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.

Nasuli

Greetings. Sorry we haven't updated you in a while. We've been out of town for a few days, and before that we had lost our internet connection for a brief period. We went to a place called Nasuli for four days (Saturday to Tuesday). We went with the other families that are enrolled at the Midwifery school and we had a great time.

Nasuli is an old missionary community that is located about 4 hours north of Davao City. We all stayed in one house, which is pretty impressive considering there were nearly 30 of us. It was a great opportunity to get to know one another better.

We had a great time playing games together. We also made regular trips to the local watering hole. Within a five minute walk was a spring water pond that was great for swimming. The water was just cold enough to be refreshing, but warm enough that you could stay in it for a long time. It was surrounded by trees too, so no sunburn! I've included a picture of one of the small huts that was located at the edge of the pond.
On Sunday we all took a trip down the river. Everyone had brought innertubes, so we inflated them and took a nice lazy river ride. We rode on the river for over an hour and it was very relaxing. We saw lots of people washing their clothes at the edge of the river. We got to see some exotic vegetation, and some really big cattle at the river's edge too. I'm sure we were quite the spectacle ourselves!

It was great to get out of the city for a few days and see some more of this beautiful country. We drove for several hours through the mountains to get to Nasuli. I didn't get any decent pictures of the mountains because we were in a five vehicle caravan, so I didn't have the option of stopping every time I was awestruck by the view. I did try taking a picture from the window of the truck as we were driving. It didn't turn out well, but it gives you an idea of what the countryside looks like.

While at Nasuli, Matt discussed with us the idea of starting a "care group" for all the students and staff of the clinic. We're going to gather with the entire group (about 50 people) every other week to worship and pray together and somebody will facilitate a brief bible discussion each time we meet. It looks as though I will help with the worship.

We had a nice relaxing weekend, but today it was back to work. This morning I spent a couple of hours at the immigration office getting our tourist visa extensions. We're now legally allowed to stay until September 6, but by then we will have applied for our missionary visa.

Please be praying for Bethany. She is feeling pretty sick with a bad cold and a fever. We just found out that one of the kids that was with us this weekend has come down with the measles, so please pray that Bethany isn't suffering from the same. Also, please pray that her computer will continue to work well. We just found an infestation of tiny ants inside her MacBook (hundreds of tiny ants just poured out of her computer and onto her lap).

There is a possibility that I will be able to go on a brief trip to a remote island later this month for the purpose of scouting out a location for our first water filtration project. Please pray that the new engine is installed quickly on the boat that we will be taking.

Be blessed. Thank you for your continued prayer. We'll write again soon.

Cheers,
Tim.

More Prenatals and feeling more at home!

Greetings! Thank you all for the comments and encouragement this week! We have been so blessed by your e-mails and responses.

Last night, Tim and I hung our first picture in the house...actually it wasn't a picture at all...it was a quilt my dear friend, Heather Lilly made for us for our wedding! (see picture!) It has verses all over it from many of my university friends. What a blessing to put it in our new home. No doubt those Scriptures will come in handy during our stay. Thanks, Heather.

Then today, Thursday, I spent time in the clinic (picture of the outside of the clinic) learning how to do more prenatal exams. (Picture of the other prenatal examiners and the "buntas" praying before their exam). My teacher this time was Tiffany. She was so great! I learned a TON from her. She had me doing quite a bit of charting results, checking the fundal height, palpating the baby, praying for the "bunta" and learning all the risks involved in giving birth in the third world. She was a gem.


The pictures are of Tiffany teaching me with the "buntas". By the end of the shift "Ako si Bethany" rang in my ears and I can honestly say that the best way to learn a language is constant repetition!

God has been so faithful in all of the experiences we have had....right now, Tim is getting our extension to stay in the Philippines until our missionary visas are filed and ready to go. Apparently he has to wear long pants, shoes and socks and look really presentable in order to obtain an extension....it's HOT today and Tim doesn't own anything but sandals, but he suited up for the occasion and wore socks WITH sandals...his dad would be proud! :)

Today we may get househelp, too! Our househelp will come two days a week to help with keeping the floors clean and getting the laundry done....it's surprising how much I have taken for granted the washing machine and dryer! Hanging clothes on a line is a lot of work and because clothes get dirty so fast, you have to do laundry everyday....or close to it! So when I start school, I will have a hard time getting all of it done and the floors are all tile so soot settles on it very quickly....a little black dust never hurt anyone, right? Anyways, it will be a blessing to have the help and one to one time with a Filipina!

Tomorrow, we are heading out with all the married couples at Newlife School (in total, there are 5 families going...30 people in all!). We are heading into the bush with all their kids to get to know each other better....sharing two bathrooms and one house....this should be interesting....I am not sure that I am looking forward to the four days (Saturday to Tuesday for us), but I am sure that at the end, I will REALLY know these people. PRAY FOR US! Fifteen kids does not sound like fun to me- I've enjoyed being childless since leaving our job with the group home, but grace is an attribute that I am asking the Lord to give me. We'll take pictures....but there won't be a post during that time. Many blessings to you all!

Ropes in a Bag

I'll keep this brief because I'm tired. Today we went to Outland Adventures, which is a ropes course that Matt started seven years ago. They minister to high school kids, using various elements on the ropes course to share the gospel. For those who don't know, a ropes course is kind of like an obstacle course, but not really. It involves lots of different elements, some of which are way up in the trees. Today we joined their staff as they got some training on a new aspect of the ministry.

Outland Adventures has been informed by one of their sponsors that if they can figure out a way to follow up with students after they have completed the three day camp, those students will be provided with a full scholarship to university. Outland has responded by initiating a program that the students can use to share their experience with their classmates that were not at the camp.

The program is call "Ropes Course in a Bag". Today our friends Manny and Heather (she is a student at Newlife) were teaching the staff how to use this new tool. They will train students how to use some very simple objects (rope, hula hoops, marbles, etc.) to do team building exercises with their peers, using the activities to share the gospel. This way, everyone gets to share in the experience, even though they may not have the opportunity to visit the ropes course.

Basically, we just played fun games all day and learned how to use them as object lessons. It was lots of fun and we got dirty and now we're very tired. Please be praying that we get our immigration stuff done in a timely manner. We have to extend our tourist visa and then apply for a missionary visa. As we discovered this week, when working with the Filipino government, things may not go as planned.

Cheers,
Tim.