Paradise Beach

Two days ago Naomi and I went to Paradise beach resort to spend a day at the beach.
Above is the picture of the boat we road in to get to the island. It's a very beautiful, clean, peaceful resort that's only about a 10 boat ride from Davao. All of their seating is covered, (I heard Filipinos don't like to tan). You can order breakfast on the beach! We ordered fresh buko juice (coconut juice) that we sipped straight from the coconut. It was so delcious. I've never been one for coconut juice or the meat, but there are no words to describe how different and delicious young coconuts are here!

It's kind of hard to capture on camera how clear the water was...it was so beautiful.

Unfortunately our beach trip came to a quick end after breakfast and collecting seashells. I started to get very dizzy and felt like I was going to faint, so I laid down for awhile. I wasn't feeling any better, so after awhile we packed up and went back to the island. I was completely hydrated, and I had breakfast, so it wasn't a blood sugar or hydration issue. I realized later that afternoon that it was actually my sinuses! I had never been dizzy like that because of sinus pressure, but it hit hard and I had some kind of vertigo thing going on that freaked me out a little bit. After taking an advil my dizziness went away. A couple other people here have been having some sinus problems, so please pray I won't feel like that on the airplane as I leave tomorrow!

Around Davao

I have been having a hard time capturing what Davao is like on camera. Here are some random pictures I have taken of the more "country" areas of Davao and also some pretty houses I saw.

On Saturday I went with Naomi over to the Boswell's house in the San Pedro area of Davao. (At least, I believe that's where I was :-) It gets a little confusing after while of where I am)

Mordecia (not sure if the spelling is correct, but his name is pronounced MOR-DE-KY and KY as in KYLA.) is a medical missionary from Africa and he is a dentist. There are so many Filipinos here who have infections in their teeth and teeth that are rotting away. Once again, most of it is due to lack of hygiene and also eating a lot of sugar. Evidently Filipinos consume a lot of sugary foods, candy, and lots of white rice (which turns right into sugar) in addition to not caring for their teeth.

So, Mordecia set up his instruments and offered his services for free to many Filipinos that evening. He numbed their mouths and gave them advil. One of the ladies had to have 20 of her teeth pulled that evening. Poor thing!!

My first transport

When I arrived for day shift today, there was a 1st time mom beginning to push. She did such an amazing job, and pushing for her took almost 2 hours. She pushed on her back, she pushed standing up, squatting on the bed with her bana (husband) behind her, she also pushed using the birthing stool. She even stood on the bed to sway her hips back and forth in order to get this little guy to move down! Finally, after pushing, her baby boy barely crowned and then came flying out! He came out straight up OP...sunny side up! He was staring straight at the ceiling (instead of his head facing toward the spine, which is the more common and favorable position). The entire time during her labor the fetal heart tones were great. Just before he was born the begin to drop a little (from about 140 to 110) and the midwife wanted that baby out fast! She got her wish, he came out VERY fast.

Anyway, as soon as he was born, he was not breathing well. His 1 minute apgar was 2, his 5 minute apgar was 6. He was limp and blue at birth. They immediatly started to suction (since there was some slight meconium staining) and administer oxygen by PPV. He began to pink up within minutes and soon he seemed just fine. He was a little over 6lbs and the mom did extremely well.

During his newborn exam, though, he was having some chest retraction. And even after breastfeeding and hoping to clear out his lungs some, his chest kept retracting and he was having a hard time getting his breaths. He wasn't turning blue or anything, but with his chest retracting during breathing the midwives said it was not a good sign. So, the supervising midwife said we would need to transport the baby and the father to the hospital. Michelle, one of the student midwives, asked if I would like to go on a transport to see DMC (Davao Medical Center). I agreed, though I had heard DMC is a hard place to be. It's a government hospital, so the services are cheaper at this hospital compared to some of the other nice private hospitals in Davao. So, this is the hospital where the poor come to and it is often over crowded.

We stepped into Mercy Maternity's transport van and went took the little baby and his daddy to DMC. On the way to the hospital, the baby's nose started to flare with his breaths and when we arrived his pink color was starting to slowly become more pale.

