Holly's Birthday Part 2.

So... for Holly's real birthday surprise.... the one the bowling was covering up... :-)

So the plan was... the bowling was a decoy... the real surprise was a weekend (ok, well, sunday and monday) getaway to another island where we spent a lot of time in the water, and swimming, and eating, and riding on the back of some super swell motorbikes.

Here's how it went down.....

Holly was working day shift (6am-2pm) an I was "working" Night shift (10pm-6am)... So Holly was at work, and I was at home frantically getting together a bag of stuff, clothes, snorkel stuff, food (cause there is no food at the place for sleeping), etc, etc... So I told her that if she caught a baby (which she did, by the way, her first one!!) that we would go to the pool, and then go for a really stellar 3 dollar massage... That was my excuse to get the bags... and so she got home, and I was trying to get her to hurry... but we didn't get out of the house until after three... sigh... It works much to my benefit that Holly has no idea how to get around Davao; and we got on a Jeep and started riding... for a long way... well, not long, but MUCH longer than it would have taken to get to the pool... and we go to the ferry. The whole time Holly is like, what pool are we going to, Sar? And I was like, oh this new pool the big girls told me about... and she was like, hmmm, ok. And we get to the port... and she's like... ummm, Sar, are we going to the beach or the pool? and I was like... yeah... So we get our tickets onto the ferry... and she's all excited. and I was like, well, it's like 3:30 now, so we don't have THAT much time... sorry friend, I thought you wouldn't take so long to get ready... So we hire two motor bikes to take us around, and we went to this sweet waterfall, but we didn't have that much time there, cause it was already getting late. So we left there an traveled across the island to Canibad, the place we were staying.

We got there at a little after 6 and it was definitely well on the way to darkness, the whole time we were on the bikes, Holly was thinking... why are we going here? It's getting so late... So my driver, who I had been talking to the entire time, was like, Ok, you will just text me in the morning when you are ready to leave, and Holly looked at me and was like "WHAT???" It was hilarious! And all the questions about my night shift, and had I thought about ___ or ____... :-) It was grand. So we got a little open hut on the beach for about 4 dollars and slept there right on the beach, and had some wonderful food (that had gotten a little smushed up in my backpack... oops... and slept early and woke up early, and played in the water until about 9:30. We snorkeled and picked up some really cool shells and stones for our fish tank. Our next stop was a cool bat cave. It houses one of the biggest bat colonies in the world. it was seriously HUGE. And really smelly. And also loud... Kinda gross. But it was cool. Then our drivers took us to Paradise resort and we spent the rest of the afternoon eating and swimmin g there, and got home about 4:30. It was SO grand, and she was so surprised! It was a wonderful day!! And because we did the "local" stuff, it was crazy cheap too! Yay for 1/4 century birthday surprises that aren't expensive!! Waa hoo!!!

Love you guys! Have a great Christmas!

~Sarah

Holly's birthday surprise...

Soooo... Holly's birthday! It was great fun! It was a good day, we just did some stuff around the island and had a really good day. So I worked clinic in the morning, and then came back and picked up Holly, and we went to this massage place :-) It was really fun. It was a at this Thai place and it was more muscle pressure and stretching and pretzling and stuff! :-) It was So amazing. Then we went over to the mall, and we walked around and shopped a bit... and while we were there... in the department store... this song came on, and every sales associate in the store started doing this pre-choreographed dance... It was a little bit crazy... and hilarious!

Then we went bowling with a couple of girls from the house, and had some dinner at the food court. and went home and watched a movie... and Holly went to work! :-) It was a great day!! Oh as a birthday "cake" we got a fresh coconut with fruit salad in it... and it was SO yummy! It was really a good day, and Holly had fun, phew! :-) Have a great weekend, friends!!

~Sarah

Happy Birthday Holly!!

Happy Birthday Holly!!! I hope your day is GRAND!!!

Wow wow wow!!!!

