Short holiday to Sagada

A few pictures in no particular order of my short trip to Sagada. Enjoy :0)

Ready to Travel 

Clover is happy to be going :)

Clover gets a help across the suspension bridge 

Intrigued by the pigs 

Dinner time

Clover & Jojo riding top load for the first time... they got sick

Top load is a favored way to travel here

we enjoyed lots of yummy food while away 

Prince Jojo

The sign before entering the caves 

Shadow people

The cold, clear cave water

Cold, but oh so fun

Inside the cave was very beautiful! 

Really, really FUN!

"Family" Christmas photo with the restaurants son

Clover traveled best on our laps so that we could absorb the bumps for her

Winding, bumpy, curvy road

:0)

Hey, we're hungry!

Sweet little boy

Clover & Aisling

Clover enjoying the pretty waterfall 

Hanging caskets - yes that is a human skull on top of the one 

Caskets in a cave - some over 400 years old

Sagada 

I feel horrible from riding on top :( 

Lots of beautiful flowers

Very beautiful views on the drive 

Almost home :) 

Three boys & a carabao

Oh look we're getting our picture taken. 

Mr. carabao does not want to pose for a photo.
Three boys, falling off.

Let's not take a chance if he is angry. 

Three little boys, their carabao in a rice field :)
Can't get anymore Filipino then this 

All kinds of everything.

I am going to attempt to add a new feature to my blog. All kinds of everything. I am starting this off with Dr. Wong's Sulfur soap. Germicide - Fungicide - Parasiticide.

For pimples & other skin infections. Prevents scabies. Aids in healing cuts & sores, relieves skin itchiness and treats dandruff caused by fungi. Whats not to love? 

Thankful Thursday

Today on this Thanksgiving day, I am thankful for many things.

I am thankful for a package I received from my mom.

The letter from my niece Etta.

The sweet Christmas wall handing from my Grandmother.

I am thankful for the lovely sunset.

For Clover's happy bouncing down the road.

I am thankful for my home country, which I love.

I am thankful for being able to live here in the Philippines.

For the training I am getting & the new friends I am making.

I am thankful for a solid future in Christ.

For His love, care & grace.

I am thankful for all the many blessings He has lavished on me.

I am thankful that He loves me.

I am thankful for the many wonderful friends He has given me.

I am thankful for my family.

And God bless you! 

One year of baby catching

One year ago today I caught (with lots of help) my first baby

That day I feel in love with being a midwife. 

Yesterday I caught baby number forty.

I am so thankful that God lead me to be a midwife. I truly love it! 
I am thankful for the wonderful training I am receiving here at Abundant Grace or God. 

Praise God for 40 babies and counting :)
I am excited to see what the future holds.  

Thank you everyone who has walked along side of me in this journey.                 I am grateful. 

I got a visit from little Cayleen Ruth, her mom & big brother yesterday. It was lovely to see my very first catch a year later and she is such a cutie!!

Being Glad

There is always something to be glad about. I know this and have known this, yet, it was brought to my mind again when I picked up the book, Pollyanna, by Eleanor H. Porter. 

Pollyanna's philosophy of life centers on a game her father taught her called "The Glad Game". The game consists of discovering a silver lining in the darkest of clouds, something in everything to be glad about. Pollyanna's cheery optimistic attitude of being glad brightens the lives and the hearts of her new town. I find this to be a wonderful attitude to have and I don't know about you, but I might have to start playing the glad game myself :) 

“Just breathing isn't living!” ~ Pollyanna 

“What men and women need is encouragement. Their natural resisting powers should be strengthened, not weakened…. Instead of always harping on a man’s faults, tell him of his virtues. Try to pull him out of his rut of bad habits. Hold up to him his better self, his REAL self that can dare and do and win out! … The influence of a beautiful, helpful, hopeful character is contagious, and may revolutionize a whole town…. People radiate what is in their minds and in their hearts. If a man feels kindly and obliging, his neighbors will feel that way, too, before long. But if he scolds and scowls and criticizes—his neighbors will return scowl for scowl, and add interest! … When you look for the bad, expecting it, you will get it. When you know you will find the good—you will get that…” ~ Pollyanna 

Two baby boys

 I had the honor of catching two baby boys in just over 10hrs of each other.

Meet Ryan Kyle in my right arm and John Rick in my left arm

John Rick was born at 8:40pm on Nov 14th after this mom only pushed for 19 minutes!

He weighted 3.05kg & was born in the cull 

His mom & dad where very excited to become parents! 

Ryan Kyle was born to my continuity patient at 6:45am on Nov 15th, his 16yr old mom only pushed for 15min!

He weighted 3.2kg and was born in the cull too, which is not very common

His mom & dad were very excited to become parents too :)

It was such a joy to walk with this young woman through her pregnancy, birth and now postpartum.

