Home For Christmas

#date/2007-12-14/19:16:06

Hey all! I am home in Oregon for Christmas! I arrived 4 days ago and have been having a ton of fun. This was actually a surprise visit home. I didn't tell my mother about it so she was very shocked when she saw me. This is a video of my mother's surprise! Enjoy

Davao Street Vendors

I thought it would be fun to expose you to some Davao culture through the local street vendors. I made a slideshow but was unable to post it on the blog. You can look at in on my myspace. Here is the adress. Enjoy!

http://www.myspace.com/midwifejonna

Jean and Donna

Today I went to immigration to extend my visa. Sadly immigration was closed because today is a holiday, Bonafacio Day. Jean was there, she works as a security guard at immigration. I delivered Jean's 3rd baby in November 2003. I enjoy seeing Jean every couple of months when I am at immigration.

Since today is a holiday and nobody there was working, Jean had her daughter there with her. Today was the first time I have seen Donna since she was a week old. She just celebrated her 4th birthday! Jean is one of just a couple women that I have video footage of during the birth. Jean had not seen it since the birth so I went home and grabbed my computer and went back to immigration to show Jean and her daughter Donna the birth video.

It was really special watching the video with them, and for Donna to get to see what her mother looked like still pregnant with her, and to see herself as a baby. Jean was explaining the video to Donna. Jean laughed a lot and said she was ugly, I assured her she wasn't. These pictures here are images I took off the video footage of the birth. Jean was very sweet. I met her when she came into the clinic in labor and asked her if she would mind if I took video, she said no prob.

Donna is a very outgoing little girl. She wasn't afraid of me. She seemed very intrigued by me. This was very special for me to see her at 4 years old. It makes me think of all of the other little 4 yr olds running around that I caught and what they are like.

Baby Andrew

This last weekend I had a special guest! Baby Andrew from Living Stones Orphanage came and stayed with me for the night. I had a couple days off of work and thought it would be a fun thing to do. Last year having babies in the house was a more common thing to do. We had a baby named Moses stay in our house for almost his first month. He was born at Mercy and we kind of adopted him as our house babe.

Andrew is about 2 months old. Right now at living stones they have 3 little babies and 5 or 6 others that are around 1 yr, then there are some older kids that have been there since they were born. I chose Andrew cause he was the oldest of the smaller babies. I wanted to take a baby that could smile, and he definitely can! We left the orphanage and took a trip to Gaisano Mall to pick up some formula. As a foreigner her you get lots of attention but get used to it over time. When you as a foreigner are carrying around a little Filipino baby you are recognized even more. Then to have people think he is mine and I have a Filipino husband.

It's kind of interesting. We survived the trip to the mall with flying colors. Andrew is a very good baby. At home he slept most the afternoon and evening. I was ready to be up all night with him since he had slept a big chunk of the evening, but he slept most of the night also. I made him a hammock over my bed out of a malong. A malong is a traditional bed sheet that is sewn into a tube. I tied it between the bars on the windows. It worked very well. Sunday afternoon I took him back to his home. Hopefully I will be able to see him again soon!

Pukie Walnut Brazilia Jojo

A little while back this beautiful baby girl was born at Mercy. Her mother lost a lot of blood at the birth and was transported to the hospital for a blood transfusion. Usually when a mother is transported after the birth the baby stays at the clinic and us midwives take care of the baby until a family member can come get him/her.This little girl was really upset. The only thing I could do to consul her was to let her suck on my finger, which she did very strongly for quite some time. We decided to give her a name while she was under our care.

We came up with Pukie Walnut Brazilia Jojo. Pukie was the nickname I originally came up with. Since she was a big baby we decided to give her a name of a big nut. That is where walnut and brazilia (Brazilian) came from. Then her midwife was named Josephine, and I am Jonna, so that is how she got her last name. One of our midwives who is lactating took Pukie home for the night, until her family came for her.

4 Ladies

I would like to introduce you to 4 amazing women who I help give birth this last month. To the left we have Len Len. She came into the clinic in labor with her second baby. After I checked her in I asked her what the name of her husband was cause I wanted to go get him. I couldn't understand what she said so I looked in her chart and to my surprise his name was Julius Cesar. I had to laugh, then walked out of he clinic and shouted for him. He was out by his jeepney. He is a jeepney driver. She did great and gave birth to a baby boy just as the sun was setting. Len's first baby was also a boy. They were so excited for him to finally be there. They named him Julian Cesar. While I was waiting for the placenta, I looked up and out the window I saw this older man standing on something out the window and peering in watching with a big grin on his face. I was shocked to see someone out the window that was at least 8 or 9 feet off the ground. I motioned for him to get down. Later I found out that the guy was the father of Julius, grandfather of Julian. He as standing on the Jeepney. I had to laugh when I found out the circumstance. I thought is was some wacko watching. Len has faithfully come to all of her baby checks thus far. Her last one will be in the second week of December.

