Mom and Rebecca

Just a quick update... I was so excited to greet my mom and sister and my ate Mae who has been a dear friend of mine since I was little and who visited from Luzon on Monday the 24th. We had a whirlwind of a time in Davao, not quite one week together, but they still managed to see two births, one of my handles which was a difficult birth, but then a more normal one handled by Jenna on the day we left Davao.

We also had plenty of time for Rebecca to eat at least one halo-halo a day, and visit souvenier shops and get a foot/back massage as well. It was a good time had by all I believe, and now we are at the other end of the country, in the north, visiting friends from when we lived here as a family.

We had Sunday service in the church my parents planted, and my mom gave a message on being like David. He spent time singing and being with God while he was still a shepard, so he wasn't afraid to fight the giant in life later. It was a good time after that visiting with so many people from around that came to see us and talk about the good old times. One of the girls I regard as an older sister, a helper who lived with us when we were in the RP is now pregnant with her 2nd baby! So exciting. I told her to come to Davao so I could be her midwife :)

Sorry there aren't pictures to add to this post, I will post them as soon as I return to Davao. Also, my March newsletter will have to be a little late as well... opps.

Mom and Sis are coming!!!!

I am so excited for MONDAY! My mom (Carol) and my 15 year old sister (Rebecca) are coming to visit me along with one of my good Filipina friends (Ate Mae)! It will be their first time to come see what I do here in Davao, and we have a jam packed schedule. I sure hope that jet lag won't be a problem, cause I didn't schedule much time in for recovery! And - I am really really hoping to catch a baby while they are here - so please pray for that, and safe travels. After a week here in Davao, all of us will go far up north on the Luzon island to visit with old friends from the years that Rebecca and I grew up in the RP. It should be an amazing trip all around. Dad - thanks so much for lending your wife to me and making it all happen (a.k.a. so many, many miles given for the trip and Becca's passport :)

Lois' Birthday - 23 years!

Yesterday was Lois' birthday! It was so much fun - we had some fun times over bagels (homemade!) and then we went to people's park and out for lunch with Celeste (Lois' continuity but who I delivered cause she was in Manila) and with a few friends.

We were trying hard to keep the dinner part a surprise, but of course Lois knew. She tried to act surprised - valiant effort!

After the dinner part, we stuffed 17 girls into the Germain's jeepney! Talk about a full ride!







And these pictures are just for fun! We tried to do fun faces in honor of Lois (she always does really funny faces!) These just turned out really funny!

67th Handle - Lowena

I took these pictures within the hour after birth, and absolutely love them! What a beautiful mom and baby. Just wanted to share. :)

It was a hard birth - she came in fully dilated at 10:30am, but didn't deliver until 11:45. This was her 3rd pregnancy, the first ended in a miscarriage, and the second she delivered at the hospital because she was transported due to hypertension (high blood pressure).

So this one even though it was her 2nd baby was like her first. She couldn't understand that she needed to push her baby out, and that I wouldn't do it for her. It could have been an easy, fast birth, but still was good even though it was long.

And the postpartum was great. She was so strong and fun to get to know.

Outing with Sara and Neda

I went out for lunch with Sara and Neda after doing Neda's prenatal. I met Neda through Sara who was my continuity a few months ago, but who I had to transport due to prolonged labor (etc). I went to the hospital to meet Sara's baby and check on her and found out her older sister (Neda) was pregnant!

So then I became her midwife now and she is doing really great so far. After lunch Neda and I went to get an ultrasound because Neda wanted to find out if it was a boy or girl - and we found out that her chance of having a girl (which is what she wants) is 70%! Fun.

Neda has a sad story - she got married and had her first baby, but her husband committed suicide a few days after the wedding. No one ever knew why. She raised her boy for a long time by herself, but now she has a boyfriend who has raised her boy as his own. Now she is pregnant and I am her midwife :)

It was a very fun day, and we hope to go to church together this Easter.

A Synopsis:

I haven't had much time to blog lately, and let me tell you why:
I worked from 2pm-10pm on Saturday, 2/23, 6am - 2pm on both 2/24 and 2/25, I had the 26th off, then worked 6am-2pm on the 27th, 7:45am to 12pm on the 28th, and then 2pm to 10pm on the 29th. Phew.

After all of those shifts, I was ready for the 3 day weekend ahead of me, but had in the back of my mind that it really wasn't going to be a 3 day weekend, because my continuity, Viowelyn Calderon or Viewe was showing signs of beginning labor.

Sure enough I got a call on Sunday morning and met Viewe at the clinic. She was in very early labor, so we both went back home and she promised to text me (what they do here instead of call). I decided to text her about 4pm just to see how she was since I hadn't heard from her, and to my surprise she was already on her way to the clinic! Yikes. I tried to ask her to stay at home for a little while longer knowing she would most likely still be in early labor, but they were already on their way, and it was raining hard where they lived (about 1 hour away) so they needed to get to the clinic while they still could.

So that meant we were both in it for the long haul! She was still in early labor when I checked her in again at 5pm, but heading into active labor. I brought everything over including my pillow thinking I would be there all of night shift and then into day shift as well, but amazingly enough she progressed really fast - mostly due to the fact that her baby was already very much engaged.



Little David Apollo joined us at 11:23pm that night, and although I was up straight then until 3am, I was much happier to do that than stay all through night and day shift with her knowing we would both get exhausted if we did that. The birth was somewhat difficult, but Viewe was a trooper to be sure.

So, that was right in the middle of my "3 day weekend," but I was more than happy to share that special time with Viewe and her new baby. I took Viewe as a continuity because she was a single mom of 20, and was in school for restaurant management through her whole pregnancy. Coming to prenatals on time would have meant missing class for that day, so being her midwife I was able to let her come at whatever time was good for her which made it so she didn't have to miss school.

Please keep Viewe in your prayers along with her new baby boy, David Apollo.