When we got to DMC's emergency room I felt like I was watching a film about poverty on TV. People were lying everywhere. Beds were backed up to more beds. I saw flies landing on people's bodies. There were people who looked like they were dying everywhere I turned. In the resuscitation room where people go who need oxygen, family members had to pump their family's oxygen to keep them alive because of lack of equipment and also lack of staff. (Michelle told me, though, that this was very common for many Asian countries). The hospital smelled so rancid. I told Michelle I needed to step outside just only after a few minutes. I felt like I was going to throw up. Once I got outside I felt better. Here I was, a white girl standing by myself dressed in scrubs at a hospital where they are so short staffed. I could see it in people's eyes, they were looking at me with the look, "why aren't you doing something to help?". They looked at me with such a sadness in their eyes. (they had no idea that I was not a doctor or a nurse or even a midwife!). And there was nothing I could do to help them.

I stood there at the entrance to the ER and watched 2 taxi's pull up. In one taxi, a mother got out carrying her very limp 2 year old. The child's eyes were rolled back in her head and she was pale and limp. She looked like she was either dead or close to dying. Michelle also saw her and told me she was suffering from SEVERE dehydration. The next taxi was a mother and sister carrying their adult brother in who looked so sick and couldn't walk.

Michelle and I talked on the way back to Mercy about how most of these problems and sicknesses are a result from the family members not being educated in how to care for their family. They have no health education. And so much could be prevented if they were taught and educated.

On a completely different note, I am doing well overall. I'm definitely looking forward to coming home and seeing my husband and girls! I had a really dizzy spell yesterday while I was taking a day off at the beach with a friend, and come to find out I have sort of an inner ear/ sinus thing going on. So, I'm going to try and get that under control before I fly out on Wednesday.

Hope all is well with you and yours!

Praise and worship before prenatals

Every weekday morning women line up outside Mercy Maternity's Clinic doors and wait to be seen for a prenatal exam. The morning starts out with praise and worship and prayer, and then afterwards there is a health teaching. Some of the topics might include breastfeeding, labor and delivery, nutrition or newborn care.

Then afterwards mother's are seen one by one by the midwives and student midwives.

It was so beautiful listening to the expecting mothers worship the Lord in their own language, Visian.

Kitty Kat Cafe Latte

I went with some of the girls to a local coffee shop yesterday while they studied. I ordered a latte and the guy gave me this!
I thought it was very much picture-worthy...very artistic! :-)

Yummy Fruit

I haven't talked about how yummy the fruit is here in the Philippines, have I? Bananas are like a dessert. They are so sweet and delicious and grow everywhere around here. They are smaller in size, and the flesh is a rich, deep yellow. Sometimes the flesh is even almost an orange color.

I have never been a HUGE fan of mangos. I buy them in frozen chunks for the girls and our kids love frozen mango. I like to put them in smoothies at home. But the 2 times I had a fresh mango at home it was sweet at first but had an odd after taste. Well, it's a staple fruit here and on the counters all the time just like people put apples on their counters in the US. Once again, it's like eating another divine dessert. They are so sweet, soft and juicy. They are deep orange in color and I sooooooo wish I could take some back home with me but evidently it wouldn't pass through US customs. Bummer!

Boco juice (coconut juice) is another amazing drink in a lot of people's fridge here. It looks just like water. I tried a small carton of coconut juice once while I lived in California and I didn't like it at all. It tasted like almost nothing but had an odd after taste. Here it has a mild, sweet flavor and is very refreshing. The midwives tell their patients to drink lots of boco juice while pregnant because it helps prevent urinary tract infections (UTIs). It has also been known to be used in IV fluids for re-hydration.

Calamancis are a small green fruit that looks similar to a lime, but when you cut it open it's orange in color. These taste very similar to limes as well...they are very tart. Calamanci juice is kind of like the lemonade or the limade of the Philippines. And Calamanci juice is SOOOO refreshing. I had some the day I arrived at Naomi and Chad's house. Lea, one of their helpers, made it and I even knocked on their door the very next day asking Lea if she happened to have some more Calamanci juice that I could have! I'm quite addicted to this refreshing drink. It's made with a little sugar, but I have also tried it without sugar and it's very yummy as well.

Cute baby

I watched one of the student midwives conduct a newborn exam on this precious 10 day old baby girl today. Her name is Divine Faith. The Filipina moms have the most interesting, sweetest names for their babies. I've heard a lot of names like Joy, Precious, Blessing, Faith, Princess.

