Week Two

Hey everyone! It feels like it's been years since I last wrote and since I was last in the states! This coming wednesday night it will have only been two weeks! Since my last post I have moved (on monday) into the Paanakan (birthing home) and I am still adjusting to living with so many people! I have learned so much since moving in there. The Filipino midwives and their families are so welcoming and sweet! I have absolutely loved working with them on births and getting to know them and their children! One night I came home from spending the afternoon in the children's home and thought I would go take a shower (having had a snack for dinner) when one of the midwives came down stairs and asked me to join them for rice and grilled pork! Yum! Instead of going to bed I got to hang out with these beautiful families as they shared their food with me! These Filipino families are always sharing everything they have and are very open and welcoming! On tuesdays we all get together and eat lunch on the porch, the food this past thursday was especially masarap (delicious)!


This is Deborah (Jeri's daughter) who does a lot of work involving the Children's home, and her new daughter (in the process of being adopted) Bernadette
In the birthing home I live in the basement in a bunk bed (just like home) with Kim (a canadian nursing student studying midwifery here) and Lauren (an American midwifery student) and whichever midwife happens to be sleeping down there at the time. Here is my bed and our bathroom:

Lauren and Kim (and the baby/pelvis we are learning with)

My day is filled with doing prenatals (measuring the baby, feeling for the position, and taking the heart rate), observing births (taking notes, heart rates, and helping any way I can), and reading midwifery books! Somehow Lauren, Kim and I try to fit in errands and visits to the children's home. I have absolutely loved being apart of the six births I have observed! The women are so hard working and so strong! They have taught me so much. For four out of the six births I have been blessed by being the person who gets to clean up and dress the baby! And I get to hold him/her while the mom is getting cleaned up! It is so wonderful to be able to spend a few precious moments with these sweet little ones when they are so new and fresh! Earlier this week Jeri brought over one of the dopplers! (we are starting out with one so that we can make them last longer!) Here is one of the old dopplers compared with the new one:
And here are some pictures of what morning prenatals look like! I loved being able to get some shots of the midwives using the new doppler:




The birthing home is such a community and has a really home-like atmosphere. These are two of the midwives' daughters


common area



birthing room

front yard


Being here in the Philippines, I know that everyday I become more and more comfortable and at home in the birthing home and that I am accepted more and more by the women, their sweet families and the midwives (and the midwives' families)! I love making friends with their sweet children (or at least trying to). I love it when they call me Ate (Tagalog for big sister). Everyday I learn more and more about how to comfort and help women in labor. I'm always striving to do more for her, to be there as a support. She (the woman in labor) is my absolute focus. She is why I'm here, she is the object of all my attention and love and she deserves every ounce of my energy. She is gorgeous and strong and comes through the most difficult experience of her life with victory and joy and I am blessed to be present! She teaches me how to go on, how to push harder than I think is even possible. She teaches me because she is loving and hopeful even when she is in the worst pain of her life! She is brave and overcomes despite her overwhelming fear and opposition. Somehow she always makes it through, no matter what happens, no matter how hard it is, she makes it. A woman in labor is the very best teacher I can ever have!

That's all for now! Hope to talk to you all soon!