

My thoughts and experiences as I continue to step forward in the calling I feel God has placed on my life.
Marlowe and Dorothy are Lois' parents and they came to visit for the month of December. The most wonderful thing about them though is that they decided to be parents to all of us girls and so we all went to Paradise Island and had an amazing time getting to know Marlowe and Dorothy and bonding as a team.
We played games, we talked, we swam and ate and ate and ate! The whole weekend was on M&D and so us girls will always remember this as a very wonderful Christmas and our 50th celebration will always be a highlight of our time together.
We had a late night conversation the night we arrived after a rousing game of Dutch Blitz and really shared the hard things about life, the confusing things, the dreams and the hopes for the future. I am so blessed to be with the girls in my group.
My friend Jenna sent this to me in an email, and I thought it was quite funny. Sorry ladies, but it does have a point. Enjoy.
The Husband and Wife Store
A store that sells new husbands has just opened in New York City,where a woman may go to choose a husband. Among the instructions at the entrance is a description of how the store operates: You may visit this store ONLY ONCE! There are six floors and the value of the products increase as the shopper ascends the flights.The shopper may choose any item from a particular floor, or may choose to go up to the next floor, but you cannot go back down except to exit the building!
So, a woman goes to the Husband Store to find a husband. On the firstfloor the sign on the door reads: Floor 1 - These men Have Jobs. She is intrigued, but continues to the second floor, where the sign reads: Floor 2 - These men Have Jobs and Love Kids.'That's nice', she thinks, 'but I want more.' So she continues upward. The third floor sign reads: Floor 3 - These men Have Jobs, Love Kids, and are Extremely Good Looking.' Wow,' she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going. She goes to the fourth floor and the sign reads: Floor 4 - These men Have Jobs, Love Kids, are Drop-dead Good lookingand Help With Housework. 'Oh, mercy me!' she exclaims, 'I can hardly stand it!' Still, she goesto the fifth floor and the sign reads: Floor 5 - These men Have Jobs, Love Kids, are Drop-dead Gorgeous, Helpwith Housework, and Have a Strong Romantic Streak. She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to the sixth floor, where the sign reads: Floor 6 - You are visitor 31,456,012 to this floor. There are no menon this floor. This floor exists solely as proof that women are impossible to please.Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store.
To avoid gender bias charges, the store's owner opened a New Wivesstore just across the street.The first floor has wives that love sex.The second floor has wives that love sex and have money.The third, fourth, fifth and sixth floors have never been visited.
Then, to my absolute shock, my supervisor took the immediate postpartum and told the rest of us to sleep! I woke up on and off feeling a little guilty for sleeping when she was so busy, and didn't know why I was given the night to sleep.
When I got home a little after 6 am, I ate a quick bite of granola (I never eat before sleeping after night shift) and then slept in my scrubs (another thing that I never do).
The crazy thing is that it all started to make sense when I was woken up at 8:30am saying my continuity (Ronalyn) was in labor! Because I had slept a little during the night, and slept in my scrubs and my hair was still done, and I had eaten a little, I came straight over and to my utter surprise found Joy (Ronalyn) to be 8cm already! I would have laughed if anyone had told me that when I first saw her outside because she smiled so happily at me, and just chatted away as I was taking her vitals. I was sure I would be sending her home at about 2-3cm!
Since I had slept, I was able to be fully functioning that day (which is why God in His mercy allowed me to sleep the night before) and before I got to deliver Joy's baby the guard yelled that there had been a taxi birth! I had never seen that before, but since all the midwives on shift were in a birth, I ran outside putting gloves on only to find the baby completely out already! We cut the cord and brought both mom and baby inside. Only then did we find out she wasn't even a patient at Mercy! She had asked to be brought to a nearby clinic where she was having prenatals, but was brought here instead! Haha. She asked if she could stay, and of course we said yes :)
Then, Joy did get active, and had her baby at 11:56am. It was a beautiful birth, perfect with a perfect little girl at the end named Teesha Jezaree.
What a great day! :D
Wouldn't you know it, the baby's heart tones were high when she arrived, but when she started pushing, they dipped way too low! So we did what we could, and it was enough because her baby came out beautiful and healthy, pink and screaming! No problems whatsoever!
