The Agdao "BUNtis" Party!!

"Buntis" means pregnant in Visayan. And thIS morning we organized a party for the patients of the Agdao Clinic - it went SO SO well! Out of the 17 patients I've taken on as continuities, 15 showed up and 3 of them were also able to bring their husbands/bfs. This party was a reason to get these girls together for a morning to really inform them about pregnancy, labour, and delivery, and especially, what this looks like at Mercy Mat. They miss out on the regularly scheduled health teachings done at Mercy, so we invited guest speakers (supervisors and students alike from Mercy) to come and share their knowledge of family planning, nutrition, labour and delivery, postpartum, and what to expect when they actually come to deliver at Mercy. We were able to serve pancit bihon (a fav fil party food) and rice, compliments of Krys and Mercy's cook Ate Lori. Also, the YWAMmers that help out every thursday brought and grilled fish.. the whole morning was just amazing. My favourite part was afterwards though, when - after a morning of conjured up awkwardness - they all flOOD to where Lois and I are sitting with smiles of recognition to ask personal questions about their pregnancy or hand in their required labworks and the chaos of it all and the girls calling me miss jenna or ate jenna or maam and Lois doing most of the work while i just sit there and marvEL at it all... ahhh man. It's just great!

mga cONTinuities.. =S

Since July 3rd I've had not one, not tWO, not thREE, but fOUR continuities deliver!! THe latter three have actually been in the past 3 days!! CRAZINESS.

The first delivered July 3 @ 12:30am - taken on as a continuity because I had already done a random 4 prenatals on her, and thought it must be fate (char). THIS one took the longest, and tested my patience...although her vitals were always so good and normal, she was only progressing at about 1cm every 3 hours. GOOdness! I spent over 20 hours straight with her at the clinic, starting at 8:45am in the morning, seeing 2 shifts of midwives come and go, and fINally on nightshift, and with a little encouragement and mORE than a little help from CS, her second baby boy came out at 2:30am very normally. Her last birth ended in an episiotomy, which split open this time, but other than that, a very normal, uncomplicated birth!

The second delivered July 19 @ 3:05pm - taken on as a continuity at 9 months because her husband, who happened to be my motorcycle driver that day asked if she could deliver at Mercy. She'd been prenatal care elsewhere, but was so thankful to be allowed to deliver her baby girl at Mercy! It was a thE best birth I've seen for a primigravida - so smooth, and fast, and easy.

THe third delivered July 21 @ 12:36pm - taken on as a continuity because she was Allison's cont last pregnancy, plus was scheduled for EPO (something to naturally stimulate labour) on July 22 because she was postdates. BUT, praise the Lord, EPO wasn't needed, labour started spontaneously, and went as fast as the last time (hahaa, supposedly AR had mentioned something about not being sutured the first time, and therefore her pwerta was big enough to facilitate a very fast birth! She was very proud of this fact and told me upon admission). Her third baby boy was born a fighter, with great APGAR scores and whatnot.

The fOURth delivered July 22 @ 2:42am - taken on as a continuity because she dazzled me early on in prenatals (and she has the same name as one particularly dear to my heart, aND the last name of a friend here in the phils - I wanted to ask if it was a relative of some sort (it wasn't)). Michelle delivered her first baby girl after a night of praying she wouldn't need to be transported due to fetal tachycardia and borderline high bp. She opened at a rate of 2cm per hour - twice as fast as normal - and pushed like a champ. So much so, that she had a third degree tear, and we ALmost transported the suturing, but dear Ate Susan came on shift jUST in time to stitch her up. What a great night!! Michelle (pictured above) is such a sweetheart!

The right words...

can never be adequately expressed thru words spoken or words written. How can one ever say goodbye to a lifE so unknown at first and yet created and sustained merely through the relationships of strangers turned frienD? I can't really think about it, without a dark shadow settling over my head with, dare i say, a few rain clouds in and amongst. These girlS have shared this experience with me- together w the uncertainties and fears, lumps and bumps, hurdles as well as successes...2 years is more than enough time to get to know a person, especially when you're living together. But now they're gone (well, 3 out of the 6) and life in the philippines will never be the same again. These girls are now, and will forever be my friends slash co-workers slash sisters. To the above mentioned, please grasp the true amount of bonding bonding that has happened here, and always remember NISM'08 (hOW could you nOt, right ;p). And to enD- one thing you'll nEVER miss about the pilipines, the inevitability of public urination!! haahaha char. i love you aLL.

