!the bEAt!

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photosi kNOw, i KNOWW...NOthing compares to last new years and the whole being the maid of Honour at Bryden and Michelle OUWendyk's wedding (HAPpy anniVERsary, by the way, i tried to call...) Truthfully, i don't even conSIDer that event new years, it is 100% YOUR wedding in my mind, and nothing lEss...conGRATUlaTIONS on your 1st yEAR together. I love you guys.
BUT...click on thIS to hear the crazy beats we were experiencing on new years eve...it's hard to see because it was dark, but they would dance around while beating these different sizes of drums, and, on the command of a whistle, they'd all switch beats in unison. IT.was.impRESSive!

2000 & sEVen.

The four girls from my house, all posed on our staircase. From left to right > JennJo (our 'house mom'/teacher/midwife), meee. (ya, thats the new drEss!), Tiffany (student from St.kitts), and Krystal(a vegan. lol). We got all dressed UP to go to this quaint, little, classy, frENCh restaurant called Claude's! It's the most popular joint in town, and WE had reversations!

Everything WAS good, except it was pOURing on the way there, and the rain/it being new years made for a hARd time getting a taxi...to make matters woRSE, my umBRELLa wouldn't OPEN.

Here we are in the private back room of the restaurant, it was just so nice because it's one of the few restaurants that operates like home...we met all these girls here and had thE most amazing dinner. I, personally, had the lapu-lapu (sweet fiSH) and veggies and potatoes (and that zebra skin in the background is REAL!).

aaaand THEN we came across this bANd of drummers, practicing for their new years bash...and one of them let me try it!...It was a pretty sweet beat...

what was lEARned at our first sCUba lesson...

S - elf
C - ontained
U - nderwater
B - reathing
A - pparatus

I had no CLUE that the word 'scuba' was an acronym! thats crAzy. To be scuba certified one must complete a preliminary 'test' run in a pool, have a successful 4 open water dives, and do a bit of class time with a test to finish...and I'm halfway done! My favourite so far was my most recent dive, around an underwater mountain! My instructor took my down to 80 feet, as we explored the side of the mountain together. Although the morning dive was cool because I didn't have to hold his hand (i'm past that stage...haha), this dive around the mountain we had to stay together because there was a super strong currrent, which was ALSo fun because I felt like a sea turtle (from finding nemo). He pointed out a lOt of cool fish, and we EVEN found a family of 'nemo', which is what he put on the little board he writes on underwater. One more open water dive plus the class time and a test and you can call me scUba stEvE. OH, i also saw these little plants that look like miniature EVERgreens underwater, those were cool. It's crazy to think about how our Creator made SO SO much on this earth for us to explore and enjoy, and scuba diving just opens up a whole nother part of that..

~ only in the philippines...we just showed UP at this resort, unloaded our equipment and used their pool to have our dive lesson. The ppl were plANNing on cleaning it, so it was a little less than desirable, but the guy didn't even call ahead to ask if it would be ok to host our lesson there. lol

~ I used my christmas MONey to treat myself to scuba lessons...now I've gotta come UP with the funds to feed my addiction. Also, my own wet suit, mask, snorkle, fins, regulator, tank, and vest would also be nice ;) (i know eXACtly what my mom is thinking as she reads this..haha).

John Wayne.

YES Charlita, the mother of this newborn baby boy and her boyfriend, Ruel, decided to go with an extreme americanized name. They named him John Wanye Ninzon! It was somewhat of a complicated birth (they are not all like that, but all mine have been..) but it was cool to witness/help with because Ruel was SO into 'it'. and by IT, i mean, EVERYthing...watching it come out, doing whatever was needed to help Charlita, as you can see from the last picture here, he's alREADy such a prOUd father.

here Sarah (blue scrub) is inserting an IV because of the long labour, Mayflor (pink scrub) is checking fetal heart tones, and I am playing BACKcAtcherrr ;) waiting for the baby to pop out. [oh, and Let-Let is the a birthing stool we call the antipolo, i'm not sure whY it's called that but, it's fun to use because theres no bEd to catch the baby, so that slippery sucker's all mINE when it does come!]

little, blue, John Wayne, a very healthy baby boy, just SEConds after being born!

aaand the new family - Charlita, Ruel and John, plus John's grandmother, and midwife.

