. There are usually four midwives working and another three charting and making sure that the ladies are prepared for their check-up. After that, the ladies are free to go.

Today was exceptionally busy. I started out by filling the syringes for tetanus shots and then went to work with Lois. We had one lady who had extremely high blood pressure and had to be given an IV then taken to the hospital for preeclampsia! Then we had another lady who was struggling with high blood pressure and needed to chug tons of water, lay on her left side and be monitored every fifteen minutes. She was later discharged and encouraged to rest and drink tons of tubig (water). We also had a lady who didn't speak Cebuano, Tagalog or English! That was nuts....and then the numbers were high, too.

One of the things I love about this culture is that all the ladies have a nickname....so when you look at their chart, their name is written, but they also have their nicknames recorded....they like it when you call them by their nickname.....and some of them are hilarious! One little lady who was having her first baby at 16 years old was nicknamed "Love-Love" and another was "Li-li". I loved getting to know them and having them share how they were feeling about being pregnant. Some say right out that they are excited while others just smile and look down....as if they really don't know exactly how they feel. I can't imagine.

Tonight, Tim and I have invited over a couple from a church we have been attending. Pinky and Manny are the pastors of Faith Baptist Church and I have been told that Pinky is an excellent Filipina cook who enjoys teaching how to cook authentic Filipino dishes to silly Americanos! So THIS time I am cooking, but I am sure next time, she will teach me! We are looking forward to getting to know them this evening. Please pray that we are a blessing to them.

Tomorrow I work another birth room shift, so please pray for that, too...that I am not a clutz!.I really want to be a help and a blessing to the ladies in labor....and not a hindrance to the staff or ladies. I will keep you posted! Thank you for all your encouragement and prayers! Tim will be posting more pics soon, too!
Be blessed.

Prenatals and Care Group

Greetings! Thank you so much for the comments on last post....even today as I walk home from the clinic, the nasty dog gazed at me with its sick and forlorn eyes. I also found out this evening that the dog's name is "Chi Chi". Right. Retarded dog. Looks like a "Chi Chi"! Whatever that is.


Anyways, today is the short post.... today was another day of prenatals. And here's a pic of the "buntas" waiting for their check-up. They actually liked me taking their picture! :) I got to shadow Sue today. She's an intern from Idaho and a lovely lady. We had a pretty cool visit with one buntas named Rosalie who is ready to have her baby any day now....except today we found two very different fetal heart tones inside her....with two dopplers placed on either side of her belly, we found out that she may be carrying twins! Don't know for sure, yet, but we may find out soon! She is headed to an ultrasound this week! It was a great day at the clinic and I learned so much....again. Everyday is full to the brim with learning.

Then this evening, Tim and I headed to Care Group! All the staff, students, and interns were invited to join together to focus on the Lord in unity. We're planning on doing them bi-weekly and Tim is helping with worship! It's good that the Lord has given him that outlet again....the Lord just speaks through him in worship. I just love it.

We had a great time (the pics below) worshiping and then Matt McNeil (our director) shared from Hebrews on faith....and from his own experiences adopting his two gorgeous Filipina daughters, Josie and Jessica. The fellowship was good and the refocusing of our mission was so valuable. We had a great time of prayer for the clinic, its reputation and for all of us representing Christ in it. God is good.



Tomorrow is another day of prenatals and I may get to shadow my new dear friend, Lois! She has an amazing heart for the Lord that ooozes like green goo from her. It's really an encouragement and a blessing to learn from her.

Thank you again for all your prayers and comments! Be blessed!

Ugly dogs...loud dogs....smelly dogs...

No, this isn't a Dr. Seuss book......but it COULD be!

Greetings! This post is about our resident dog! The dog who lives downstairs and pees and poos on our steps and on our fortress gate. Yes, this dog is SAD....not SAD, PATHETIC. Like most dogs here, this dog needs hair replacement therapy, a breast reduction, rat poison and a face lift. This dog's poo is always white and crunchy. This dog brings an aroma of the place of eternal punishment wherever it goes....Sorry for the details, but you really must understand....this dog is really, REALLY nasty.

But the workers in the shop downstairs share their lunch with it (hence its size), they pet it and let it doodie where it pleases. They love this hideous animal. The scary part is that we know that this dog has had puppies (check out its underbelly) and it is frightening to know that this dog's offspring is roaming around our neighborhood somewhere!

Now, you may ask, "Why, Bethany, are you telling us this!? This is GROSS!"

Well, friends, if you intend on visiting us and staying in our wonderful home (yes, it truly is wonderful, I love it!), then you must understand that when you leave our fortress, you will be greeted by the stench of this pictured dog....and it's smell is far worse than its looks. Just be warned.

The BIG blessing is that you cannot smell it at the top of our 31 stairs or in our home.
The other plus is that it is a great conversation piece. Tim and I, just about every night, giggle and cleverly devise plans of ridding ourselves of this foul beast. And then we chuckle at its ironically spoiled life.