HAPPIEST EVER 1st birthday dear Alexis Joy Patricia Konkle~~

there's NO good way to celebrate your life thus far when I'm thIS far away... anything and everything I come up with to send you pales in comparison to the actual tIME I wish I could give you - time spent just hanging out, getting to know each other, building relationship [blahh, i'm going to make myself cRY!] I didn't even feel like calling, like I can do with so many other ppl's birthdays, because you can't hardly speak! Just know that I'm thinking of you, and love you.

FIL Supervisor Appreciation Night!

Last night we prepared tortillas plus all the toppings for burritos, and served the supervisors that have welcomed us, put UP with us, taught us, and affirmed what we know in the BIRTHroom over the past two years. There is really NO adequate way to repay them, or express to them just how much they've given us - not including their laughs and friendship that has made it all that much more special.

After dinner we let them relax and watch a slideshow of all the pics accumulated over the past couple of years (it was a loooong slideshow, and a gREAT conversation piece ;p) WHILE we gave them foot masssages, did a foot spa and pedicures for them! hahaaa, they lOVEd it! It was so fun to watch their faces, and hear their expressions as we worked! If I were leaving soon, i DEFinitely would have cried...gOOD thing I'm staying on for a few more months, which will probably only make it harder to leave but..

ESTILLES, Amelita

- 41 year old
- G11P10L7 (this is now her 11th pregnancy, she's given birth to 10 children (aka no miscarriages), 7 children are still living)
- Due date is toDAY! (the baby is now 40 weeks)
- She has zero labwork completed (a requirement to delivery at Mercy)
- She has a 27 HCT (dangerously low, and indicates anemia)
- She's been experiencing false labour already...promises to bring her lab results in tomorrow and will take the iron supplements I gave her this morning. She hasn't come for prenatals since her first visit, and nOW she's in danger of not being sufficiently prepared, being too unhealthy, and/or being transported for any of the above! She needs prayer!

Someone who has had thIS many babies is already at risk for so much in labour and delivery, including hemorrhage, which can be controlled, but the ramifications of such blood loss with her already depleted system - goodness. I'll admit I'm scared to be called-in for her delivery..

OTHerwise, she's SUCh an amazing lady - the kind who demands the attention of an entire room because she's had so much life experience and is exploding with joy to tell someone (and everyone) about it! She speaks visayan a million miles a minute, even though she knows i'll understand her more thoroughly if she speaks slower...she's just too excited, and has sO much to say she has trouble getting it all out at once!

Please remember her today and in the near future, and hopefully there won't be any complication in labour and delivery and postpartum.

The week AFter graduation:

Just to give you a little TASte of why I haven't been updating blogs, or answering emails, or writing letters (LIKE I have ever sent much snail mail before but) thIS week was nUTS! I don't think I spent more than an hour at a time at home this entire week =(
MONday - Grad
TUESday - newborn screening training and "appts" in the afternoon
WEDnesday - prenatal clinic, plUS had a continuity in labour (pictured above)(w her for 18 hrs at the clinic- starting at 8:45 through dayshift and swingshift and she FINally delivered at 2:30am- we're into THURSday now).. slept for 3 hours and then had
THURSday - Agdao prenatal clinic, shopping, goodbye dinner/evening for Kuki (going back to Singapore)
FRIday - dayshift, caught another baby, cooked for a goodbye party for kAYE (going to Japan), hAD the goodbye party
SATurday - Samal PREnatal OUTreach (a new venture I'm more than a little excited about), went paintballing, thEN had nightshift
SUNday - caught another baby (end of nightshift - that makes 3 babies in 4 days..), met ppl at the mall for lunch, hung out, bought a wATCh (yes, mom!! I found one!), and just got home around 9. I should go to bed...