SO, yes...I have delivered a total of five babies. And number will ONly continue to grow faster and faster as I go from 3 shifts/week in December, to FOUR/week for the rest of my time here. [oh my gOSH. this is gonna be nUTS]

'...i can see me now on CHRIStmas mornin' crEEping down the stairs..."

i lOVE this Christmas song!, the one about wanting a hippopotamus for christmas. Mr. Merritt was a cherished public school principal I had for the first half of my 10 years at Vineland. and EvEry year, he'd play this song over the intercom while we were dismissed half a day early to Christmas break - the halls would be packed full of the anticipation of the holidays as well as with hundreds of students making their way to their respective bus lines. It's sUCh a fun song, and I was ALways so excited to be leaving school for CHRISTmas bREAk...ahhh...just good memories. I hope I never forgEt stuff like that.

I always considered myself deprived as a child, because we never lived in a two-story house and ALL good christmas movies/songs depict children waking up on Christmas morn' and going DOWNstairs to reveal santa's work. THIS year was the fIRSt time this became true for ME! and I DEFinetly took the opportunity to sing this song as I made my way down the stairs Christmas morn! Our 'house mom', Jenn, had hung stockings full of Christmas surpRISes for us! Tiffany and I are opening them here.

aaand. This is ME, digging through the package that my dearest mother sent me (thank you SO SO much to everyone who sent me a card (and to those that thOUGht about it ;))).

MAkin' EGGnog! ...

after brUNCh we took a christmas morning walk around our neighbourhood, and took a few pictures of this crAzy boat...click it this text to see how they made sUCh a thing...DEFinetly the most impressive boat/nativity scene I"VE ever seen!

chEErsss. to EGGnog. to mAking things from scrAtch. and to chRIStmas in the phils.

Here's (almost) EvEryone, sitting down for our Christmas brunch. I know sOMe of you will appreciate the platter fUll of bAcon in the forefront of the shot :P

ourBOAT trip -

The lamp is burning low upon my table top
The snow is softly falling
The air is still in the silence of my room
I hear your voice softly calling
If I could only have you near
To breathe a sigh or two
I would be happy just to hold the hands I love
On this winters night with you

The fire is dying now, the lamp is growing dim
Shades of night are lifting
The morning light steals across my window pane
Where webs of snow are drifting
If I could only have you near
To breathe a sigh or two
I would be happy just to hold the hands I love
On this winter night with you
And to be once again with you
A SOng for a Winters Night, by: Theresa Sokryka

I know. this songgg is dePRESSing! ahah, but it's ALL i've been listening to, ever since Michelle sent it to me. And, TRUThfully, i was PRObably singing it in my head while that picture up there was taken. As you can PRObably guess, I didn't much fEEl like going on the boat trip this morning...and, as we headed to our first destination, I was picturing myself resenting the cool salt water on my lips, wishing ONly for Harris Lake (or some OTher cdn, fresh body of water). I was a little bitter and a little overtired.
but THEN...




I climbed a PAlm tree (me gusta las palmaras ;)), ate some pomelo with lois, tossed a fOOtball, bought a sweet shell, got a even SWEETer tan, and suddenly snorkling, exploring, swimming, and enjoying the warm weather on December 23rd wasn't so bad after all :P
I DO wish you could have shared it with me, though.

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Mercy Maternity's CHRIStmas paaarty was.SO.much.fun! Here is a little clip from part of our entertainment for the night. They had a bunch of interactive gAmes planned - such as decorate the christmas tree (much like pin-the-tail onthe donkey!) aaand christMAS carol sherades, PAss-the-PREsent (i posted a vid of that underneath all this), aaand karoke. IT was also the night of the big"secret ANgel" reveal (we've been doing a secret santa type deal for a couple weeks now, leaving little presents/notes around for your secret angel to find!) Tonight we all took turned GUESsing who we thought our angels to be - the UProars of laughter fromthe filipinas was contagious!

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LET me just take this blog to say how inCREDibly.BLESSed I've already been this christmas season...letters from home, PACKages from my aMAZing mom, and my dear dEAr friends scratch only the surface of the Christmas joys I am experiencing here in the phils...more on thAt later. THanks again - Truly, i cannot express all this to you...lol, it really HAS been the BEST CHRISTMAS EVER! ;), glad i could be a part of it :P

o CHRISTMAS tree

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I watched for at lEASt a week as the city had these guys working day after days stringing these lights around and around this inSANEly big tree in the center of town. Evenings are quite something...with all the lights and decorations. Hopefully you get a little taste of my filipino christmas. I've been doing well...working almost everyday now (because I covered a shift for someone), it's 5am and i'm exhausted but have one more day shift and one more english class to get through after that and MY christmas holidays will officially start! There's no down time though, tomorrow brings the long-awaited BOAT TRIP the students have been planning! A whole day, complete with a picnic, on a sweeeet boat, floating in tropical waters, sun, fun, and snorkling the day away...maybe Christmas in a foreign land isn't so bad after all ;)
TAke cARe.