So it finally happened!!! I caught my first baby!! It was very exciting!! I will spare you all the details (unless you want them, in which case, e-mail me and I'd be happy to tell you about it!!!). It was great! The mom's name is Jo, and the baby's name is Jana Prex.

It was pretty much amazing! Me and Holly went to get smoothies and we watched a movie last night instead of homework! Grand!! Anyway, I just wanted to send out a quick update, but I'll update more later! I have to go to work!! Love you guys!! Thanks for praying!

update....

So, I had a labor... and I checked her all out, and it turned out... she wasn't ready to stay at the clinic... so I sent her home! It was really cool and I was terrified. Thanks everyone for praying.

Prayer requests

Ok, so honestly, the title of this post was going to be yikes!.... but... Prayer requests is maybe better...

So I am sitting here, on the cusp of handling... ok, maybe not really. I am at 8 births, and the supervisor said if there were 2 the third would be mine... and I was not expecting it today. I wasn't expecting it until Wednesday... SO I, with a look of terror, I'm sure, said... umm... ok. So yeah, If you look at this on the morning of December 3rd before 9 o'clock... I could be... yikes... a real live midwife, sorta... Actually, if I handle, I'll probably be there for longer than that... so if you could be praying for me, that'd make a TON of difference....

also... my great friend Cindy.... texted me the other day... and she is having some SERIOUS familial problems, I think. And she is confiding in me. I am very worried about her, because she was texting me a lot, and then she said something about her uncle coming over (who, I think is the source of the problem), and she hasn't texted me back since then... please pray for her, and her family. And for me, and the other mercy girls that may be called on to try to work out this problem for her.

Alright, thanks so much! Love you guys!!

~Sarah

Natalie Bolcan!

So I had Cindy and Natalie's 6 week check. It's the last post partum check we do here at mercy... it was kind of bitter sweet... however!! We went out for breakfast/lunch after and they invited me over to their house... which was kind of far, and I didn't really tell anyone I was going... but it was crazy fun.

So we get in the Jeep outside of the shopping center, and they told me it was far.... but I didn't really believe them. It was pretty far. So we rode, and I was holding Natalie, and we got all sorts of funny looks from the other passengers who were thinking how did this white girl get this baby... Then we got to the stop, and jumped out. Cindy's mom took the baby and got on one form of transportation, and me and Cindy were going to ride on a motorcycle together... well... she told me to get on, and I said "that one?" and she said "yeah" and I said, "now?" and she told me yes... so I did... and the driver started freaking out, and I was like... uh, what? and everyone started laughing... and I had no idea what I did... so cindy was like "Get off!!" and I jumped off so fast... and I tried to get her to tell me what... but she was laughing so hard she couldn't get it out... great... I start off by totally embarrassing myself... So it turned out that the guy just wanted to turn his bike around... I was the talk of the bus station for the rest of the day (at least).

So we got to her house and I had a LOT of coke, and some peanut butter sandwich thing, and anything else they could find in their house to get me... which I tried not to eat, but really, there was no refusing them. It was a grand visit and while I was there, Cindy asked me to be Natalie's godmother. which basically involves buying a bunch of presents and going to her baptism and stuff like that. she also invited me to their family reunion on Jan 1... so, it's going to be great fun!! So I made it home in one piece, I didn't even get lost (which is kind of a miracle, because I get lost all the time)! It is SO wonderful to have relationships with these girls! And I really hope I can continue to build good relationships even when the work schedule gets crazy.
I hope you all are well, and I pray for you regularly~

