Baby update

Josiah has been settling into his new and chaotic large family culture.



Being the most popular dude, he has had to transfer from total solitude to the epitome of popularity.



At some moments he seems to be quite startled at his new environment....



But after some hard thinking...



I think he will learn to love it.

Picture of the Week #2

Babies born in one 8-hour shift.

Boring Shift = IVs!

During our shift the other night, only one woman came into the clinic, and she had to be transported to the hospital less than an hour after arriving. So, the rest of the shift was quiet and slightly boring, but we managed to make it interesting by practicing IVs. The following story and pictures are taken from Tiffany's blog . (She's one of the students who has been here for a year already, and in the pictures she is the one wearing the pink scrubs.)

With six babies over the past 6 shifts, I was ready for our dead swing shift on Friday. I was working with Carmen, Holly and Jordan, along with Ate Steph, who spent most of the afternoon hanging out with the other Filipinas upstairs. This left the four of us to entertain ourselves...

...Ate Steph was completing another baby check of mine. The mother showed us her sons mouth, and we realized that the back of his throat was not completely patent (open). It's like he was swallowing from a straw. No wonder she said he was vomiting a lot, and having a hard time breathing. So sad. So we wrote a referral, and she went straight to the hospital. When Carmen and Jordan were on a transport later in the evening, they saw her, and her son was already admitted. She told Carmen that the doctors would do surgery as soon as he was strong enough, so that made me happy. I'm also going to go visit her soon too, and keep in contact. I'm just so glad she realized it...I guess mom's have that instinct and know their babies! Good thing. :)

The rest of the night was pretty uneventful, after Carmen's transport at least. The woman came in with a blood pressure of 130/90, and it steadily climbed to 160/120 over the next 40 or so minutes. Yikes. By the time she got to the hospital she was fully dilated, and Carmen thought she was going to catch the baby in the ER. Thankfully, she was able to breath and resisted the urge to push.

After Carmen and Jordan came back from the hospital, the four of us just sat on the couches talking. I asked Carmen if I could try an IV on her, and she was willing! Sweet. So I pulled out my equipment, and quickly failed. It squirted blood everyone, and I screamed, causing the new students to laugh and I'm sure they thought I was a lunatic. Then Carmen inserted a smaller needle into my foot, which we later found out increase the risk of an air embolism. I was quite thankful to wake up this morning :)



Then I asked Jordan if I could try one on her, and she surprising said 'Yes'.



She's a quick fainter, so we were all surprised.



Needless to say, I failed again, and after I pulled it out, she proceeded to pass out about a minute later. Only, it was freaky, because she didn't just pass out...she seized! Her body went completely stiff, and we thought she was having a seizure. She pulled out of it about a minute later, and remembered nothing, of course. It was quite the experience. I was shaking after, but we were all able to laugh. Poor Jordan...she felt so bad! I should be the one feeling bad...I poked her! Oh well..now we all know for next time!

Now, I did not think I would pass out this time, otherwise, I would not have let Tiffany stick me with that needle. However, I was wrong. On the bright side, no one wants to practice IVs on me anymore...they're all too scared. :)

Picture of the Week (#1)

#12?

Yes, he is number twelve and his name is Josiah Bartlett.



They left for the hospital at 1:00 Tuesday morning and didn't return until 6:30 AM. By then, the other siblings were up and were wondering where Mom and Dad were. When they were told where they were, the younger ones pranced around the house yelling, "Mommy is going to have a baby!" Instantly, an argument arose as to whether it was a boy or a girl. Some were so adamantly convinced they were right, that even when Mom and Dad brought the baby home, they refused to believe otherwise. With all the excitement and hubbub you would think it was some new and exciting adventure of having a baby in the house. A new baby in the house has never been really new around here. This was certainly not the first time Mom and Dad had brought home a baby. Still the excitement is new every time.



Whenever someone asks me how many siblings are in my family, finding the answer is like solving a mathematical problem that you thought you had figured out, but whose answer keeps changing. The answer never stays the same.

This time, I can say with confidence that I have eleven siblings, and that number twelve is certainly the cutest.

Grasping for Words

Yesterday, the Philippino staff from Mercy Maternity took all the new students to see some sites around Davao, sampling Philippino food along the way. It was an amazing time to get to know the people who will be teaching us.

The woman in blue is Ate Susan, one of my supervisors. She has a great sense of humor--I think I'm going to love working with her.




They fed us durian, the stinkiest fruit I've ever eaten. It tastes like rotten banana pudding with garlic.



They also fed us balut (a duck egg that has been incubated for 16-21 days). It wasn't too bad...as long as you can get past the feathers. Definitely better than durian.



They took us to a place in the city where we will be doing home visits. This was more sobering. The houses are built on stilts and are packed together. There is a layer of sewage and garbage underneath all them. How do I describe the poverty, sadness, stench, and despair of the poor in this country?



How do I explain how excited a pastor can be about his new church ...and the church is one room with no chairs . . . but the pastor doesn't mind because he's too excited about the baptism they just had and how the Lord is working in their church?



How do I describe moms trying to deliver their baby in a one room home which has 10 or more other people living in it and has holes in the walls?



And how do I describe having 50 kids surrounding you...all of them basically living in sewage...who think the greatest thing in the world is for you to take their picture so they can see themselves on the screen of your camera?







It all leaves me grasping for words...

Orientation

Orientation has been amazing. Gary and Lynn (the couple who are running orientation) have used this week to help all of the students get to know each other. They’ve shown us some of the sights in Oregon (Isaac, they showed us some historical sights on Roosevelt…you would have loved it) and have been available to answer any questions we might have (and believe me…we have hundreds of questions :) .

All students at orientation and the couple who will be flying with us to Davao.




On Sunday, we went to Newlife’s home church, introduced ourselves, talked about why we wanted to attend Newlife, and prayed with the church body. Definitely a blessing.



Yesterday, Gary gave us a talk on working with the poor. Of what he said this really touched my heart:"Don't go to serve the poor, their needs are infinite and their burdens are too heavy for you to bear. If you go to serve the poor you will burn out. Go instead to serve Christ. His compassion never returns to Him empty. He renews those who wait on Him, gives them purpose, and joy."

So, we fly out tomorrow and arrive in Davao on Friday. Please pray that we have safe flights and that we all make it through customs without any problems.
Love you all.