OH shoot..i JUST looked at the preview. and.the.tree.is.sideways. well....i've gotta run. i might fix it later, but for now, just tilt your head!

hAPPY birthday dAd!!

haaaappy biiiirthday to you. haappyy biiirthday to YOU. HAPppy BIRthday dear daaaaaa-ad, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you!
only a couple days late, I was looking at my daybook today figuring out all that needs to get dONe when it hIT me... I thought this blog might make UP for missing the 17th, Dad.

There are certain things about this country, and the ppl in it that often remind me of you. A lot of the time someone's burning leaves/trash, ahhaa, and it reminds me of your smoke (only, i'd give ANYthing to breathe in yours than this stuff!).
And, motorcycles often rip down our street, and the 'pop-pop' of the muffler as they decelerate always makes me think of you coming home from work.
Most of the time ppl trim the grass with scissors (i know, its NUTS) but the odd time someone uses a weedwhacker, the smell of freshly cut grass reminds me of carefree summer nights in the baackyard with you cutting the grass.
There are other instances in which I take time to think of you and allow myself to relive those memories I hold dear to my heart, Dad. ...just thought you might like to know!
I love you and miss you, and can not wAIt to talk to you on Christmas morning!!
Love jenna

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos so, i ALways had a good time bowling in Canada, the past few times I've been was for the Youth for Christ Bowl-a-thon Fundraiser, and those were sUCh.great.times. but HERE, in the phils, we do things a little differently in the bowling alleys.. first of all, we have to keep score ourselves, theres no machine to add your last strike and a current gutter ball together.. a kind filipino started trying to show us how to keep track, but we weren't gettin' it. so, we just made it up. and ALSO, theres no machine at the end where all the pins stand..and GUYS stand back there! Each are in charge of about 2 lanes, and keep track of what balls have been thrown (because after 3 balls, they SET them back UP) and they Also send the balls back down the track for the next bowler! IT.was.A.mazing to witness. and I tried to catch a little of the goodness on tape for all of you! enJOY.
There was also karoke [that kinda goes w/o saying now. :D]

jolliBEE

"the jollibee franchise is the filipino version of mcdonalds (...with extra value meals of rice burgers). At the race last weekend jollibee was live and in colour - having our picture taken with this character is equilvant to having a pic taken with Ronald :P


And here are a few more pictures from my last birth (ya, still only one catch so far..last night's shift saw no labors). Notice the 'before' as I don sterile gloves, and the 'after' dirty gloves accompanied by a dorky smile, which I'm sure I had plastered all over my face for at least an hour after delivering that amazing baby.


My well woman, and baby check-ups for Marianne and her newest son, John Prex Pitao, are going very well. The first one was a home visit, to a particular area in Davao called Isla Verdes (a big muslim and another kind of filipino...can't remember right now what they're called...community) It was crazy because they live in a community built on stilts, on the coast. Some of their makeshift pathways looked as though it wouldn't hold me up as we walked over acres of knee-deep garbage and mud. It.was.devastating. I couldn't imagine my poor Marianne, as pregnant as ever, having to balance on those skinny bamboo bridges every time she leaves her house. The good news was there are no signs of infections in Marianne or John Prex. The second check-up was at the clinic, and that went smoothly as well too. (i gUEss we did a pretty good job suturing her UP!) I still can't tell what looks 'normal' and what doesn't...because it ALL looks weird to me, but I'm confident that'll change.

theCATCH.