I also saw a very healthy and FAST birth of a mom with her 3rd baby. She was just smiling and walking around when Jenna, one of the midwives said she was starting to push. I went in the room to watch the birth, and the mother was so calm. Then she pushed once and the head came out (so from what I saw the baby never crowned, the head just came out!). Then she pushed again and the entire baby came out. Hewas a very healthy baby with Apgars of 9 and 10! This was the healthiest birth I have seen so far! It was a great birth. The mom was amazing, and once again, acting as if giving birth was not a big deal at all.

Day Shift

Today I tagged along on the day shift from 6am-2. It was a rather slow shift as far as births, but there were a lot of moms coming back in for their scheduled postpardum baby checks. I saw a lot of cute and very healthy infants. Above is a picture of midwifery students, Jane and Naomi and myself. I look so huge compared to these girls. I tower above all the Filipinos and Naomi (from Canada) just happens to be about their size.

The pictures above and below are of the delivery rooms. When a mom is laboring or pushing the curtain comes down for privacy for the family. Below is a picture of some more "rooms", oxygen tanks, and birth carts.

Below is a picture of myself with Jane and Stephanie, the supervising midwife for the shift I was on.

Church in the Philippines

I went to church with Tim and Bethany today! I was overwhelmed with the love pouring out from that church and the people there. I can tell that so many of them have very little. Oh, but they have Jesus, who satisfies us and you can see in their hearts they are so satisfied. Their faces light up with the joy of the Lord.

Here is a slide show of some pictures I took today at church. Video will follow but I'm trying to figure out how to upload my video. You'll see the picture of the three little girls with the sweetest smiles. They followed me out of the church and kept saying "bye! bye!" to Bethany and me. They didn't want us to leave! I asked them if I could take their picture and they were SO THRILLED to have their picture taken!

Around Town and Home

One of the interns that is staying here this summer, Kate, made this great video of a short ride in Davao and also some pictures of what the home looks like that we are staying in. She was so kind to let me post it on my blog since I have been camera-less the past two days while I in search for my other batteries! Enjoy!

Filipina Women Are Amazing!

I just got back from my second birth room shift where I saw 2 more births. I cannot explain to you in words how amazing Filipina women are at giving birth. Even in the hospitals here there are no pain relievers (according to another midwife).

I have had 2 babies, and one completely without any drugs. It is HARD work. Most of these women coming into the clinic in labor that I have seen act like it is nothing at all to give birth. With the 5 births I have observed so far down here, there is only 1 birth where I saw the mom wanting some comfort and guidance of breathing during her contractions. With the other births I didn't hear much from them until it was time to push.

One mother today was getting ready to give birth to her 3rd baby and one of the midwives asked me to sit in the room with her just in case she started to push and a baby was visible! So, I sat there and she was just smiling away in between contractions at me. Then, she got a look of concentration and started pushing on the birthing stool. I called the midwife in and she took a look and within a matter of minutes the head was visible! "Way to go, mom!" was all I could think. Oh! And her bana (husband) had not even arrived at the clinic yet! She ended up having her baby before her husband got there. So, she pretty much did it all on her own.

After only being here for 4 days it's so easy to see that no meds should really be the norm because women's bodies are really made for this!

Blessing

I talked with Bethany yesterday, who took the baby with the deformity and trouble breathing on the hospital transport the other evening.

The father named the baby, Blessing. The baby was actually a girl (I thought it was a boy!). The father said, "Even though she is not doing well, she is our blessing. We will call her "Blessing".

Blessing is doing well, Bethany said. She is breathing well again, and they will be able to do re constructive surgery on her leg. Her leg did have all the bone in it, it was just turned the wrong way, up toward her face. The doctor said she will always walk with a limp, but, praise God, she will be able to walk!

Another way you get around Davao

I rode in one of these today with Naomi to a coffee shop. This is the other "taxi" in Davao. It's called a trisikad. It's a bicycle with a little cart on the side passengers sit in and you pay the driver to take you wherever. It's very in expensive to use these...like 5 pesos. Which is cheaper than 1 penny in US money (I think).