Thankful Thursday

About two weeks ago I started the dreaded Algebra class. I have been dreading this class since I knew I would have to take it. I even tried to find a college level class I could take that did not involve Algebra, to no avail. Defeated I prepared myself to take it, by trying to think about it as little as possible.

I struggled with math growing up (just ask my mom). I gained a little confidence when I got a 4.0 in a pre-algebra class in college, but that was 10 years ago... With dread I started Algebra and it proved to be dreadful and I felt myself sinking and sinking into the pits of Algebra fear with every attempt to master each problem.

The thing is I MUST pass this class. It is not an option. Until tonight I was starting to wonder if my brain was going to fail me or not. I prayed, I asked for help and then I opened up the Algebra Survival guide by mother sent with me (why I didn't open it sooner, I'll never know). After two hours with my nose in this book, I think there is hope, hope that yes, I can pass this class and for that I am THANKFUL!

 p.s. Dare I mention that it proved to be a teeny tiny bit fun? 

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for some lovely fall leaves my mom mailed to me. Every morning I wake up and look at them on my wall. They bring back lovely memories of crisp fall days, apple cider, puffy clouds, wood smoke, & the list goes on.

Thanks mom for sending me leaves every year. I love them!

The maple reminds me of the big tree in our front yard. My mom & I had a picture taken by it together for the first 20 or so years of my life 

The Sumac leaf always reminds me of long fall horse back rides 

Each leaf brings back a different memory & the hope of new memories to come 

I LOVE the smell of fall leaves! <3 <3 

On being tall

I am not entirely sure what started my thinking, but I have the itch to cut my hair short, really short. This lead me to google “tall women and shot hair”, just to see if I would look good. Turns out there are lots of differing views on the topic. While I was browsing, I ran into websites dedicated to tall women, yep that’s right support groups for us overly tall ladies (a tall blog for your enjoyment:
thetallblog.wordpress.com ). I enjoyed readying through the different sites about how beautiful being a tall woman is. It made me feel nice :) Then I decided to write a blog about my own story of tallness.

For those of you who don’t know I have always been tall, there was no amazing grow spurt. Here is a picture to prove it :) 

These are my cousins, us in blue are the same age

Is my family tall? 
yep. 

Am I the tallest in my immediate family? 
sure am. 

Am I dutch? 
no, there is not a lick of dutch in my family tree.

Do/did you play basketball? 
No, never, nor did I ever want to - please stop with the basketball questions 

Do you like being tall?
Yes I do. 

A few things I love about being tall:
I love being able to see over a crowed of people. 
I love being able to reach things easily. 
I like my long curves. 
I like people telling me I should be a model (even if I don’t completely believe I could be). 
I like being told that only tall women can ever really be stunning (even if I don’t feel like I am stunning). 

Somethings I don’t like so much about being tall:
I’m an introvert, I do not like being noticed where ever I go. Ok, sometime I do, but I wish there was a switch so the 90% of the time I don’t want to be noticed I wouldn’t be.
I don’t like the stares and finger pointing, at all. 
I do not like the exclaim “wow, you are so tall!” no really? I hadn’t noticed, thanks for pointing that out to me. 
I don’t like to be told to be proud of my height and stand tall - really, I don’t remember ever trying to be smaller, ever. 
I don’t like being taller than what seems to be 90% of men. Yep, I said.  It stinks. 

Really I don’t mind being tall through I would rather be more in the middle, like say 5’10. But if I had to be an extreme I would rather be tall than short. 

Being tall is harder in Asia. I am seriously more then a head taller then most everyone. I feel weird. I miss being around tall people and not standing out 100% of the time. I don’t like feeling like a giant, through I am learning to embrace it. I don’t like the comments, the points, the stares... like I said I am a introvert. 

Me in public transportation here in the Philippines - I just don't fit 

Giant

Where is God in all this? I think every person that is different in some way has asked God why at least a few times. I sure have. He gave me an answer a long time ago. Really. God told me that He knew I would get lost in a crowed and that He made me to stand out, so He gave me my height to ensure I do.  There have been times I have not liked God so much for this “gift”, because I really don’t like being noticed. But, I have learned that it isn’t about me and through my height God allows me to talk to people I never would or rather people to talk to me who never would just because I am tall.  I have opportunities to share His love by just being tall, now that is pretty cool. 

My tall family (most of the short people have married in :) 

Through being tall I have learned to except people for who they are, because I want to be excepted for who I am. I have learned that despite what I might think or believe, the truth is God made me this way, He is happy with the results and I should be too. I am beautiful, made in the imagine of my Creator and I learned this in my struggle to embrace standing out in a way that I can’t ever change.

So for anyone who wanted to know, yes, I like being tall :)

I felt like her mother as I held her hand and stroked her hair as she lay on the birthing chair at the public hospital. It was about 3pm in the afternoon and she had been laboring at Abundant with me since 3am. This 17 year old girl was very strong and she tried really hard. Unfortunately once she got to 9cm her cervix would not finish dilating. I had been her midwife since April and had developed a special relationship with her. I wanted her to have such a great birth and I was excited to place her first baby on her belly.