Evelyn's blood pressure stayed a little high, but by the time I left, it was down to 120/90, which is much better. Most likely, she was just stressed out with labor and birth. Otherwise she did really great. This was her second baby, her first was born in 1998, so he was already 9 years old! She must know her stuff when it comes to family planning! :)
I thought I had reached the pinnicle of midwifery when I delivered or "caught" 2 babies in one shift, but found out that it can happen more than once in a short period of time! I was on swing shift, and had come a little late since I was in the hospital visiting Sara and her family. It wasn't at all busy when I checked in before shift, but when i got there at 2:20, things had picked up.
There was a cute pregnant lady outside the clinic and as I walked in, I asked if she had checked in and was going home, but she said she hadn't because nothing had come out yet, so she didn't know if she was allowed! Hmmm. I told her to come in with me, and she turned out to be very active! My supervisor delivered her baby just minutes after my labor gave birth and everything went well. There was a little friendly competition between us to see who could get all the paperwork etc done first, and that turned out to be a blessing because I got everything done much faster than I would have otherwise!
Just as I was finishing things up, and Annabelle was resting, Maricel walks in. My name is on her chart indicating that she is a continuity of mine. I thought she had decided not to birth at Mercy because I hadn't seen her since August! But I guess she had come twice since then, and missed some appointments... Well, I took her, and it was a little scary because she reported leaking for over 48 hours when she came in, but was about ready to pop her baby out, so we knew if we transported (which we usually do, see Sara's story below) she would probably give birth on the way to the hospital! So she did have her baby at Mercy, and I delivered my second baby that day. It was good to see her, and you can see her beautiful girl Wendy at the 3 day check.
Maricel's husband is from the area of the Philippines that I grew up in, and she is joining him as soon as I give her the ok. She will take Wendy with her, but her 3 other kids will stay with her mom here in Davao to continue school. It is a sad situation, but pray with me for the best.
This is Sara, one of my continuities (meaning I was her midwife through pregnancy and did all her prenatals. It also means I am on call to deliver her baby even if I am not on shift.) She always had so much joy, and was so excited to learn all about her baby inside, and we had some really great times together as we journeyed through her pregnancy together.
I had just delivered 2 babies the night before I got a text from her saying her water had broken, but that the contractions were still manageable. This is not a good sign from someone who is having their first baby. We met at the clinic, and confirmed BOW rupture, which meant that even though she was in very early labor, she had to stay at the clinic, and now was on the clock because we are required to transport our patients after a certain time to the hospital if they are BOW rupture.
I knew that a very big possibility was that I would have to take her to the hospital around midnight that night, but we stayed at Mercy and still had fun together, and prayed together when the contractions were getting stronger, and then at midnight it was confirmed, a transport would be necessary.
It was nice that the doctors weren't too busy, so I was able to put her in the care of the doctors at DMC. The next day she texted me at 1pm saying she had delivered, and would I like to visit? I was on duty again at 2pm, but I went after getting an ok for being a little late from my supervisor. I brought them some food and some cute baby outfits.
She had a little boy, and was tired, but didn't have a c-section, which we were both praying wouldn't happen. When I got there, she hadn't heard how her baby was doing because he was in the NICU, so I played mediator, and talked to the doctor, and they were so grateful.
Sara just brought little Christian Jon in for a one week appointment, and it was so fun to see him! He was wearing the little outfit that I had bought him, and even though they were the smallest size I could find, he was swimming in them! But oh so cute. He was a little jaundiced, (yellow skin from not being able to get the bilirubin out of his system) but I was able to teach Sara how to get rid of the yellow, and other than that they both looked great.
This was the first shift I have worked with Tiffany, one of my teammates, and it was BUSY! I don't know if we should work together too often, unless we like no sleep :) It was amazing. I took the pushing labor (Janet Tapia) who had been laboring through 2 previous shifts because of ruptured membranes. It looked like everyone was at the end of their patience levels waiting for this baby, and so almost everyone leaving for the night came in to say goodbye and congratulate Janet that her baby would be joining us soon! It was so cute. It was her first baby, and she did an amazing job. Her little girl joined us at 10:28pm, and had a caput (funny looking swelling on her head due to long pushing stage) but she was adorable none-the-less. I missed endorsements, so I had no idea what was going on when I was done with the birth.