Shift with Holly

It was a very exciting shift... it started out kind of slow, but it held a lot of action! :-) Holly was first up to assist so we had a pushy girl who was giving birth to her first baby. She was doing pretty good... but then the baby wasn't coming out.... for a long time... so we ended up transporting her to the hospital, and she had a C-section. It was kind of sad, but I think it was ok. Then after a little while another girl came in, and she was SO beautiful! She was very tall, like, REALLY tall. It was grand. She had come with her young daughter and son and husband. They didn't have anyone to watch the kids except a little boy, who they also brought with them. Crazy. So, the mom was pushing out her third little baby, while the husband ran back and forth between her and the kids outside! :-) And then, since there was nobody else there, the kids came in and were hanging out and inspecting their new baby! Holly did amazingly and it was a pretty good shift. (so the pictures are of the new little family, and Holly finishing up the newborn exam)

In other very exciting news... we are deep into our new assignment (which isn't so new anymore...) it is Intrapartum (labor/birth). It's really great and relevant to what we are learning right now. The girls in my year are starting to deliver the babies instead of just assist, and it's exciting to see. I still have 7 assists... I only need 3 more... I have been "stuck" there for about 2 1/2 weeks. It's a little bit discouraging, but I know that I am not going to handle until God wants me to do it, and I have learned SO SO SO much in this past 2 1/2 weeks. I have gotten the women from admission and sat with them, basically, until the head was about to come out, and then a supervisor comes in and catches it. So I feel more like I am... I don't want to say ready, because there is still SO much to learn. I will never get it all. But I know way more than I would have if I would have just finished my assists 2 weeks ago. And it gives me more time to build relationships with these girls, which, is so important to me. Anyway, thats all for now. I should get back to homework. I am on cooking this week, which leaves me not as much time for homework! :-) Have a wonderful last half of the week, and weekend, friends!!

P.S. Shout out to Jes L.'s Mom!!! She rocks! ;-)

:-)

Wow it's been a long time... The assignment was due, and then the internet out for a whole week! It was crazy times! :-) But now it's settled down just a bit, and we are back to just the regular amount of craziness! :-) I am very excited because this aftenoon I get to work with Holly! And I PROMISE that there will be pictures and stories from that later. But for now, it's laundry and homework until 2 when its time for work... until then :-)

sigh

Wow! I finally finished my assignment. that one was a killer. It wasn't exactly hard... just long and time consuming. So after malaria set me back about 6 days, I finally finished Sunday night (definitely 6 days after I wanted to). It was due monday afternoon, so it turned out ok. God is SO faithful. I just have to take the test on... tomorrow, and then on to the next assignment, which, I hear, is a real whopper... so yikes!

In other news me and Holly got to work together yesterday!! It was prenatals, so we really didn't see each other at all. BUT our cubicles were right next to each other, and it was so great to be able to hear her with the women, and to listen to them joke and laugh together. It made my heart smile. She however, did not hear my initial prenatal karaoke joke... In the Philippines karaoke is HUGE!!! Like, really, a karaoke machine on every corner! so on the day of initial prenatals sometimes the girls have no clue what is going to happen, so we tell them... "Here at mercy..." so I always talk about the fetoscope (like a stethoscope, but different...) to hear the heart beat, but then I also tell them about the doppler I tell them it's like a microphone, for their baby to do karaoke! and they always laugh so hard at my very funny joke... actually, a lady responded yesterday with, "Oh yes, I know this baby is going to be a karaoke star, this is practice!" HA HA HA, it was hilarious! Well, anyway, here are some pictures of Holly and I doing prenatals... not yesterday... but recently... :-) Have a great week everyone!

Oy!

Hi everyone! Sorry for the delay in posting... I have been very sick for the past... week ish... I've had malaria and basically not moved from my bedroom for about 6 days, not eating/drinking, etc... But God is faithful, and He was taking care of me, and Holly was taking care of my physical needs (which, is kind of difficult, I'm not the best sick person... I'm not very compliant...). I am so blessed by her. But anyway...
Today I had a three week check with Cindy and Natalie. Natalie is getting SO big! She was over 7 lbs! yay! She was still kind of jaundice, which should have probably gone away by now, but her grandmother was giving her this "vitamin" supplement and thought that was enough, and she didn't need to follow our instructions. But I told her to stop giving her the vitamins, and sun her a little... and keep feeding a lot. Cindy is so grand, she texts me all the time! :-) And nice ones, too, not just forwards (in the Philippines they send a lot of forwards to people, they are kind of silly, but ... yeah). Last night she sent me a message saying that she was so excited to see me tomorrow (today), and that she misses me, and Natalie does too! :-) And today they brought me some mangos! my favorite! I've decided that Natalie looks just like her mom! They are both so cute!

