

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! :)
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.