Shiphrah Mommies and Babies

Pictures from the crazy week!

Here are some of the pics I took of the moms and babies this past week:

one of the moms I "helped" enjoying her new baby

I charted at her birth

baby I caught who came out with a cord coil and a nuchal hand (the hand was born with the head)

I charted at this birth

I think this mom is absolutely adorable and I was blessed to catch her baby

I love this pic :-D

Crazy Night

A few days ago, I posted about the crazy morning we had (if you haven't read about it yet, click here). Well last night was just as crazy.

Karissa and I haven't really had a full night's rest in at least a week, possibly two, so we are both exhausted. However, because lots of women have started showing up in active labor at night, we've started spending the night at the birth center so as not to miss any births.

Well, last night was the bomb.

In the late afternoon, I caught a baby and then did postpartum checks until 9:45pm. Then I went to bed but decided since it was Friday night to watch a short movie on my iPod. Bad idea because I didn't fall asleep until 10:30.

Then at 1:30am, there was a knock on the door and Ate Grace said there was a woman fully dilated in room one. Since Karissa was next up, I was relieved to stay in bed and went back to sleep. The lady delivered a little while later and Karissa had postpartum checks until 3:45am.

Then there was more furious knocking on the door at 3:30am and Ate Bhel announced, "there's a labor!"

Since both beds in room 1 were full, this woman came into room 2. She was 5-6 cm but seemed to be progressing quickly.

Within ten minutes, another woman walked in, 3-4 cm.

Both women were in room 2 and Ate Bhel and I were monitoring both of them. Karissa was sacked out on the couch.

Everything was going just smashingly (though a little tiredly) when suddenly both moms were 10 cm and +2 to +3 station at the same time. In other words, both of them were about to have their babies right then.

Ate Bhel sent me scurrying out of the room to wake Ate Lornie and tell her we needed her. I got back into the room and caught the baby of the first lady. Then Karissa was called to assist with the birth of the second baby because Bhel and I were still busy with the second lady.

So within 12 hours, a total of four babies were born here. I've never seen all four labor beds full like that before. 

Now I'm really tired. Hopefully I can take a nap after lunch. :-D

Cuteness overload

Hi everyone!

Yesterday was My-My day. :-D In other words, I got to take a ton of really cute pictures of her. She is the cutest baby in the PI. :-D

Also, I caught another baby yesterday. So far, I've attended 10-12 births since getting here (sorry, I need to check my notebook to figure out the exact amount...) and have caught (or at least, helped to catch) 5-7 of them (once again, I need to check the notebook...). I absolutely *love* catching babies and am so excited to complete my midwifery training (in several years) so I can do this for (hopefully) a really long time. :-D

It looks like the births are finally starting to pick up. When I showed up, Shiphrah was at its all-time low with only 1-2 births a week. However, there has been at least 1 birth a day. Today, for instance, there have been 3 births (possibly more...I only know of the 3) and there is one more woman in labor.

At the birth I charted at this morning, a few minutes after the baby was born, the midwife, Ate Lornie, handed the little girl to me and said, "Hold it for us while we work on the mom." So I was sitting there holding the newborn and continuing to chart.

After a minute or so, Ate Bhel (who is an *amazing* midwife - I absolutely love her!) peeked into the room quickly and started laughing. I looked up. "Oh, Danielle! For a minute I thought you were breastfeeding that baby! Hee hee hee!" Ate Bhel loves to laugh, which is one of the things I love about her. The other night when I was returning from the apartment to Shiphrah, she and several of the other midwives and their husbands were sitting outside, enjoying the cooler weather. As I approached, one of the husbands (I think he's Ate Grace's) asked, "Danielle, how tall are you?"

I replied, "six foot one."

Instantly Ate Bhel and Ate Grace were on their feet, screaming and giggling, "I told you so!" They were so funny to watch! I love them all.

Another funny Ate Bhel story I have is the other day when I was wearing a really long skirt because it was the only clean thing I had (yes, I'm terrible at laundry... :-S) and Ate Bhel started laughing. "You know, if I were wearing that, it would be a dress! And yet you're wearing it as a skirt!"

Yes, I love these ladies. :-D

Ok, as the title promised, here are some adorable pics of My-My!

Jorge, Shiphrah's chauffer, playing with My-My