So on the school front... Our teacher for this assignment graciously extended the due date from Friday at 12 to Monday at 2! I was SO glad, because when I was sick, I couldn't do any of it... I couldn't think well... So that left me about 4 days to do about half of the assignment that we had 3 weeks to do! yikes! I was SO excited about the extension, so now, I can do a bit of a better job with it. Speaking of "it." I should probably go work on it some more! Have a wonderful week! I will update again sooner! :-)

Life...

I just wanted to give an update on Cindy and Natalie... they are both doing GREAT! Cindy is such a great mom! I'm so proud of her! She is pretty much amazing! And her mother comes to every single visit she has, and brings every piece of paper I have ever given to her! ;-) It's so cute. Here are a couple of pictures from Natalie's check ups!



In other news... our new assignment is newborn exams... and it is very long, and very interesting. And, I am so easily distracted by the information in those text books... when I am doing my assignment, I find something interesting, and then I just start researching it... it's good, I'm learning a lot... but it's not very productive.

True to our agreement... Holly and I have celebrated our test with a McDonalds meal... :-) Ok, don't worry, sometimes it's not a whole meal, just ice cream.... but this time it was a whole meal... oh man, and I'd just like to say... the chicken nuggets were heavenly this last time. They weren't over cooked... I was SO excited!!



I am on shift right now, and it's been dead since we got here... we had 3 girls to discharge, but they were completely done, only to pay. and they were out... and we haven't had anyone since then! :-) maybe it'll pick up a bit, because I didn't bring any of my text books over here... :-)

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!!

~Sarah

wow, 6 of them!

So you have your slow shifts, and your mild shifts, and your busy shifts.. but then there are there are the crazy shifts that people talk about for days after... well I was on one of those on Saturday morning... our shifts are only 8 hours, and usually we have 1-2 babies on a shift, 3 would be busy... well, saturday morning we had 6!!! That's right, 6. The team was Ate Ermie, Jenny, Medea, and Ghang ghang... and me... and Medea's friend from Switzerland... thankfully everyone can catch except me (and Elizabeth, Medea's friend). We were endorsed 3 labors, one of them pushing, one of them about to be pushing, and another one in early labor who refused to go home. So the first one delivered at 6:23 right after shift change, we actually did endorsments right outside of her cubicle. So I charted for her birth. The second went at 6:53 and I charted for her birth as well (it was really fast). Then we had another girl come in who was active... and she had her baby at 8:04, I charted that one too, meanwhile there was another girl pushing in bed 5... so after the placenta and checks and stuff, I ran down to that one... but it turned out that she wasn't ready to be pushing... so they made her stop...then some time... another girl came in (I think when I was with Ate Ermie at that 8:04 birth), and she was pushy... so, her baby was born at 8:40... and that was Medea's second catch of the day! yikes! So then we had a little break... and that girl who was pushing but had to stop wanted to push again... and this time she was ready. But if you will recall the order of things... 10 observes, 5 charts, then assist... and I had charted 5... so I was up for assisting... holy cow... SO my first birth as the assist... it was a boy, and he was born at 10:38... I didn't feel like I was too incredibly helpful, I didn't really know what I was doing.... AND he needed deep suction... and I definitely didn't know how to do that... so, I'm not counting it toward my 10... but I was the official assist on birth 5 of the day... so sometime in there... on of the other girl's continuity came in (that means, you do her prenatals, and then when she comes in to deliver you are the midwife, and you do all her checks and stuff after the baby). SO that was her girl, and she delivered at 1:23... and I helped with that one, it was a pretty tough birth, and there were some complications and such, so they needed me to do some stuff (stimulating the baby and such). So that was my day of 6 babies in 7 hours... There are only 5 in the pictures, because that last girl didn't go until a bit before endorsements, and then the baby needed deep suctioning, and then he needed deep suctioning again a while afterthe birth (I actually did that one, so now, next time it's needed I can do it... yikes!).