I know, you're thinking it doesn't look very safe. Well, driving is a completely different story here in Davao, and oddly enough, I heard there are less accidents here than the US. People evidently drive by "instinct" and are always driving defensively. In the US we have rules and laws to drive by so unfortunately, even though we should drive defensively we depend on the laws and rules and for everyone to obey them. If they don't, then there's a wreck. Evidently, I learn that here everyone is so defensive in their driving that wrecks are more rare.

My first birth room shift

I went in at 2pm to shadow Sarah, one of the student midwives, during swing shift. The supervising midwife, Stephanie, asked about my skills and I told her I was only here to observe since I didn't have any training. There are several interns here this summer with various backgrounds in training, some are midwifery students in the states trying to get their "numbers" (need to catch a certain amount of babies, etc before graduation), others are missionaries in other parts of the world trying to get more maternity experience. I wanted Stephanie to know I was not like that--my only experience was teaching childbirth classes!

Well, there were three moms laboring, and then very quickly 2 of the mothers started to push at about the same time. I was watching a mom give birth to her baby who had very thick meconium when the BOW broke. Stephanie told me that she would need me to hand her certain tools as the baby is born and she would also need me to turn on the suctioning machine if I asked her too. As soon as the baby's head was born, I turned on the suctioning machine and then there was just this very crazy flurry in room. Stephanie asked me to run to go get another student midwife who was upstairs in class for help. The other mom began to push, so one of the midwives in our room had to go assist that mom. That left me and Stephanie and another midwife assisting with this obvious emergency. So, Stephanie told me I would need to do the charting. (I now see that during the birth, there is a supervising midwife, an assisting midwife, and another midwife charting). So, I VERY QUICKLY learned to chart that evening, writing down everything that happened during the birth and everything that Stephanie told me to write.

The baby was having a hard time breathing, so oxygen was given. Apgars were 6 (not very high). The poor little baby boy had a deformity on his left leg. From about the knee down his leg was very floppy, almost as if there was no bone in that area. I could see the sadness in the mother and fathers eyes. I cannot imagine what that was like for them to face. The baby would do, okay, as long as oxygen was being administered, but if it was taken away he would not breath well. Stephanie explained to the husband that he would need to take his baby to the hospital with one of the midwives because the baby was not breathing well. Bethany, one of the other midwives who came from class upstairs volunteered to go on the transport. After the mom was cleaned up everyone left the room for a minute and it was just the two of us in the room. I offered her some water to drink and asked her how she was doing. Then, I asked if I could pray for her baby. She said, "please". So I prayed her baby would be strong and start to breath well. Afterwards I saw the mom fighting back her tears really hard.

I still don't know how the baby is doing. The baby was admitted to the hospital for difficulty breathing and he also had a lot of crackling in his lungs from the meconium. I will let you know as soon as I find out.

Soon after I left the room, I saw another birth of a mom who was having a lot of back pain with her labor and hard time pushing. She did a wonderful job and pushed out a 9lb 4oz baby boy! There was some meconium, but the baby was not having trouble breathing. I charted this birth as well.

Behind the other curtain, I went to say congrats to the young mom who had just given birth to her first baby! I had watched her during labor a little. She hung on every word any midwife would tell her. I have noticed mostly in this culture the women are pretty independent and do not want "help" during labor, they want to be left alone. This woman really appreciated guidance with breathing and I could tell she was scared about the pain of labor. Her baby girl was so healthy and the mom was so happy! Here are pictures below of this mom and her baby. One of the daddy and midwife giving her baby a bath, and the one at the very top is of the mom holding her baby.

After everything calmed down again, Stephanie told me and laughed that I came "only to observe". She said God had other plans for me there that evening, and now I have a new skill....charting!

Day 1...Busy Day!!

The pictures you see above and below are of me in the clinic yesterday evening after being awake for 36 hours! I got to "babysit" one of the newborns whose mommy had to be transported due to a 4th degree tear. It was hard to get a good picture of his precious face because he kept turning toward me wanting to nurse! He is a very beautiful boy and I believe his mother is doing fine.


The first thing I did this morning after talking with Pete on Google Talk was go over and observe prenatals. This is a picture of one of the midwifery students, Holli, doing a prenatal on a very sweet mother who was pregnant with her 6th baby! She really wants a girl because she has 1 girl and 4 boys. She is 31 weeks today. After the prenatal exam, we pray with each mother.