I know I pumped everyone up a little TOO early for my first delivery...it did not end up happening on Monday as I had anticipated. I transported my first labour that day due to BOW rupture for +12 hours and infection can set in the longer you wait. I'm still not sure what happened to that girl. and I endorsed to the midwives on the next shift my second labour of the day, who was not very active yet and had just come in a 1/2 hour prior to me leaving.
BUT
I had day shift this morning. and was PRIViledged to deliver a BE-U-tiful baby boy at 8:24 am. To make an inCREDibly long story short, we did an AROM (artificial rupture of membranes) because she wasn't progressing..oh, MAYbe i should tell you who 'she' is! The incredibly brave MariAnn Pitao, a 32 year old, has two sons already, the second of which she had a caesarean section because of a breech presentation. [not many have delivered VBACs (vaginal birth after ceasarean)] SO, after AROM the head was right 'there' and visible, it only took two more pushes with some perineal support for 'head out'. Once the head is out you need to slip your fingers down along the neck to check for a cord wrap, there wasn't any umbilical cords, but i DID find a HAND! thats right! I've never seen a birth like this before, with a 'nuchal hand', but my supervisor talked me through pulling the hand (and arm) out with the head, then I carefullly shifted the baby down and back up, then down again, to wiggle it the rest of the way out! IT.WAS.NUTS.

I don't know... feeling the baby coming out like that, HELPing it come out like that, was unlike ANYthing I could have imagined it to be - so much so that I teared up, and ALmost balled right there. An-An was great about letting someone capture her third birth and my first delivery on camera, and i think my emotions shocked her, but i'm sure she appreciated them! She was such a strong woman throughout the entire ordeal!

NOW, on to the 'other' stuff...the stuff AFTER 'baby out' that no one talks about: the postpartum hemorrhage was pretty bad, she lost 1280 ccs in total. We gave her methergine right away to contract the uterus in an attempt to stop the bleeding, and an IV was started not long after I did CCT (controlled cord traction, pulling on the cord to make the placenta come out). Twice throughout the immediate postpartum 10 units oxytocin were injected because she wouldn't stop bleeeeeding...my arm was sore from massaging the fundus (uterus) for so long. Once all that was under control, she needed to pee but couldn't with the bedpan for some reason, so my supervisor guided me through the process of catheterization, and after that, we made it an 'indwelling catheter' so that we could proceed to suture her first degree tear. My supervisor was there, pointing where to 'bite' and where to make each stitch, so i sutured, but..didn't use my brain to do it. I'm good at tying those knots now though. Hands ON learning is where its at.

That pRETty much sums it up..I ate a fast lunch around 1, and was back in there doing the baby bath, and the newborn exam, and postpartum checks, and such. 8 hours flEW by, and I hadn't finished all the papework before it was time for another shift change! Tomorrow is my FIRST 1st day baby checkUP, which I have scheduled for 4pm, because I am on swing shift (2-10). There's a possibility of yet another handle tomorrow, although, I will not be the first up because I will most likely have the most recent catch. But now that i'm in the rotation, it'll be NOthin' but babies'n'blood from now on!! hhaha. God's good.

I think I'll post more pictures, for those of you with strong stomachs, on my other site because it's easier to load pics from there... and there mIGHt even be a video or two to upload:)

videoke& my address.

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there's a good story behind THIS birthday party for miss Jennifer Freeman, a student here who started the same time I did.. we thought it MIGHT be her birthday, but weren't sure, and couldn't just ASK her. so i sent out this mass email, being the social convener that i am, informing everyone we know in davao that the next day was jenny's bday, and we're all going to meet at Paradise (some resort on the island) for a surprise lunch/beach party!! it.was.nUTS. how fast this rumour spread around our circles! hahah, and EVERYone thought it was jenny's bday. well, it turned out her birthday isn't until dec.21st, but we had an awesome time surprising her with this live band who came up playing and singing happy birthday - to which jenny replied "uh, it's not my birthday", and we're all like "...we KNOW, SURPRIsE!" :) THEN the band sang 'pretty woman' to her, which you'll hear their amazing abilities in the video. The band played a lot of old favourites, the beatles and such, and actually reminded me of when Uncle Tim used to play and sing <3

OH. and, the christmas season is upon us!, I heard it was supposed to snow in Niagara yesterday, so hopefully there was a blanket of icey goodness on the ground for you today. AND...not because it CHRISTmas or anything, BUT i've told numerous ppl that i'd post my address and such, not that i'm looking for more letters around Christmas and whatnot ;) (the 'whatnot' being packages..) i jUST need to get my contact info out there, and circulating, because beFORE ya know it, i'll be coming home!
so it's:
jenna konkle
c/o MERCY Maternity Clinic
P.O.Box 81227
8000 Davao City
the Philippines
AND:
if you want to receive a christmas card/homemade POSTcard :P from the phils, please leave YOUR address in the comments part (or email jmkthemwf@gmail.com), because it's hard for me to find addresses, so. just GIVE it to me please. thank you!

hEllO one and all!