Me-Medea-Jenny-Ghang-Ate Ermie and 5 of the 6 babies of the morning.

Natalie Bolcan

In prenatals for the past few weeks, I have had the great pleasure of checking Cindy, a first time mother who is 18 years old! She is the sweetest girl, ever, and she just has the best attitude, and the sweetest spirit (I know i just said sweetest twice... but it's true). So she came in last night, at around 8:30 and they called me over, and I was really excited, but trying not to be, because she is having her first baby, and it was her due date... and she's young. So I went over... and she was still early. So she went home. And so did I cause I was not working. SO, then around 1:30, I got another message... and she was back, and she was further along, so I jumped out of bed, and pulled on clothes, and was over there SO fast... So she labored, and she was incredible. She followed every instruction we gave her, and the birth was amazing. A baby girl was born at 3:34. Her name is Natalie, and she is SO pretty. Cindy did an amazing job, and she's going to be a great mom! I'm so proud of her!!!

Solomae

It happens sometimes, at mercy, that a mom will need to be transported to the hospital after she gives birth to her baby. This is ok, although sometimes crazy to facilitate. The problem is, however, that if we transport the mom after the baby is out, they won't accept the baby at the hospital. If we transport the mom when the baby is still in, the baby can stay... SO, this happened the other day... I came on shift and at endorsements there was a baby in one of the beds. And no mom. But, as far as I could see he wasn't alone (they said it was a boy). So I figured they had a helper was there and everything, and I had another patient I was helping to take care of, so I didn't even see the little guy until later... when he started fussing... So I went in to the crowded postpartum area to see who was making noise and to encourage their mother to feed them (because that is my solution for everything...). And I noticed this poor little guy laying on the bed alone... and it was him... the transported mother baby, who, it turns out wasn't a boy after all... :-) In the Philippines, the word for he/she is the same... so... it sometimes makes it confusing, and when some people say he or she... it's not always he or she in the strictest sense... :-D So I made it my personal mission to take care of her... and I named her Solomae (her mom doesn't know, though... ) cause I wanted Solome but, they pronounce it differently than I wanted to here... Anyway, so my little girl was hungry... and I needed to find some way of fixing that... It just happened that it was a crazy busy early shift in the birth room, and we had quite a few postpartums. So I brought little Solomae around to all of those new mothers and asked if they would share... I even got some of the women coming in for baby check ups to nurse her too... I was very creative. So Solomae and I hung out all night, and I kept her warm and clean and did cord care every two hours... and brought her around to the new mamas every time she needed.... And then, right before shift change, our supervisor decided to try to bring the baby to the hospital to see if they would let her in... and they did! Praise the Lord!!! They let her stay there with her mom!! It was truly a God thing!!!
Thanks for praying for me this week. I am doing really good. I'm a little tired today, because I worked last night, but I had a big nap, and I'll go to bed early! I'm just about finished with the assignment that is due on friday, we have class today, and I'll find out if there is anything I need to add, and if not, to the presses! I have a little creative stuff left... which... is always interesting given my creative talents... yikes! and then I have a free weekend! Yay! Maybe we'll find something fun to do... I hope you are all having a wonderful week, and God is continuing to bless you in ways you wouldn't even think to ask for!!!

~Sarah

hmmm....