After prenatals, Jennel, one of the midwifery students from Lyberia, Africa, took me all around Davao. She's an MK (missionary kid) and so even though she is American, so grew up in Africa, and it was fun talking with her about how I thought the driving in Davao is absolutely crazy. What a cultural experience my outing was!! We rode a jeepney to the mall which is a van with an open back you climb into. It's simply just how everyone gets around here in the city. They are just like taxis, but they are jeepneys. We went to the mall you see on your left and it was air conditioned!! I loved being in there simply for the AC! Then we walked from the mall to some other shops wear tourists frequent. Everything here is SUPER cheap. If you want me to get you anything please email me! They have genuine pearls here for like $3 for a bracelet or $5 for a necklace. The pollution from the cars is really bad here. Most people walk around with a handkerchief covering their mouths while they are in traffic.

After my outing around Davao, I came back and had lunch with Naomi and Chad and she talked to me about what being in the program at New Life is like from a mother's perspective. Then I went and shadowed at the clinic during swing shift from 2-6. We had 3 births back to back! I'll write more about that experience tomorrow. It's 8pm here and I'm still catching up with sleep so I'm off to bed! Hope you are well wherever you are!

I made it!

After traveling for a total of about 36 hours (inlcuding layovers), and sleeping for about 4 of those hours, I made it to Davao City, Philippines! I'm thrilled to be here and excited to see what God will show me while I'm here. During an 11 hour layover in Los Angeles, Lisa Racek picked me up at the airport and invited several dear friends over for lunch and prayed for me and my trip. I took a little nap at her house, a shower, had dinner with her family and then she brought me to the international terminal at LAX. I felt so nervous as I entered that airport, by myself and not knowing the slightest about international traveling. Upon entering, I already felt like I was in a different country, hearing English seldom spoken. I made my way through checking in and security, and waited for my flight for about 2hours. I talked with a girl, Karen, who is from Manila and visits her family once a year in the states. She was going home. She spoke great English and I have recently learned that everyone in the Philippines takes English from K-12. So I haven't met a Filipino/Filipina yet that does not speak at least a little English. That is nice, since I know little of the native language. Karen taught me a few phrases, like "hello", "how are you", "how old are you", "what is your name". I learned also there are over 50 dialects used in the Philippines, so not everyone here speaks the same exact language. When I got onto the airplane, it smelled strongly of curry. They served chicken curry for dinner, and curried rice, eggs, and fish for breakfast. I didn't eat much breakfest, fish wasn't quite my idea of breakfast. :-) So, I had some snacks I had packed. On my flight over here I was seated beside the flight attendents' kitchen. This didn't make for very good sleeping. Even after taking 2 benadryll to try and knock myself out, I slept 4 or 5 hours of very interupted sleeping. I got onto the plane at 10:30pm PCT and we arrived in Manila at 5:30am Philippines time. It was 16 hours of traveling and it was dark the ENTIRE time! Very weird, I must admit! We stopped in Guam briefly for refueling the airplane. But I didn't see any of Guam because it was dark. Evidently the flight back will be light the entire time.

When I got off of the plane in Manila I prayed to run into an American to tag along with through immigration and customs. Karen wasn't transferring flights like I was to Davao, so I said good-bye to her. I ran into a guy (now i can't remember his name) who was also visiting the Philippines for the first time from Michigan. He was nice and we tried to figure everything out together. Getting off in Manila to me was like stepping back in time to the early 90's. At the tranfer desk, several people were using typewriters, there was a letter tray and lots of things were done by paper. There was a couple computer too, of course, just not quite like LAX! :-) Everyone was very helpful at the airport. "Matt" (I'll call the guy b/c i don't know his name) and I ran into each other while in line to pay an airport exit fee. It was 200 pesos, and guess what? At the time I had 0 pesos to my name and couldn't find a place to change my money over to pesos. So, offered to pay my fee for me. Very nice of him, but they actually ended up accepted american dollars, so it was only $5. I arrived to wait for my flight to Davao at 6:30am and my flight didn't leave till 10:30am. I changed my clothes in the bathroom, bought some bottled water, and sat and waited. I was very, very tired. Not to emphasize exhaustion, but I have never felt so tired in my entire life. I started feeling a little disoriented and shakey. Then i thought maybe I should eat something, I wasn't hungry though. That helped a lot. My whole body was thrown off b/c it was supposed to be night time in Charlotte but instead it was about 7am in Manila. I layed down on the bench to try and nap while Matt watched my stuff. I just tried to sleep with my purse and important belongings attached to me. I couldn't sleep. But lying down was very welcomed since I had sat up for 16 hours straight. I was sitting there praying that God would provide another person to "tag along" with during my flight to davao and several minutes later, a guy in cowboy boots sat down across from me. He was from Alabama...with a very THICK accent! It was kind of nice to hear sitting in Manila. :-) It turns out, he knows some people from Mercy Maternity Center. He lived in Davao for 13 years as a missionary with Faith Baptist Church. He was coming back to visit his wife and two girls who were having trouble with their visas getting back to the states. He was a very interesting guy to talk to and spoke very highly of Davao and great a place it was to live. His parents were also missionaries in Davao and he told me that for over 5 or 6 years their entire family lived in Davao. He went to college and seminary in Davao as well.