[this pic is for you, Juls...] I signed Krystal and I up for a little 5K'r this morning at 6 am.. it was almost just like the run's at home, which was impressive, sonsored by DELmonte. There were over 1000 participants (it was 100p ($2) to enter!) and everyone, including a pack from the philippine ARMY was out to support the cause. I'm not big into racing, but Krystal had once told me it was a goal of hers to be in a race before she leaves, so, when the opportunity arose, I made her ;) (she beat me!)

No, but, this is a hilARIous story...so, I am used to hearing 'gOOd MOrnINggg..' in their little filipino accents, but as we were running BACK from the halfway point, we passed the army guys, who were all running in straight lines in a pack (quite impressive), they had a leader and were chanting things they he would say. and when WE passed, the leader goes "good morning"...haha, AND THE WHOLE ENTIRE ARMY says "GOOD MORNING" to us as we ran passed. it.was.amazing! ahahah

I gUEss we did fairly well..I'm still waiting to hear the results, but i DO know we ran it in under 30 minutes...I think that last run Julie, Christine and I did was like 27 minutes...and I'm PRETTY sure I could run 5k in under 20 min. in highschool...wow, maybe that'll be a goal. As I said, Krystal did well, we ran together but she definetly kept up a fast pace, which surprised ME as I had to convince her all wEEk to run it with me, and made her promise that no matter what, we wouldn't walk...she's all into it now. And i think this will be the start of a beAUtiful racing friendship!and we the proceeded to wear the same shIRt today..cuz we're a team like that :P

yes. DEC.ember 1st, 2006

Night shift was a little crazy last night -
I was endorsed a woman who had already given birth (a postpartum) who had to stay the night for 'observation' because of the hemorrhage she endured while delivering. She was on her second IV and even though I only had to check her every 4 hours, she was still my responsibility, another thing taking up space in my tired mind.
At 12:05, just five minutes into december I assisted a beautiful baby boy in this world and had to deep suction his lungs out through his mouth and nostrils because of the mec stained BOW. This was my first time shoving a little tube down the throat and slowly suctioning on the way out. It went well!
and then, at 2:something AM I assisted another birth, this time, a baby girl (no deep suction needed, only with the hand-held bulb syringe). These two births completed my 10 assists. YIKES. it's MY turn now!
At 5:35, just after I had checked my postpartum's vitals, a labour came in!...my shift ends at 6am and I knew there wasn't enough time for me to handle the birth, well, MOST likely not. I checked her in though, which is so fun - takingv vitals in between contractions, soothing her, helping her work through the pain, awe man...it's amazing. By 5:50 an IE (internal examine) was needed to confirm how far along she was, but, again I was leaving at 6 and there wasn't any reason for me to 'test the waters' with so little time. That's ok.
NEXT SHIFT: Monday, December 4th
I'll be 'first UP' :D, which means I get the first labour...which most likely ensures that my first handle will come on that day. (uhhh, you could pray for that! ;))
alright na lang, i'm going to BED!, have such a great wkd everyone.

"DARlingg its BETter, DOWN where its WETter - take it from meee!"

shoot! so I'm going to get SO frustrated as I blog my day to you all, as I cannot desCRIbe how incredible it was.
One of my life-long dreams has been to be able to bREAthe under water, and today I came as close as I'll ever come in doing so. At 6:30 am sharp Jenny, Charity, Lois, Laura, and I crammed into a taxi for our 7 am scheduled introductory to SCUBA! Departure ended up being closer to 8 am, but even the boat ride to the first dive spot was worth the $16 total for the day.


We were fortunate enough to learn about this Carabou Dive Club, and the club 'members' were all going out for a dive today aswell. Among them was a surgeon, a lawyer, an astronomy guy, a FISHerman, a principal, etc...quite the diverse crowd, most of whom shared ownership of the scuba shop! Our instructors flew through the intro. to the equipment and before I knew it Laura and Jenny were 'GOING IN!' (there were only 2 instructors, therefore only 2 allowed to go at once), while the rest of us just played around on the boat, snorkling and such (again, i would have been thrilled with JUST the snorklinggg!) After consuming our bag lunches we hit up yet another location that looked like the beginning scene of a movie for the second dive spot. The owners decided to switch up it a bit, give the instructors a break, and I ended up diving with the surgeon/part owner!! [meh, just another day in the phils..breathe under water, hold a surgeons hand, ya know, the us..hah] Ya, because it was our introductory lesson we had to hold hands MOST of the time...except when he was writing to me on this sweet underwater whiteboard. He'd point out certain fish or coral, then write the name on the board. I saw some small baracuda, a scorpian fish (which he saved me from trying to touch!), slugs....which doesn't sound very exciting, but THESE slugs were INsane...such vibrant colours, and shapes, and sizes. MAN. it was awesome).