So.... Jenny soooo kindly pointed out that I haven't blogged in a long time... I was trying to think of a remarkable occasion in my life on which to blog... but it seems as though mostly it's work and school... Holly hasn't been feeling the greatest this week, so in order not to spread germs to tiny people... I took her shifts... which leaves me with 11 shifts in 14 days... yikes! and we are only supposed to have 3 shifts a week... so it's been pretty crazy for me. In between the working, I have been getting some much needed homework done. Yesterday, Holly and I went to McDonalds to do some homework, because they have air conditioning... and we bought lunch, and worked for several hours... McDonalds isn't the MOST conducive place ever to do homework... but we both got a bunch of stuff done... :-)


For birthroom news... I have all my observations done, and next I will be charting the events of the birth. Thats pretty cool! After charting, assisting, and then handling... oh my! Ok, back to the homework! I hope you all have a great weekend!!!

~Sarah

The week in review...

So this has been a pretty eventful week for me... I have finished my assignment, saw a bunch of babies be born, worked my first night shift... transported my first baby (that was not so fun)... we went to that high ropes course, and that was pretty much great fun.

Friday night Michelle and I had a swing shift and we had two little girls born and I got to do SO much. I got to do the footprints and weight and bath and cutting the cord, and so much stuff! It was SO great! I felt like I was actually doing stuff, like making a useful contribution to the shift... So the footprints... they are not as easy as you would think... the baby has her little foot out, and she is crinkling up the toes, and trying to pull her foot away, and wiggle her toes around... so, she kinda looks like she has 12 toes on one foot... but no fear, it's actually only 5 on each foot! :-)

Outland Adventure (the ropes course) was great! There was a lot of really scary stuff, but I did it all and at the end, I was really happy with myself, and also rather sore... :-) There were lots of team building activities, and we really learned a lot about each other. And we only had one small accident when we were there... there was this girl, actually it's Michelle (the one I always work with), and she was going down the zip line, and there was a problem with the brakes, so she didn't stop and she kept flying by until she rammed into the emergency stoppers right before the tree. So she slammed into the ground and the wire pulled her up and smashed her down a couple of times before she finally stopped... She was hurt pretty a lot, but not seriously, thank God. She has a HUGE bruise on her upper thigh where she landed the first time, and a slight concussion, and a bunch of other bruises, but God was so merciful, because if she would have gone even 3 feet further, she would have slammed right into the pole that was holding the zip line, and been in a much worse situation.

It's been a good weekend of hard work and lots of fun. And this week is going to be great too! Friday we have our first test... we turned in our assignment today... so ikes, now it's starting.. :-) I hope you all have a wonderful week!

~Sarah

think breaks, comfort food, and chicken nuggets

I am not sure how many of you know about my undying relationship with chicken nuggets... I love them. They are my favorite form of fast food. And when I go into a third world country, I just say goodbye to my beautiful chicken nugget friends. Well, I was prepared to go for a whole year (until my holiday) without my dear nuggets, but I stumbled into a McDo (McDonalds), actually only wanting to go to the bathroom (cause they have toilet paper (most of the time), and soap!!). All I had heard about was the fried chicken, spaghetti, and rice they have at McDo here... I walked in, and to my utter delight there on the menu was something that looked very similar to my good friends, chicken nuggets!!! So I decided that in addition to the potty break, I would sample a Philippines McDonalds meal... And, people, besides being slightly overcooked... it tasted like home!! I was jubilant!!! So, yesterday, when I was doing massive finishing of the assignment (which is due tomorrow, and 98 % done) I needed to have some chicken nuggets.... so me and Holly walked to McDonalds and I got a big old honking order of nuggets and Holly had a quarter pounder with cheese... it was a wonderful think break, and I came home and was ready to work again!!! I'm really excited to have this little "taste of home" in this crazy different culture. I feel like it's just another way I am being blessed here (who ever thought I'd be blessed by McDonalds??).

I hope you all are well. I am praying for you.

~Sarah

First time Moms!