I saw a beautiful country flying from Manila to Davao. Palm trees and mountains everywhere...ocean on both sides. Crystal clear water. I saw some of the remains of the typhoon, some flooded areas. Leaving the airport was easy. I got my luggage and went outside to meet Laura and Carmen who brough me back to the "Orange House" where I am staying. It is a VERY nice house. Very big, lots of rooms. No air conditioning. So, i'm getting used to sweating 24/7. But I'm very happy to experience all of the highs and lows of being in Davao.

On my way over to the house I saw what I thought were rows of shacks that were falling apart, but then realized they were stores open for business. One was even a bar/restaurant, I believe. I can tell I'm in a poor country. Oh, but the Filipinas I have met so far are some of the warmest people I have met. Every girl here at Mercy is so full of love and wanting to help me feel comfortable during my stay.

I had lunch with Naomi and Chad who have 2 boys. We had chicken curry that was cooked by their helpers (they have live-in Filipina helpers that cook and clean for them as well as watch the kids as needed). Labor is very in expensive here and while in the program at New Life, help is very much needed. Naomi told me if we move here we will also need help with cooking/ cleaning because the program is so intense in addition to being a mother and wife. But how AMAZING it would be to not cook meals and clean!! Wow! Lunch was the most amazing chicken curry ever. Delicious. Then, I went over to Mercy Maternity clinic next door and watched a mother give birth to a 9+lbs baby boy! I was so happy she had a healthy boy. It seemed to me that he got stuck a little on his way out. His head came out and then the midwife had to pull on him a little and he wasn't coming out. And she said "this is a big baby!" and he certainly was! The mom did great and was thrilled! The father didn't stop smiling from ear to ear the entire time. What a sweet family. I told the mom I have 2 girls and I thought she did a great job, very hard work. She smiled and said "thank you" and told me she also has 2 girls and a boy, so this was her 4th baby!

I'm going to go now to shower and get dressed to go over to the clinic for prenatals. It's funny how it's not even 8am and I am drenched in sweat while I sit here to type. Below are some pictures I took while sitting on the upstairs porch this morning. There were 3 little girls dressed in uniforms walking to school, but somehow I only got one in the picture. And there is what looks like a green school bus being fixed in another picture. I miss and love you all! Especially my husband and girls!

Avery's Haircut

I got brave and cut Avery and Kyla's hair the other day. Pete and I think that it turned out pretty good. Plus it saved us about $30!!

Avery sings, "Jesus Loves Me" to her baby doll

The other night was absolutely priceless. Avery spend about 30 minutes or more going back and forth from singing her baby doll to sleep, then picking her up, fixing her diaper, and then putting her back to bed again. She did this routine over and over and so I just had to capture it on video. Her voice sounds a little muffled on the video, but it's still really sweet.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Avery!!

We had a simple little birthday party for Avery on Saturday, July 5th to celebrate Avery turning 2 years old! The kids devoured watermelon and carrot cake cookies while Avery had a tasty egg-free birthday cake/muffin. It tasted more like a muffin to me, but she enjoyed it thoroughly nonetheless and that's all that matters, right?!


Sweet smile

Yummy "momermelon" (as avery says:-)

Lighting candles...

Avery didn't like me sticking candles in her cake and did not want to blow them out!

So, Kyla happily blew them instead!