I have found as a midwife there is always room for second guessing, it is hard to know how long to try and when to transport. After trial pushing, waiting and trying to push again, I told her that I was worried she was getting too tried and that if she wanted she could wait a little longer or we could go to the hospital now. She had tears in her eyes, but after a little while, she decided she would like to go to the hospital. I held up her IV as we drove there, she closed her eyes and tried to sleep. I wondered if there was something I could have or should have done differently. 

At the hospital they do not allow families into the delivery room. The midwifes there stated my patient was their 6th birth of the day and one of those had been a set of twins. After helping her into the birthing chair we waited for the doctor to arrive. As we were waiting a women beside us gave birth to her baby. I could feel my patient's heaviness, this was the second baby that had given birth while she was laboring. After the doctor arrived they helped her try and push a few times, but soon decided that she needed a c-section (I am still not entirely sure why). 

Taking ahold of my hand she said,"I'm scared, what if I die." What do you say, how do respond? "You won't. Pray to God, I know that He will care for you." I replied. Tears swelled behind my eyes, "I'm a professional, I can't cry" I thought to myself. I stood there stroking her hair and holding her hand until they were ready to transport her to the surgery. I hated to go, but I knew they wouldn't let me in with her. Promising to return the next day, I prayed for her, squeezed her hand and left.

Back up to 7am in the morning, my cell phone goes off, "Ma'am, I am on my way. I am in labor". It's my other patient. "Oh, goodness, I knew this was going to happen" I think to myself as I go make the other bed. Soon this patient arrives and she looks like she is quite active. This is baby number two for her and they normally come faster. I check and find her cervix is 5cm with strong contractions, hum, who will deliver first? 

With the help of the other midwives, I manage to juggle both laboring women. Soon it becomes obvious that the mother to arrive second is going to deliver first. Her urge to push is strong and she can't help but push & soon the baby's head is visible. She pushes on the birth stool with me squatting in front of her, when baby is born into my hands. He does not cry right away. We work on stimulating him and give a few breaths of air before he starts crying. In the mean time the mother starts to bleed and requires oxytocin. Before too long mom and baby are happily snuggled up together, baby's breathing is still a bit irregular, but they will both be OK. After doing a few checks, my other patient is sounding more active and I head over to be with her. 

Fast forward. I am leaving the hospital, my eyes are heavy since I was up at 1am to assist for a birth and then up again at 3am when my patient came in. Arriving back to the clinic I poke my head into the postpartum room where I find patient #2 sitting on the bed with her baby, husband & little 3 year old girl. They all look up and smile at me, it warms my heart. I hustle up stairs and quickly make a cup of instant coffee mixed with milo, I sit down and drink it. This coffee will get me through discharge. 

I hustle back down stairs and with the help of the other student, Aisling, we give the baby a bath (He proceeds to poop all over Aisling's arms ;), take a last set of vital signs, fill out the birth certificate information and schedule postpartum appointments. I decide to wait on pictures because I can barely keep my eyes open and am, lets just say not looking my best. 

At about 6:30pm, I am sitting in the postpartum room, my patient had just left with her new little bundle of joy. It always makes me happy to watch a family leave with their new baby, such a special time. Laying my head back against the wall, I am so, so tired, yet so satisfied. I look down at the bed and consider laying down and closing my eyes for just a moment. But I laugh at myself, because I know if I lay down that is where I would be found the next day. So I got my butt up and finished my work. An hour later after dinner and a shower I am in bed and quickly slip off to dream land. 

I did go see my patient who had a c-section today. Mom is tried, but ok and baby is beautiful. Unfortunately I was unable to get a photo.

Funny little story

I am not sure that I should admit this, but last year I had a bald spot on the top of my head! Yikes! Why you ask. Well, one day I got a lovely boil on the top of my head (yuck). A week or so later ALL the hair fell out in that spot, clean, clear, shinny smooth no more hair. And then days went by, weeks went by, I think even months went by and no hair started to grow. I had to do comb overs or you would see my bald spot. I began to worry. What if hair never, ever, grew back in that spot? Would I have to worry about keeping it covered up for the rest of my life? To my relief one day as I was checking it out in the mirror there was a tiny itty bitty amount of hair growing. Whew. As you will see in the picture below a year later and it is not quite grown out just yet. 

Bald!!!

YAY it grew back! Seems to be curly now :0/ If I am not careful it sticks straight up on the top of my head!
Oh the joy ;) 

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for catching another lovely baby at 11:02am. Little Jashmine slipped into my hands after her mother gently and slowly pushed her into this world. It was beautiful! I don't think I will ever tire of watching a woman become a mother for the very first time :)