I know, I know, I may have offended you animal rights activists...but YOU AREN'T HERE to take in its glory and enjoy its offerings, so get over it. :)

On a happier and lighter note...I went to the market today with my dear friends, Jenn and NeNe. What fun! I love the market....it's really the only place where you feel COMPLETELY submersed in Filipino life. I am sure Tim will take pictures there soon and post them. When you're getting your fruits and veggies, it's really hard to take pictures, too. But I decided to post some of the more exotic favorite items found in the market....like mangosteen (the healthy purple fruit), Buko (young peeled coconut that I crack open at home and drink the fantastic juice out of!) and here, you get eggs like the picture shown and you DON'T refrigerate them. They are o'natural...unbleached and not at all washed, so they can sit on the counter top for almost a month! Sweet! I love this country.

Hope you are all well and please continue to comment...the encouragement is such a blessing and it certainly makes Tim and I feel more connected. Many blessings!

A difficult birth shift.....

Greetings! I did make it to my overnight birth shift with camera in hand only to find out that there was only one dear lady admitted. It was a long night. So I took pictures of all the things that would interest one who works in a clinic or a maternity ward (yeah....that's you, Heidi!).

For the rest of you all, just bear with me....it was a LOOOONG night and at the end of it, I was mildly frustrated with my lack of abilities.

So this dear lady, Irene, was admitted the day before at only 2 cm dilation. Normally she would go home, but because she lived over an hour away, the clinic decided to keep her.....AND she was the only one there!

So she had mild contractions all night and then by 4:45 am, she was in full labor and I was woken up to quickly begin charting her progress. The only problem was, I really wasn't supposed to be charting. Everyone else was asleep and my supervisor thought I was an intern....she hadn't realized that I was a student-to-be. So I thought she knew that about me, but she thought I was qualified, so I began to chart what she stated.

The labor was LONNNGGGG and difficult....it looked like she needed to be transported to the hospital....she was on oxygen and an IV. Totally exhausted, with the help of two midwives and two attendants, managed to push her little boy named Ken out. She needed a lot of help after that. Then after asking some questions about the charting and trying to help grab towels, gauze and other things, my supervisor asked, "Aren't you an intern?" I, as well as the other midwife, firmly said, "No, I am a student beginning in September." Her eyes got wide and she grabbed the chart. Ooops. I had made some mistakes on the chart, too. Ooops.

Then she asked me to go get the Pitocin shot to help the bleeding. I didn't know exactly where they were so I quickly asked, "In the fridge?". Yup. One labeled oxytocin, the other without a label. I chose the one without the label (it was passed 6 am and I was up most of the night) and as soon as I brought it in, I was greeted with somewhat frustrated eyes...."The one labeled 'oxytocin'!" Yeah, thanks....I'll get right on that. It appears that the one I had brought was the vitamin K shot for the baby. Three cheers for retarded Bethany. Mmmm. By that point, I was feeling useless and stupid. At least dear Irene got her baby and was in pretty good health.

As for me, I wandered home a little after 6am. Sweaty, downcast, tired, on my period (I've been on it for 6 weeks)....and without my house keys. Great. Another zinger for the genius.

After numerous texts to Tim on his phone, a pounding on our fortress metal door, and three thousand buzzer rings, a very sleepy Tim came to my rescue....but at that point, I was in tears. Overtired....frustrated....and disappointed....I apologized profusely to Tim and fell into bed trying to focus on the fact that someday I will know how to do all this and my supervisors and peers won't laugh at my ignorance or be frustrated by my lack of midwifery expertise.

Next shift will be better....that's my prayer. Thinking positive and fighting the urge to get into any self-pity.....such are the learning experiences of a midwife in the observing stage. So the pics are of the clinic....Be blessed and thanks for reading!

Jaycee....

Greetings! It's Monday here and this evening (10pm- 6am) I get to be in the birth room again and this time I am not going to forget my camera! :)

This weekend, our dear friends, Jenn and Joe (who live down the street and have 7 kids!) received a temporary new addition to their family. Jaycee is a nine-month-old baby boy who is cute as a barrel of buttons and is from a remote village in the Bukid. While his face is clearly the face of a baby of his age, his body is that of a three-month-old.

His mother has TB of the stomach and can no longer care for him while his father is busy caring for her. Please pray for her speedy recovery as she wants to care for her boy again. As for now, this little munchkin is staying with Jenn and Joe and another family, but we're babysitting him right now. In fact, he is in my arms right now! Jenn and Joe are doing an incredible job caring for him and loving on him....it is such a blessing to see.

This little guy is a sweetheart and giggles tons. He has a number of issues such as pneumonia and a series of rashes. But he was surviving on sweet potato broth and now he is thriving on formula and cereal. We are praying that the Lord continues to heal his body and gives grace to his caregivers. His parents need a touch from the Lord, too.

After hanging with Jaycee today, I was really humbled and began to recognize that there is so much to do here.....so many opportunities to serve in unexpected ways....like caring for infants from far off villages! God only knows, but we are up for anything! We determined to stay flexible and open to whatever the Lord says to do TODAY! Be blessed!

I FORGOT MY CAMERA!

Greetings! Yes, it is true...I got to go back to work in the birth room for the day shift (6am - 2pm) and I forgot my camera!