One night shift not so long ago Jane came to the clinic looking as if she was definitely in labor. I took her in the birthroom to start checking her vital signs and do my initial evaluations of her. I could tell that she would deliver sooner then later but I was surprised upon checking her to find that she was ready to push her baby out. Not to long after that Jane gave birth to a baby girl which she named Jane Rose. This was Jane's first baby. She was accompanied to the clinic by her sister which had previously delivered at Mercy, so she was in the know of what to do. I say Jane just this last week for a baby checkup.
She told me that she was planning on moving to the province to live with her mother. She is a single mother. She was planning on leaving just after the baby checkup. This picture I took of her at that time with her adorable little girl.


This is my continuity Flor. I met her during a prenatal visit. She asked my if I could be her midwife. I said yes. I didn't know if Flor would be able to deliver at the clinic due to problems she had during her pregnancy. One morning when I was in church I got this text from Flor saying that she had water coming out and her baby was going to come very soon! I immediately left church and headed to the clinic. I was expecting to get there and have her be ready to deliver or already delivered. When I arrived at the clinic she was all smiles. Not really having contractions yet. But once her contractions started that came fast and were very effective. Flor ended up delivering a couple hours after arriving at the clinic. She delivered a beautiful little girl named sophia. As you can see from her picture, Flor is all smiles. She makes me laugh every time I see her. I think to myself, "Are you for real?" She is just so funny :)
A couple days after her birth she was hospitalized for high blood pressure. She spent 4 days in the hospital. The pictures here I took of her 3 weeks after her baby was born. If Shane and Staci read this, the head band sophia is wearing is the one you gave to me :)



This lady here is Lolita. I met Tata when I came to the clinic one morning on shift. She was already at the clinic in labor, so was 3 other women who were close to giving birth. She was in labor with her first baby. This shift was very memorable to me. All of the husbands were frantically yelling, "Nurse!! Nurse!!!" As if there wives was about to die, and since 1 was doing it they all started doing it. I do understand where they are coming from, they are scared and don't know what to do. So Tata's husband was yelling for a nurse. I was busy with another birth but popped my head in to see what was going on. Tata felt like she was ready to push, so I sat with her, and sure enough the baby was coming. And she came very quickly. Both Tata and her husband we both very excited to have her. They have been married for years and were ready to have a baby. This is a photo I took of Tata at her 3 week baby checkup. She is doing very well.

These days since I am in a teaching position I normally do not catch babies so when I do it is very special.

We have had to implement many changes to our clinic, specifically the birthroom due to the new regulations from the department of health. One of our new requirements is that we have multiple sets of curtins, and that we change them daily. We just had a new set made by a couple from the states who came to visit for a few weeks. This last week they were put up for the first time. When I came on shift I was taken off guard by how white the birthroom was. I poked my head into a room that a lady was delivering in. My initial thought was, "It looks like heaven!" It was just so white! Another change that has taken place is we now have a separate area of the clinic specifically for women to stay after they have given birth. It is an open area with 5 beds. I think it is kind of fun for the ladies. They get to visit afterwards. The downside is that there is no privacy. A while back while I was on a night shift us midwives overheard the 2 husbands of are postpartum patients talking about the births together. It was hilarious hearing them talking about it from their perspective. It was one of the guy's first time to accompany his wife at the birth. And it was his 4th child. It is not often to hear the men express what they feel or thought about the whole thing. They didn't know we were listening.
This last month (October) we had almost 130 births at the clinic! This month it looks like we are going to have just as many.

This is a picture of Bethany doing a 3 day baby checkup in the postpartum area.

Home visit to Ai's

I went and visited Ai 2x recently. I had not seen her since before I went home for a break this summer. They moved but luckily their old neighbors knew where they had moved to and pointed me in the right direction. When I saw their new baby Mark James sleeping in the hammock I was shocked by his size! He's huge!! Last time I saw him was right after he was born, he weighed just under 6 lbs. Ai's been breastfeeding him. JB is doing well also. He was sleeping while I was there so I didn't really get to interact with him. It was such a joy to get to interact with them. They said JB is not really understanding them and can't sit up. I am encouraged though by how much they love him. Please continue to pray with me for this family. For JB that God will restore him.

This is JB. His was born November 19 2 years ago!

Ofelia Delivered!

Early Sunday morning Ofelia delivered a perfect little boy. She did amazing! And luckily for me she came in when i was already working. After the birth She just glowed. Her first baby was a is a girl, so having a boy was a real treat for her. Her mother accompanied her for the birth. This morning she came back to the clinic for her first day baby check. She was doing really well. Her baby was also doing great. He is very alert for a newborn. I didn't realize how tall I am compared to filipinos untill I saw this picture (above) of Ofelia and me.

