And as the AGDAO Prenatal Clinic continues,

the Lord continues to bless the ministry with new patients every thursday, as weLL as some old patients coming back for a visit to the MIDwife! This past thursday was such a great prenatal day in Agdao. One of my past patients bought her son, of which whom I delivered AND named (a tribute to my brother <3), she and Rob came for a visit today because she's friends with one of the patients i'm caring for at the moment. The little 6 month old boy in the pictures below is a living testimony of how Mercy Mat works in the lives of women here in Davao. The newborn baby bOY pictured below (Elijah Micah) is my most recent "catch", born last Sunday, his mom was coming here thursday mornings for prenatals, and is also a member of the Foursquare church we hold the clinic in. His father missed their first child being born at the public hospital, and was mORE than overjoyed when he was able to participate in the birth of their newest son! It was amazing to witness (he cried as the the baby came out)!!
























BRIE: yesterday was my first birth room shift. there was one labour but after she had been there for 10ish hours and nothing was progressing except for the fetal heart tone and the mothers b.p. She was transferred to the hospital.

the firsts continUE!...

I think it's much nicer blogging about others...somehow, their activities are more exciting to write about than my own! Although, today's blog is about both of us (again!). It was bk's first day doing prenatals...she's on our team for prenatals and will therefore be working every wednesday morning with us as we see hundreds of patients for prenatal care. She was shadowing ME today, and caught on real quick! I hardly had to re-check fundal heights and fetal positions/FHTs by the end of the morning she was doing so well!

We saw some needy patients. One with a traumatic c/s experience her first baby, she's 23 and scared to death of needing another c/s this time around. She started crying as I explained we weren't able to deliver her baby at Mercy, but I assured her I'd go w to the hospital and make sure she's taken care of! Another woman started tearing as we talked about her husband (of 7 kids already) and his recent drinking habits. It's sad, but I like encountering these types of situations because it reminds you we're really needed here, and we're making a difference in these women's lives. Brianna also got to meet my 17 yr old continuity, LynLyn - who is so stinkin' sweet it kills me! I'm excited for her very first birth experience, and she's due Oct.4th.

Brianna wOULd have had sOmething to say (i'm sure...char) but ah she just ran outta here late for her language class! So sorry about her absence in this post...maybe next time. Love to you all.

Brianna's class on taking VITALS!

JENNA: Vitally important to health care and assessing a person's status are CHECKING VITAL SIGNS! Here are a few pictures of Brianna's class aLL about pulse, respirations, and blood pressure. I'm working swing this afternoon/evening and i thiNK brianna's going out with my friends while i'm at work! hahaa, that's great. LOIS and I are on today- it should be a good shift, the clinic has been super busy the past couple of days. We expanded slightly, and moved the postpartum area (resting after birth) to another room.

BRIE: i dont know what im supposed to hear (in regards to taking bps)..... i learned on jenna how to prick fingers to test for anemia her blood has a hematocrit of 42% (very healthy)(and thEN she proceeded to prick 15 clients!). and how to type up birth certificates (that was yesterday, shadowing Ate Bebing, the clerk who types up and registers all the birth certificates, huGE job!).

(the phrases in the brackets is me, Jenna) hahaa

A little "formal" affair maRKs the beginning of be-autifuL friendships (as brianna begins to steaL all my friends! ahahaa). Yesterday night we went out to Insular Hotel to a restaurant down the pier and on the water for PGEn's birthday dinner. Brianna's input for this blog would be the following direct quote- "in Canada we call it micky D's oooooor (long pause)... micky D's." HAHAA, we went to McDonalds after the amazing dinner and Brianna was confused not knowing what mc doe was (because that's what they call micky d's hERE). Anyways, the confusion, fun, and laughter grow as each day is fuLL of it's own novelties. And, i'm working on Brie to take over this blog once my time here is done (one sentence will have to suffice for now).

with LOVE from us <3

Brianna's arrivaL!

SHe's HERE!! August 15 at approx. 3:20 BK landed in Davao with 10 of her classmates...and we were all eagerly waiting their arrival at the airporT! She's safe and sound. And we're having sUCh a good time hanging out, introducing her to people and places, and new foods. Thank you aLL so very much for your prayers..AND!
Another cool and exciting thing happened Aug.15 also - my continuity Imelda Revilla (nickname Ting2x) came in and had her baby (GIRL) at 1:14pm. It was a very normal birth...nothing special or exciting happened like an IV or hemorrhage (praise the Lord) but it WAS my HUNDREDTH CATCH! Yes! I've officially caught 100 babies since starting to handle last Dec.7, 2006. What an honour it's been...

The first (tWO) Agdao delIVERIES! -all the in sAME morninG!

I got a miscall from the clinic Tuesday Aug.12 at 4am, because Rubelle Villa (nickname Ling-Ling) a 22 yr. old patient from the Agdao prenatal outreach was in active labour. She was fully! and ready to push...it actually wasn't too hard/long a labour considering it was her first baby. At 5:52am she was deLIGHTed to be holding her very first, baby gIRL! named Shem Villa. Ling2x had to be sutured, and just as i was finishing that up...

Abigail Ladaran (aka Gail) waddles into Mercy in active labour! The second Agdao prenatal patient to grace a Mercy bed. A 25 yr. old single mom, she had her mom there to help with the labour and delivery which, again, wasn't at aLL hard for being her first time! We welcomed Henk Ave Ladaran at 10:04am. She too had a slight tear needing a few stitches. GOODness! I finished all the after care and discharged all by 4:30pm! WHAT a blESSED day =)


These 2 pictures were taken in Agdao, at the Foursquare Church where we do prenatals each week...this is the 2nd day baby check up, and i'm gLAD to report that all is well.

UPdate -

Mercy Maternity CLinic, and all who volunteer/work there, successfully delivered ONE HUNDRED and FORTY-ONE babies for the month of July! Our numbers usually exceed 100 in this area, but an extra baby a day really makes a difference! Personally, I caught 8 of those... and as of right now i'm 1/3 finished the posts-grad requirements laid out by Ryerson (and it's oNLY the beginning of august!!).

Things are also well underway for the new students - the house beside us is empty, and ready for half of the students to move over/in. THe ground floor of the clinic is even being re-vamped to accommodate mORE patients! THings are super exciting. We've got an amazing missionary (Cathy) here right now for a few months as an intern, a PA from the states who has been working for 2 years in Sudan with her husband on medical missions, education, etc. She's teaching us primary health care that is very beneficial. Last weekend's outreach to Penaplata, Samal went very well. There's one girl due in a months time. And Cathy was able to come with me to do regular check-ups for anyone who needed and one of my very best filipino friends came and ended up translating for Cathy (suCH a blessing!). Agdao prenatal clinic is still going strong, and i'm enjoying it more and more as relationships are formed and the atmosphere becomes more comfortable and inviting rather than strange, new, and even a little awkward! The outreach to Talikud is scheduled for august 16 - the day after Brianna arrives!! - I haven't been to that specific one before, I had to miss the first one, so am excited to go meet the pregnant girls on tHAT island, too! It sounds busy, but because I don't have homework/assignments/studying weighing me down, I actually have a lot of free time to read or hang out, etc.