Tiffany filled me in that there were 2 other labors, one active, one about to be transported due to bow rupture for over 12 hours and not active yet. BUT... 2 more labors had walked in in the time that it took for my baby to join us, so we had a full birthroom. Tiffany took one active one, and Michelle (one of the newer girls) came to be with the girl I ended up delivering later because she had really connected with her during prenatals even though she wasn't delivering babies yet, and had day shift in the morning. So Michelle took care of her while I did alot of the postpartum work for my girl with Holly (another newer girl).
Just as we were about to do the newborn exam, Tiffany called for help with hers. Holly was going to assist but because it was thick meconium, Ate Steph was there with them. I was outside continuing paperwork for Janet, and Michelle's girl (Den) walked past saying she needed to use the bathroom. I thought this was stetchy and that it might not be a great idea, but we let her go anyway because this was her first baby. Sure enough, she started yelling from the bathroom that her baby was coming, and Michelle had a deer-in-the-headlights look, so I told her to run and get gloves while I half carried Den back to her bed. Just in time too, because 3 minutes later her handsome baby boy joined us. He also had thick meconium, but Tiffany's baby had just been born one minute ago, so all the other midwives were busy across the way. So since this was Michelle's first time assisting, I told her to pull the birth cart really close and I deep suctioned my own baby! Wow. What a rush, unsupervised and I suctioned as well. So step by step Michelle and I did what needed to be done and we kept track of things in our heads because no one was available to write things down for us!
So my first baby that shift was born at 10:28pm on November 9, and my second baby was born at 12:03am on November 10! That's the great part about night shifts. Sometimes the baby is born one day and the placenta the next! That's funny too!
Phew. It was great, I was able to help them through all of postpartum, and they were ready to go home the next morning by 6am when I left. I was tired, sure, but this is the kind of thing I live for.
Medea was the first one to receive a labor - she did, and then I did, and then Gang Gang did and then yes - my supervisor, Ate Ermie did as well! All before 8am! Medea's girl delivered, but had to be transported due to a retained placenta (7th baby).
The day continued, and everything went very smoothly despite the amount of babies being born. We were like a well oiled machine! Soon enough, yet another labor came in, and I was supposed to receive it, but since Medea only had a baby left to care for and not a mom, she took her instead. I should have taken her, because I ended up doing alot of the work, but it was kind of fun not handling it because I ended up supervising it! Ate Ermie was delivering her own baby about the time this lady decided to get her baby out, so we just updated her through the curtain every once in a while. Kind of heady being given that much responsibility!
When things started to calm down just a little, we borrowed all the babies, and took pictures of them all. I absolutely love pictures where they are all lined up by each other and so beautiful. Then, each midwife held "her" baby for another photo shoot.
P.S. the funny pictures of a dark haired girl holding a new baby on her mom's tummy is Sarah. She is one of the newer girls that arrived September 2007, and this was her first time being allowed to don the gloves and help in the birth. She did great, but I love her faces :)
This was a very busy day, I delivered this beautiful baby at 11:04am, and not long after everyone was settled back down, I got another labor, but she wasn't as far along, so she waited until the next group of midwives got on shift, and one of them caught her baby, which I was thankful for.
Cherry Ann was a first time mom, and I started to coach her through the pushing stage because she was doing some interesting things when the contractions came, but then, realized I would just deliver the baby up in the air instead of on the bed because that was the way things were going.
Most moms after the birth go into a little trans - eyes get glazed over, and they are unresponsive for a bit, but not this one! She was so excited to see her baby, and she kept talking to him, and her boyfriend. One didn't have to look long to know they were very much in love, and excited to be parents to this little one. I almost felt like an intruder in this moment!
P.S. Fun side note - All of us midwives on shift wore some shade of pink bottoms which was hilarious because none of us got ready together!