Photo Update

Hi Everyone!

Because my laptop is working now, I can *finally* upload pictures to the blog! Because so much has been going on, I'll just tell what's happening in each photograph. :-D

proud daddy showing off his new baby. This is their second child. Their first was premature, born at six months gestation, and died so this family was beyond thrilled with their precious bundle. :-D

Mom in labor at 1am

the baby's finally born (4:30am)!

proud mom and tired baby

mom meeting her baby for the first time

new family marveling over the miracle of life

this old man lives at the bottom of the hill and I pass him almost every time I walk by. He always smiles and waves so I asked him one day if I could take his picture. His smile got even wider and he asked me to wait a sec, then went racing off to find his hat hollering, "American taking picture! American taking picture!" After I took the picture, he gave me a high five. :-D

Jeri brought Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin to Shiphrah with her when she got back from the States and I read it. This is a drawing I made when I was (supposed to be) studying. It's based off the picture from the book (top right).

Abby took this picture of me and Claire and titled it "The Hobbit and the Ent." I've  become pretty tired of people calling me a giant but being called an Ent is rather new and fun. LOL. :-D

Ate Lyds and her daughter Renlyds at a birth day party

Jollibee hosted a birth day party at Shiphrah. Here, he poses with Cuya Ephron, Ate Lyds' husband

several of the midwives kids and staff pose with Twirlie after a birthday party. From left: Claire (in Ate Dina's arms), Ate Dina, Johannah, Twirlie (the princess in the middle), MaiMai (in Ate Helen's arms), Maybel, and Ate Helen

clowining around - notice Ate Grace's face in the back right. LOL. :-D

new family falling in love with their new baby

jeepney! Notice the drawings on the side - most jeepneys are rather brightly painted with anything from religious icons and phrases to princesses to portraits of the driver's family. They're fun to look at. :-D 

Ate Maryvick was checking for lice in Ate Helen's long, gorgeous hair. They thought it funny I was taking a picture.

Ate Maryvick: I got one!

Last week I babysat the Gustafson kids over night. It was a lot of fun.

The Heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the works of His hands. - Psalm 19:1

after church on Sunday, we went to see some 3,000 year old petroglyphs at the top of this mountain. This is one of the highest points in Manila. In the distance is the sea. 

3,000 year old petroglyphs. These certain ones I took a picture of are believed to show birth as they look like women squatting

mega mall - a really (like REALLY) long mall with five floors where I got my laptop fixed. It's a lot of fun to explore.

Ana, my young companion who came with me to Mega Mall. She was adopted by an Australian family many years ago and is coming back to visit her home country. They were visiting the Gustafsons and went with us to church and the petroglyphs but all she wanted to do was go shopping. I offered to take her to Mega Mall with me so she could do some shopping and she flipped at the idea. For those who know my family, she reminded me a LOT of Grace. It was crazy and we had a blast. :-D

a very proud family :-D

Claire's a goose 

look at that smile!

sweet heart!

Answer to prayer

Praise God my laptop is fixed!!! Supposedly there was something wrong with the power ic (whatever that is) and it cost me 400 pesos ($10) less than I was originally told. So hopefully I can update the blog fully and upload a lot of pictures. Also, I've got about 30 Ube pictures to print...

Anyway, it's fixed! Thank You, Jesus!

Theres someone out there!

Last night I babysat the Gustafson kids (jeri's grandchildren). There are three of them and they're about the ages of Isaac, grace, and promise. Since they remind me so much of my siblings, I was thrilled to watch them for the evening.

When I showed up, Deborah,their mom, greeted me at the door with, "they've created a skit for you." I couldn't help but laugh because I remember when I was little doing little special things like that for my babysitters. (in other words, I have arrived! Lol.) I watched their skit (a funny medical drama - Bernadette has diarrhea so needs to have her leg amputated!) and eventually participated in it (I fractured my hand so they chopped it off and sewed it to my head...). It was a lot of fun.

Then came bedtime. I read Aubrey and Auden some grimms fairy tales. I have never read grimms fairy tales and was horrified by some of them. When I got to the one about Faithful John who got turned into stone and the king killed his own kids in order to bring Faithful John back to life, I cried, "WHAT?!" the kids thought my reaction was hilarious...

Anyway, the main point of this blog post was around 9:30 when it was dark an peaceful and all the kids were asleep, their guard dog started barking. I heard muted voices but didn't particularly care until I suddenly realized that the voices were coming from the garage!

I raced over to the window to look out and saw a man. Putting my arms across my chest, I shouted out, "who are you and what are you doing?" I was scared and trying to look and sound intimidating.

He looked up and I noticed a woman with him. He started babbling but with the dog barking like crazy, and him speaking Tagalog, I couldn't understand a word he said. Finally, I understood one phrase, "I own this house."

At this point, my loud voice and the dog barking woke Aubrey up and he came to investigate. He looked at the man and woman and said "I've never seen them before and that is NOT the landlord."

That did it for me. I told the people to go away. After some frustrating back-and-forth, they left.

The moment we were sure they wee gone, Aubrey races into the kitchen and came back with two huge knives. "if you hear any more noises before mom and dad get back, take one of these to the door with you."

Haha, thanks, Aubrey!

We aren't quite sure who those two might have been, but there's a decent chance they were robbers. Praise God for keeping me and the kids safe!