So... prenatals today, they went great! I only couldn't find one baby's heart beat, but no worries, it was there, I just couldn't find it... The baby was kicking me like mad, it was just in a different position than I was expecting... oops! :-) But I had 2 first time moms, and they were pretty early, like 22 weeks and 25 weeks. And I found the heart beat, and I asked if they had heard it before, and they said no, and I asked if they wanted to hear, and they both grinned and nodded... so I took off the ear thingys of the fetoscope, and she popped them on... and, I can't describe it. The incredible joy that comes on the faces of these mothers when they hear their baby's heart beating for the first time. It's so amazing. All the women are happy, all the women grin to hear their baby's heart beats, first, second, however many times... but the first time moms who haven't ever heard... wow, their faces, I just love to watch their faces... I go pretty slowly, with mine... I love to watch the moms as I am palpating their baby and the baby kicks me. They are so funny. I wish I had some pictures to show you, maybe next week! Prenatals are great, and they are getting less scary (english speaking mothers help a lot, though! ) and I just love the moms, I really hope that I can take enough time with each one to really show them the love of Jesus.

~Sarah

Random stuff

Here are some random pictures from fun stuff these past few weeks!!


I am trying to eat some icky thing for an eating relay race. Actually, coming in to this item... my team was behind, and then we caught up and passed the other teams, AND two teams were eliminated on this thing, cause they couldn't eat it! yay!!


We went on a boat trip last weekend, and here are some pictures from that... I was trying to avoid sunburn... it didn't work.


Yeah, how could I get sunburned with all coverage, you might ask?? I have no idea, really. I put on sun screen 4 times... and I definitely burned... oh well....


We were going exploring! :-)


So this picture... It was kinda a problem... I was sitting on the bar thingy of the boat, and my legs were hanging off, which was my first mistake... I look calm and relaxed in this picture, but the reality was that my legs were flapping against that bar under water, and I definitely have the bruises to prove it now! I couldn't get my legs back up, the water was too strong, so I was stuck like that... and by the time we got there, I had slid (and pushed Holly), all the way to the end of the pole, where there was another support thingy, so we couldn't go any further. Just so you know, the goggles really helped! :-)

But really, Homework is going well... I think... I am almost done with my assignment, it's due tuesday... I have still only seen 2 babies, but I have had lots of other experiences. And last week I started doing prenatals by myself, well... with the supervisor doing prenatals at the next table with the curtain open... And I am officially in charge of taking everyones vitals... :-) And re-making beds, and cleaning stuff up.

I hope you are all well! I hope I have some good action to report to you soon!!!

~Sarah

Yay!

Oh wow! I finally saw a baby!! It was a great shift. Lots of interesting stuff.

The first girl we had was only 30 weeks (I think) and her water broke, and she was having contractions. And we had to transport her because she was so early. And it was really sad, because when we got to the hospital, they checked to see how she was progressing, and she was pretty far along. She was only 18 and it was her first baby. She had only another girl with her, which I took to be her big sister, but it could be someone else. When they said how far she was, she didn't really understand, but when we told her helper, the helper started crying, and she said, please pray for us, please pray for us. We aren't ready. We don't have anything ready. And she was just sobbing right there in the middle of the hospital, and that is not normal for this culture... I just about lost it right there. I didn't cry, but I came dangerously close.

We had a couple other patients but the one who really got me was this girl Inday. She was 20 years old and was on her 2nd baby. Her labor was SO fast, she was really amazing. There was some craziness involved, but she handled it wonderfully. She gave birth to a little girl, and if I understood right, she wants to name her Ella Mae. She was 7lbs and 5 oz. :-) She is beautiful, and I'm so proud of her mom. Here are some pictures!!!

Praise to the Lord who holds the power of life and death in His hands! Pray for the girl this morning that her baby and her will be ok, and that they will find the money to pay for the hospital.

~Sarah

shifts

Well... I had my first clinic shift and my first birth room shift... they were amazing, and eye opening, and emotional, and wonderful.