This shift was truly eventful, too. I just felt sick about forgetting the very instrument used to document my time here! However, while I was pouting that my camera was sitting in my desk and not in Mercy Maternity, Tim was shooting pictures of our neighborhood! I'll get to that, but first, I must tell you about the birth room today!

Medea, Ate Elsa, Ate Susan, and Abigail were my team this morning. Ate Elsa and Ate Susan are wonderful Filipina midwives that have incredible senses of humor. I was in stitches (not literally...we refer to that as "sutures") half my shift as they offered to teach and help me learn the ins and outs of baby check-ups and preparing things for labor and birth. I was humbled just being around them!

But the first half of my shift, Medea spent teaching me how to take the patient's blood pressure and then she ran around like a chicken with its head cut off delivering a baby and doing mass quantities of baby check-ups! She's a trained nurse, but not a midwife, yet! She is supposed to be in my class and she's already delivering babies! She really is incredible.

Normally we wouldn't have so many baby check-ups, but because we're short-staffed due to many of the midwives being on furlough and interns leaving next month, we had an overwhelming number of women coming in to have their week-old babies poked and prodded to make sure they were growing and doing well. I really loved getting to know the women and learning little bits of the language along the way....

And then.....I saw two births! The first was a baby boy whose momma was such a fighter....stubborn and feisty. Though she had many complications, she wanted to give birth at Mercy and that is just what she did. She was supposed to be taken to the local hospital, but Ate Susan saw how much she wanted her baby born in the clinic that she had to try birthing Christopher John here....and VOILA! Baby boy Christopher is well and has an amazing set of lungs! His momma just kept saying, "Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!" I don't blame her! God is so faithful.

Then there was Cecelia....she had already had 4 children and 2 miscarriages. She was in so much pain....and tried to stay smiling. Medea kept watch over her and it was not long before Cecelia's bag of waters gushed out all over Medea! She was drenched....and laughing....and less than a minute later, Cecelia gave birth to a baby girl...healthy and strong. No name for her, yet. Medea quickly got changed and then came back to chart some more and do more baby check-ups. It was a wild shift. But good for me, too, as I was able to start charting some things and Ate Elsa and Ate Susan even let me do some of the baby check-ups! I am learning so much that it makes my brain hurt....I came home so tired!

Next time I am in the birth room, I promise to take detailed pictures of the facility, the staff and the beautiful buntas! I am hoping that I will learn some more Cebuano by then, too. It is so hard not knowing very much of the language!

And Tim had a great morning, too. He ventured out into our neighborhood meeting people and taking pictures. He said that kids would follow him wanting him to take their picture and grown men would shout, "Hey JO!" wanting their picture taken, too! He had a GAS and can't wait to go back to take more pictures and get to know the people better. He really desires to build relationships with the people of our neighborhood and it is tricky when we know so little Cebuano. I am looking forward to seeing more of his journeys through the lens of his camera!

Thank you again for all your prayers. I am almost completely better from the mysterious sinus/fever infection cold...God is so good. Please continue to pray for God's mercy and grace for us. We have a busy week ahead of us! Be blessed!

Beauty and the beast....

Greetings! Thank you all for your prayers this week. We have discovered that I do not have the measles (PRAISE GOD!) and my computer is finally recovering from the ant nest infestation in its bowels. Thyme oil works to keep away ants! The little beasts! But please pray as scarlet fever is going around! So far, I am okay! God is good.

Anyway, I am feeling a little better today although I am unable to be in the clinic as a result of a fever. Maybe tomorrow. I am to work the day shift (6 am - 2 pm) tomorrow and I really want to be well enough to absorb everything I need to learn. Another day relying on the grace of God. For now, I am having to stay in bed, make occasional visits to the CR (that's comfort room here in Davao) to pass some more diarrhea, hang up the laundry, and make some grub for hungry Tim. Can't wait to get back outdoors to get to know more people and learn more things.

The picture above was taken as we were driving home from Nasuli. Just a few minutes from where we live in the crazy, crowded city is a peaceful drive like an oasis in the desert. It seems similar to Vancouver....big city, crowds, noise, traffic and just a few minutes and you find peace, rest, natural beauty....I think Tim and I will need to take a few of these journeys to keep a balance.
And even on the most remote roads, you see these crazy guys (above). The driver of this motorcycle really thought he was pulling over to let us by! Pretty impressive. Everyday we are amazed and surprised at something in this city.

Tim is getting a bit more time to focus on photography, which he has been missing. The picture below is one he took as we were passing through the city a few days ago. Calla lilies grow so much bigger here! Pretty neat, eh? I am so proud of Tim. He has been doing so well here. He is really learning to enjoy the culture and look for every opportunity to be a blessing. Even to me. I am blessed. Not much to post today, but please continue to pray for favor in our quest for our missionary visas. There are so many steps and hula hoops to go through before we can even submit the application. We have been told that it can take up to a year to process!

Please also pray for our health. We know that satan is trying to cut us off at the knees as he is just plain ticked we're here, but God is SOOOO powerful, faithful, and gracious. We are in His hands and nothing can hit us unless it has first been filtered through His loving hands. So we are full of hope.

Have a wonderful weekend....more to come! Be blessed.