I'm still here...

My laptop died last week and the earliest I can get it fixed is next week so please pray that it doesn't cost too much!

Praise God for iPods!

I did have some pictures I was going to post but it was saying I don't have enough memory space for them. Wag.

One quik update is that I've had an average of 3 hours of sleep per evening for the last week. I'll go to bed and get woken up around midnight or 1:00 for a birth. That's what I'm here for! :)

Thanks for the prayers!

One of the Best Moments Ever!

When I first got to the Philippines and found out that the midwives knit, I figured they must get their yarn somewhere local, but I was wrong. A really sweet American, Darlene, imports the yarn and gives it to the midwives for them to knit scarves, shawls, and belts to sell. The midwives are constantly knitting.

One day I heard them all lamenting about how they couldn't have yarn of their own or knit anything for themselves because yarn is not present in the Philippines and they can't afford to buy any of their own work.

Then Jeri told me she was going to the US and I got an idea. First, I interviewed Ate Grace and Ate Bhel, asking them what everyone's favorite colors are. Then, I e-mailed the color list to Mom and asked her to pick up at least one ball of yarn in each of those colors for the midwives. Mom enlisted the help of my sisters in order to accomplish this and they bought each of the midwives two balls of yarn which Jeri brought back to the Philippines with her.

I picked up the yarn from Jeri last night and raced to SM today to get little gift bags. When I got back, I noticed that everyone was there and that all the day shift midwives and Ate Helen were about to leave.

"WAIT!!! I've got something for y'all!" I shouted, racing back to the apartment to grab all the gifts.

When I came back, everyone was waiting curiously. I handed out the bags and the fun began. Screaming and giggling and clapping erupted as everyone found two balls of fancy yarn in their favorite colors in the bags. While all the excitement was still high, I got them all together and took their picture.

It was so much fun! I love giving gifts like this. :-D

Enjoy!

from left, Ate Grace, Ate Helen (holding MaiMai), Ate Bhel, Maybel, Ate Lornie, Ate Lyds, and Ate Dina (Ryle, Roanne, and Johannah are in the back "row")

Psychological

Yesterday, one of my COCs had her second baby. While she was pushing, she looked at Ate Bhel, the midwife, and cried, "I can't push and have this baby without fundal pressure!" (Fundal pressure is a big thing out here which doctors do all the time. However, it's not very good for mom or baby.)

Ate Bhel tried to assure her that everything was ok and that she was pushing superbly but the mom insisted. So finally, Ate Bhel placed her hand on the mom's belly without putting any pressure. The mom responded, "that's not how the doctor did it!"

"Well the way I'm doing it is better," Ate Bhel replied.

The next contraction, with Ate Bhel's hands just lightly resting on the mom's tummy, the baby came shooting into the world.

Giving me a sly wink, Ate Bhel whispered, "psychological."

Prayer Request for Mother and Baby

One of my Continuities (meaning I've done all her prenatal care and was the primary midwife at her birth)  gave birth the other day to a very small baby (2.2 kg - 4lb 13oz). During the immediate newborn exam, we noticed that the baby, Cyrus, had a hole in his back so we monitored them. Cyrus was doing ok but had a slightly fast heartbeat. Then when they were discharged, we sent them to the hospital for a doctor to evaluate the baby.

Anyway, the dad came just now and told us that Cyrus has water in his head (not quite hydrocephaly), a hole in his heart, and spina bifida. He'll be kept in the hospital for at least a week, but probably more. Before he left, I asked the dad how the mom is doing and he replied that she's "trying to be ok." In other words, she's having a hard time.

Please, please pray for little Cyrus that God would heal him and protect him and also please pray for his mother. She's such a sweet, strong woman and I know she is trying so hard to be brave. Thankfully, both she and her husband are strong Christians so they know where to find their strength, but this is really hard on both of them.

Rosemarie and Cyrus

Whatever you do...

At a birth this morning, as the baby's head started to emerge, the dad quickly looked down and turned green. He noticed his wife about to look down too since she wanted to see the baby's head, but he, still slightly green, jerked her head up and shouted, "Nooo! Whatever you do, DON'T LOOK DOWN!!!!" 

LOL! 

Graduation!

Today was the graduation of the prenatal moms who have been faithfully taking prenatal classes these last several weeks. It was a ton of fun with *lots* of giggling, games, and "performances."

For the most part, the pictures speak for themselves!

Ate Maryvic, Ate Lornie, and Ate Helen prepare the gifts for graduation

laughing during graduation

even Mymy had fun!

Ate Bhel

prizes for the moms - inside each bag is a receiving blanket and a onesie

too cute

a telephone relay race - the first team to finish and tell Ate Bhel the answer wins

Ate Helen laughing

more laughing

Ate Bhel

she's laughing in this one again...

sorry this pic is out of focus, but it's hilarious - this mom is being called up to receive her certificate and and gift when all of a sudden a gust of wind sent all the certificates flying in every direction... :-D

Abigail's faces as she handed out certificates were classic

happy mom

my COC, Arlene, came in a few minutes ago (3:45pm) and is now in labor

peeping Tom  - I have no idea what he's standing on, but he's watching all the excitement

looks like I've got some competition ;-D

graduates! :-D