Thursday was my prenatal day, and it started at 7:45 with a staff devotional. While we were there, we could see the ladies already sitting in the waiting room so they could get in early. Cause the earlier you get in, the earlier you get in... or seen, it just made me laugh to say that... I'm kinda tired. So then, we have praise and worship with the ladies, and a short devotional and teaching. Then they start filing in. They all have their blood pressures checked, and are weighed and stuff like that, and some of them have their iron levels checked as well. I was with another new student, Michelle (we are on the same team, so we always work together), and we were assigned to BP's and iron checking. I was on the blood pressures and I did about 40, she had done some while I was watching something else. And a then I did about 12 hematocrits. Then all 70 women were finished and we went into the exam room. We got to feel some babies and find some heart tones. It was wonderful to see the joy of the moms' faces when they got to listen to the fetoscope and hear their baby's heart beat, maybe for the first time ever.

Today (friday), I had my first shift in the birth room, and it was... well... interesting. I didn't see any births. But I saw different stages of labor. When we got there they were about to transport a lady because of high blood pressure. We had another lady in there from that poor village I talked about going to last time, and her water had broken early. Her labor wasn't moving, and we ended up transporting her, as well, because it had been too long. And then our last labor was active, and we discovered that she had never had her hepatitis screening. So we ran her to the lab, real quick (which was a short ambulance ride away), and she was back. The lab phoned the results over, and she tested positive for hepatitis B... so we transported her too, because we aren't allowed to deliver moms who have tested positive for hep. Transporting was really hard because of the conditions of the hospital. It was really bad. When I was in the hospital in Africa it was really bad in the general ward, but I had to go to the pediatrics ward so it wasn't THAT bad, this time I was in the general ward, and it was awful. There were people laying everywhere in various stages of sickness and dying. It was really terrible. And I understand why the women don't want to be transported, it's not only about the money, it's about the whole situation there. And how the women are treated, and how the whole atmosphere is there... it's a hard situation.

And that brings us to now. I just had a great dinner. The girls at this place are amazing cooks... and it's time to start on the homework again. So, here we go! Have a great weekend!!
~Sarah

Isla Verde, Balut, and Durian

Wow, it seems like forever since I've blogged... it's only been 3 days. So much has happened and I'm trying to process everything I'm seeing... We got our first assignment... it is going to be good, I think. It's due at the end of the month... the assignments are pretty intense so, please keep me in your prayers.


Yesterday we went on an outing with the national midwives... it was AMAZING. They took us all over the place and we got to see so many locations of the economic spectrum. First they took us to this place called Isla Verde, it is the place where the lowest class lives. They are actually squatters, their houses are built on stilts and they sit over the sewage and trash of the city that pours out and sits there. But to see these people, you wouldn't know they were such social rejects. They have such joy, and such beautiful hearts. I really want to go back there. These are really the people I love to serve. Those nobody else wants to, not the ones who smell good and have pretty clothes. I had a hard time not crying when I walked through their homes. They are all stilted, so the paths from house to house are streets of shaky boards balancing across bamboo poles. I was wondering if they were designed to hold the amount of weight all of us north americans were subjecting them to. I was a little afraid, at times, that I would go toppling into the sludge below... not a good thought.

Next we went on to see some other places and got to try LOTS of local food, like young coconut, durian, and balut. Young coconut... it's good... the others... umm... not so much. Durian is this fruit thing that is all prickly outside, and then inside, you crack it open like a watermelon and you eat this pudding-ish stuff that surrounds the seed... It smells SO foul. Like NOTHING you have ever smelled... and it tastes... well, not as bad as it smells... but, definitely not good... THEN I tried Balut... if you don't know what it is.. it's probably better... um, it's partially incubated duck egg... ick. I didn't like it. Then they took us to a WONDERFUL dinner, and all the girls were impressed by my rice eating.... :-) It was a wonderful day.

Thank you all for your prayers. They are helping this time of adjustment go so much better! I hope you all are doing great! I am praying for you.

Always,

~sarah