Home Visit with Rosario

Today I went to visit my patient Rosario and her baby, Maria Christina. Elai (a Filippina) and Erin came with me. We had a lovely morning with the family. She still lives at home - some of her family is in that picture. She has 8 siblings, and now a daughter, and they all live with their parents in a tiny, two room bamboo shack. It has an outdoor kitchen with a table and a bench, and a small outhouse. But they've got a great view. They are looking foward to Christmas, when they can see Davao all lit up from their little hill.

Dorina

Dorina Cumiling was born to Anabel today. She made her appearance at 8:07 this morning, into my waiting hands. Another little cutie. Her mom is 36 years old and has four other children. Checkout the family and midwife picture...for any of you who ever called me 'shorty'...take it back! Haha! Seriously, this woman came up to my shoulder! Lovely people and a lovely baby. It was a pleasure to spend the day with them.

Maria Christina

Maria Christina was born on the evening of October 17th. Her mom, Rosario is only 17 years old, and the father of the baby is not around. Her brother brought her to the clinic, and then left again, so she had no "bantay" or support with her during her labor and delivery. So we were her supports - one girl at her head, helping her breathe, while I delivered and Erin assisted. 30 minutes after delivery, Rosario was sitting up and talking away to her new baby girl, getting her food ready on her own and, really, just handling things amazingly well. I had a good time getting to know her and doing all the follow-up postpartum with her. We scheduled a home-visit for next week, which both she and I are looking foward to.

Daniella

Daniella was born today, October 16th, to Daniel and Jeorilyn -- and I got to be the one to deliver her. I was so excited when I came on shift and was told I would be handling the first delivery, because as soon as I saw Jeorilyn's face I remembered her. I had done a prenatal exam on her a few weaks ago, and she stuck out in my mind because she was very grateful to Jesus for her good health. As she was in labor this morning, she asked me to pray with her, which was really special. Daniella's older brother is a shy little guy who wouldn't look at the camera. And her dad was one of the most supportive husbands we've ever had. A great family!

More Pigalungan Photos

Pigalungan

On Monday morning, I was picked up at 5 am to go on my first Mountain Outreach. The primary health care giver is a man named Mordegai, from Namibia. Also along on the trip were a couple of primary healthcare interns, three young Canadian volunteers, a Filippino pastor and his wife, and two other healthcare workers. Quite a truck load! We drove for two 1/2 hours, out into the mountains and then hiked for SIX HOURS in the heat to get to Pigalungan. On Tuesday we had a clinic there, were Mordegai did checkups and gave out some medicines. I was put to work packaging pills and cutting up tablets. Also, I was able to do prenatals on a few pregnant women, which was AWESOME. I loved it. I loved the whole trip. The hike was great, although extremely exhausting. The village was so cool. And the people were lovely. The scenery was just incredible..the pictures do not do it justice. These people live in paradise! Then on Wednesday we had to pack up and make the journey back out. Our muscles were so sore, and it was so hot, but we made it!

Boat Trip

These pictures are taken on our boat trip around Talikud island. About thirty of us were packed on a boat, and we just rode around, stopping at beaches and jumping out to snorkel. It was some of the best snorkelling I have ever done - the coral and the fish were simply AMAZING. And so was the water, as you can see. It was abslutely gorgeous. We had a really fun day.

Just hanging out: some boring, posed photos.

This is Princess. Her mom, Melody, works here at the clinic in the mornings, taking blood samples for prenatals. Princess bounces around helping out wherever she can. She's quite a character. And look at her...a little doll!







Renee and I...out on a street. We liked the blue and yellow walls. Renee leaves next week, the 13th. And I'm sad about that. She's been a good friend and we've done a lot of exploring together.










Here Heather and I are fighting over the last bite of dessert. Heather is my boxing partner....supposedly we get to fight one another in the ring next week!







And here are Sarah Y. and I just hanging out on shift. We decided that we looked like ocean water, in our greenie-blue scrubs.

Durian

Durian...Davao's most prized fruit. Smells like butt. Tastes even worse, supposedly. I haven't yet tried it. But the Filippinos LOVE it. So here's a picture of Jenn and I by a Durian statue, and then Heather and I with the real thing. Mmmmm.

Night Shifts

Sometimes night shifts feel really long....and that is why they are always a good time for photo opps. This is one of the staple meals here at the clinic...I feel like I see those fish with heads (and tails) at LEAST every other day. And ya know, I don't particularily enjoy them. That is why I'm eating slice upon slice of bread with peanut butter daily. Check out my pinky knuckles on the pic -- that's from boxing. They are sore!!!


And here are three of us pretending we're cute while all gross and sweaty in the middle of the night - Erin, myself and Elai. Erin and Elai are both terrific midwives, and I love working with them because of how gentle and patient they are. Also, they both take the time to explain things to me (and the mother, for that matter) and are genuinely excited when I try new things. I'm so thankful for both of them!

Paradise Island

The other day Renee and I went to Paradise Island (one of the beaches on Samal) for the afternoon. You can just take a small boat there for a few cents, and they have a restaurant there and stuff. We mostly just relaxed and snorkelled. Great fish to see!

Micah

And this is Micah Arcena, born this morning, October 4, 2005 to Cora. Delivered by....ME! Yay again. I don't know how regular of an occurance this will be....we'll see. Cora is now a mother to three daughters and is 31 years old. In the first picture, I'm doing part of the baby exam..which includes checking the baby all over to make sure she's healthy. In the second picture, neither Micah nor I look too thrilled...it must be because we've been awake all night, and the picture was taken at about 6:30 a.m., 2 hours after her birth. We're both ready for a nap!

Bea

This is Bea (pronounced Baya) Borres Blaso, born October 2, 2005, delivered by ME. Yay! Isn't she just the sweetest? Her mother is Ivy, a 24-year old who now has three daughters. I really loved being her midwife, because she spoke English pretty well and had such a sweet personality. She brought Bea back for her first checkup yesterday, and everything looked great!

Around Town

Just a picture of a street nearby...one of the busiest ones. It's close to one of the malls where I regularly by groceries and internet cards. Notice from the sky, it's about to pour.




And this is the street that the clinic is off of. I walk it almost every day, sometimes 5 times in a day. The picture's kinda dark, sorry. This road can also get quite heavy traffic, but for the most part it's alright. A lot of jeepneys and motorbikes come racing through, which is handy for when we need to drive somewhere.

Mercy Maternity Center

This is the clinic...where I sleep, eat, and spend a few 12-hour shifts each week.

Just Tiny

This little baby was born yesterday (the day of the picture). A baby girl - 4 pounds 10 ounces! Her cry was hardly a cry...more of a soft squeal. I'm just holding her while her dad is helping her mom wash up.

Jeepney

This is a Jeepney, the main method of transportation. If YOU owned a jeepney, what would YOU paint on it? Something to think about....

Out by the Water

On the way down from Eljoy's place, we crossed the main road and worked our way through the maze of markets and small houses to the water front. Gorgeous!