GOING IN!
The maximum depth he took me was like 90 ft :P.. and by 90, I mean 40! But we explored mostly around 30 ft. deep,, which was nuts because every time I looked UP to see the surface, it looked SO close. Fred (my diver) said I was a 'natural' diver! ahah, he PRObably just wanted me to sign up to become CERTified and be in their club...which I am definetly considering. Hopefully the pictures do some justice to what I experienced, heck- you should just come OVER here, and I'll take you DIVinggg!

OH YA. and also the fisherman went down a 100 ft. with a SPEAR and caught this TUNAfish! wow...

american thanksGIVINggg

A little bit of an organized potluck, we coordinated an amazing
thanksgiving dinner tonight- complETE with turkey, and pumpkin
pie! We all got a little dressed UP and met ono the second floor
of the clinic...here's a little taste of the buffet (above)..
and The ever-smiling filipina supervisors (below).

Taas si Jason!

This past week I had the PRIViledge of showing Jason (Christine's brother) around my city for the less-than-48-hour visit he scheduled for Lois and I between mtgs and preaching in Manila..and various OTHEr countries he's breezed thru recently. It was kinda funny because Lois and I had SO many adVENtures planned out, ya know, somewhat of a 'strict' schedule - none of which ending up happening because of one thing of another. A good time was had showing him around the clinic and introducing him to all of our new friends, and he also got to sit in on our breastfeeding presentations :) friday afternoon, and that is why is he surrounded my females in this first picture.
Lois and I had sUCh a great time as Jay entertained US with antics of the filipino culture, referring to us as "ma'am" and whatnot. Being 6'4 lends itself not ONly to stand OUT(above) the crowd, but alSO to funny looks and comments from the filipinos. Introductions USually started off with "taAS na lang..(he's tall eh)" The second picture is Jay trying to get out of our gate door, which he'd just walk straight INto, not even bothering to duck!...he's.a.funny.guy.

just SEVEN more assists and I'll be in charge of the WHOLE labour and delivery!....under supervision, of course, but my next shift is monday swing (2-10)!, hopefully there'll be more babies to 'assist'!

the alphabet: XYZA

..pronounced "Siza", it was somewhat interesting how I came about doing a prenatal for this girl, but I won't bore you with details! The cool thing is I asked her if she wanted me to be her midwife, we were both fAIRly excited! (this is my second continuity - we need five to meet the requirements of this school, but I think the more continuity's I have, the better!) Xyza is 19, this is her first pregnancy, and her bf (Marc Anthony) is 23 and drives a jeepney (public transportation). She had a slight UTI at the beginning her preg., but has since cured herself with 'water therapy' and buko juice. Buko juice is coconut juice, and i gUEss it works like cranberry juice to cure that kind of thing. Anyways, the point is she's really into looking out for herself, and will listen to advice..which is good for me, ensuring that there aren't any pregnancy risks or complications in labour and delivery. She is due February 04, 2007!

~ little 'O' ~

okay okay, so i DIDN't get the present off in time. but HAD to do SOMEthing for Owen Konkle's second birthday... I obviously wish with all my heart I could hang out with you on your birthday, but this little...triBUTe will have to suffice. I got in my head a poem would be nice, I think i'm still rhyming ahah. HAVE AN AMAZING 2nd BIRTHDAY OWEN! [who could not love that face]

Exactly 2 years from this day
November 12th, a little delayed
A precious gift right from the start..
Too see you breathe captured my heart.
I patiently waited for you to arrive,
to hug you and kiss you and watch you thrive.
Yet again stood up to my dismay:
Nursing and sleeping with no time to play.
Eyes from your mother/expressions like Dad -
They buy you sweet kicks and dress you in plaid :)
Your face lights up with wonders anew:
spotting a ladybug, or playing peek-a-boo.
I reeeally hope you enjoy your cake,
Last years chocolate was a big mistake!
I hate that i'm missing your 2nd hoopla,
HAPPY Birthday dear Owen, from aunt jenna :P
(I love you.)