Jenny's November Update

Dear Friends and Family,

November is thought to be a month of thanksgiving, and as I ponder that, I realize just how much I have to be thankful for- more than I could ever contain in a letter. Here are a few of them:…

Family, Friends and Loved Ones. I am so thankful for everyone who is a part of my life even though you are so far away from me at this point, because all of you are such a blessing. I could not do what I do here without the support each of you give through friendship, finances, and your prayers. It is so hard though to be far away from those that I love especially as we head into the holidays, and so that makes me so thankful that God has given me friends here, some of the midwives that I work with have become so special to me, and support and encourage me daily.

Mercy Maternity Center and all that it entails. When I first discovered this missions/midwifery program, I knew it was a perfect fit, because before this, I had thought I either needed to pursue missions and forget about midwifery, or pursue midwifery and forget about missions for the time. Then God brought me here to the Philippines, to a people I already love and has been teaching me so much more about that love and how to do missions and midwifery together.

Lessons learned as I live. God continues to speak into my life in so many different ways, and I am so thankful that He is such a patient God when it comes to teaching His children. He teaches me in many ways – through my patients, my friends, my church, and of course through my own personal time with Him. He is teaching me much about trusting Him especially where the future is concerned. Soon, I will be at a crossroads again as I hit graduation in July, but instead of only having to choose to turn left or right, I am finding the whole world open to me, and realizing just how many options are out there for me to choose as my next step. Every time I think about it, I have to stop and remind myself that until now He has been faithful, and shown Jeremiah 29:11-13 true, where as long I walk forward in His will, He is faithful to complete the good work He started in me.

Life remains full of life here at MMC, this month I hit a new record as I delivered 2 babies in one shift twice! My first time was a very busy night shift (10pm-6am) and I delivered my first baby at 10:28pm, a beautiful little girl. Then, my team mate Tiffany was in with an active labor along with my supervisor, and so I became the midwife for Dendimore because Michelle (a midwife-in-training still, having just arrived this September) was not delivering babies yet. Her baby boy was born at 12:03am. Both were wonderful births, and although I wasn’t able to do any sleeping that night, I enjoyed it immensely.

My second time delivering 2 babies in a row happened only a few days later! I was on swing shift (2pm-10pm), and delivered my first baby, a boy at 3:46pm. My supervisor was delivering her own baby in the cubicle right next to mine, and her baby came out minutes after mine. We had a little friendly competition to see who could get all their paperwork done first, (she had help, it wasn’t fair) but it was good, otherwise I wouldn’t have been finished with everything when a continuity of mine who I hadn’t seen since going home in September came in active. I delivered her baby at 6:57pm, and I was so glad we kept her at the clinic instead of transporting her to the hospital even though we debated taking her there because of her condition. If we had transported, she probably would have had her baby in the ambulance and I would have missed out on the relationship. What a blessing it is to bring these beautiful babies into the world and be a part of these women’s lives.

In closing, God is faithful, and I am so thankful to Him for the amazing things that have made my almost 25 years of life full. I have caught/delivered 50 babies so far, and am counting still. Each and every family/woman has made an impact in my life as I pray I have in theirs as well.

Please continue to stay involved in my life. I am committed to be here at least through next July, and ask for your prayers as God leads me in my next step.

If you know of people that would be interested in receiving my newsletter please forward this to them.

Love Always,
Jenny

50 babies in my arms...

I have finally caught 1/2 a century full of babies in my arms! How exciting is my life? I love it that is for sure. And this was a great birth to count as my 50th. Lately, many of my births have been complicated in one way or another. When I checked Evelyn in, I thought we were in for another rough ride, her blood pressure was 140/90 at check in, and her baby's heart tones were on the high side, but she did everything we asked, and the heart tones settled down to a more normal level.

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! :)

Celeste - Pregnancy Belly Cast

In January of this next year, we will be asked to do an art project that somehow involves pregnancy or birth in someway. I read about making a pregnancy belly cast before going home last September, and decided that was what I wanted to do. So, my mom and I went around the day before I left to come back here and bought all the supplies I would need.
When I got here, I just needed to find a pregnant woman who was comfortable enough with me to allow me to do this project with her. In come Celeste, a continuity of Lois'. She is pregnant with her 3rd baby, and was so much fun to get to know and do this project with. She also has an amazingly beautiful shape about her which made a beautiful cast.
None of us really knew what we were doing, so we were all surprised when it was finished, with how good it turned out. Celeste was so funny, she said, "You know, this is the first time I have ever seen anything like this." Lois and I looked at each other, and said, "Umm, this is the first time for us as well!" We had a good laugh about this. We had read about it and seen pictures, but it was a first for us to see one in real life.

This is the rough finish, I will do some sanding, and put a coat of plaster on still, so check back in the next month or two for the updated finished project. I also told Celeste that because she is already term (37 weeks), her baby would fit inside the cast after she was born this December with a light blanket. She got so excited and asked that i bring it with me to Mercy when she goes into labor so we can put her inside. I will put pictures up of that as well later in December.

49th Handle, Cathy Abdurajak

This is the Abdurajak family. They are Muslims, and a very beautiful family that I know have the privilage of knowing. Cathryn (Cathy) is the mom's name, and she came in pretty active on my swing shift the other day. She and her husband brought their other two kids because they couldn't find anyone to watch them, so a friend stayed outside with them during the birth of their youngest daughter.

They have 2 girls and one boy, the little boy was born at MMC not very long ago, by one of my good friends who is now back in the US.

The thing that first struck me about Cathy was her height. I am so used to being a giant in this country it took me by surprise when I stopped to talk to her when she came in and realized I was eye level with her, and not a whole head taller!

The birth part was not complicated, but she did loose alot of blood afterwards, and because I am now in the 2nd year of my program here, my supervisors are now asking for my management before telling me what to do, and although it is a little scary, it is amazing at the same time. I inserted my second sucessful IV of the night, and even did a manual exploration.

Please pray for the Abdurajak family that I will be able to be a part of their family, and that I can show them who Jesus really is.

2 babies in one day!

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.

Sara Kho

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.

God is so good.

Delivered 2 babies in one shift!

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.

5 Babies in One Shift

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 :)

Baby #39

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!