Food Give-away

A couple weeks ago the staff here at Mercy decided to put together a fund and buy food to give out at the clinic to out patients. We have done this before in the past. Last time at Christmas. The past couple weeks we have been under great warfare. The Department of Health have threatened to shut us down by not renewing our licsense. We have had to change many things about how the clinic is run to comply with what that are asking of us. Today the DOH came to our clinic for a final inspection and thank God they renewed our licsense! We are not out of the clear yet though. The investigating doctor has taken issue with us foreingers being here. There are still things that we need to comply with and figure out before we are out in the clear. To cut out the foreingers would shut down the clinic. Please be praying for us here and the ministry God has intrusted us too. Giving out food is part of the way we are fighting the battle. We want to glorify God and bless abundantely the women we serve. This week we are giving out a bag of food to each women who come in for a prenatal checkup. The bags include rice, beans, noodles, soy sauce, and sardines. We put together +350 bags to give out.

# 10

(this is a clue in an amazing race that we are holding in davao for our volunteers here)

Go down to the shoe Ukay-Ukay dual sa Gaisano mall. Find Ramil and buy a pair of shoes from him for p50 or less. He will give you your next clue after you purchase his shoes. The pair of shoes you buy will have to be worn by a team member at the end of the race.

be sure to buy your shoes from Ramil since he is the one who will have your next clue.

God's Blessings

Ofelia and her family are an extra special blessing from God. She is the sister of one of my former patients' Mildred. Mildred delivered at mercy at the end of 2006. I saw Mildred in the clinic a couple weeks ago. She was accompanying one of her friends in labor. God really used Mildred's birth to bless me. I have written about her before. Her mother prayed over me as I was delivering her grand baby. That was so powerful to be prayed over while delivering a baby. Since her birth their family has always been special to me. When I saw Mildred a couple weeks ago she asked me if her sister could have her baby here at Mercy. She was already late in her pregnancy and couldn't deliver at Mercy unless I decided to take her as my own patient. Well I did of course, and God has blessed the situation. Ofelia and her family have just moved back to Davao from Bohol. Well this last weekend when I was in the clinic with another one of my patients, I saw Ofelia's mother there. She was there with her grand daughter in labor. This was her first great grandchild to be born. So Mildred was also there. Her granddaughter had an amazing birth. Many prayers and tears. This birth made me even more excited to get to deliver Ofelia's baby. She is due at the end of September. I saw Ofelia for a prenatal this last wednesday. She was such a blessing. After I finished praying for her, she prayed for our clinic and for the Filipinos in Davao, that they would come to know Jesus and be touched when they come to Mercy. When we were finished praying be both opened our eyes and said thank you! Please pray for this special family.

Jackie

This is Jackie Lou. She just delivered her second baby Sept 2. Jackie is very special too me. I was her midwife with her first baby in March 2006. This last spring I also was her sister's midwife. I was excited when I found out that Jackie was pregnant again and planning to have her baby at Mercy. She came in at 1 in the morning and labored throughout the night and delivered baby Rey Aldrin and 10:49 this morning. She came back to the clinic today for her 1 day checkup. That is when I snapped this picture of the whole family. They are very happy to now have a daughter and a son.

This is a picture that I took of Jackie in March 2006 after her first baby.

Babies!

Hey there my friends!

I have a lot to say. I have been back in the Philippines for a little over a month and have dived right in. This little girl that I am holding in the pic is Sabina. She is a baby that I delivered this last february. Her father is a friend of mine. He brought her into the clinic for a visit. I had not seen her in 4 months. So I was pretty excited to see how beautiful she is. I don't often see babies that I deliver after they are 6 weeks old. So this was a real treat.

Right now at Mercy we have a bunch of intern midwives from the states here helping out over the summer months when we are short staffed due to students being gone. We have a lovely bunch here this summer. We are getting to the end of the intern season. On september 7th our new students will arrive. We have a class of 12 starting this September. I am really excited for this class. 9 of the girls are going to move in the student dorm. The other ones are married and are already settled here in Davao.

This is a picture of Inday when she came for her 3 week visit. She is doing great! Her baby Kian is growing just as he should. She has been a blessing to me the last couple weeks. Inday is a good mother.

Today I had another patient deliver. She had a wonderful birth. I also dleivered her first baby, so this delivery was extra special to have that connection. She had a little boy that they named Rey after his dad.

Life is hopping around here. Very busy in the birthing business. I am just so blessed to be here. God is teaching me so much. I am humbled that he would keep teaching me and changing me in the ways that he is.

Lechon!!!

My friend Lois and I were on our way to the post office today to pick up the clinic mail. On our way to the jeepney we ran into some of our neighbors roasting lechon (pig). They were roasting it alongside the street. It was quite the site. When they saw that I had a camera they got all excited and were calling out at us to take a picture. So of course I obliged them, and then on the way back home a took a few more.

I have been back in the Philippines for a little less than 2 weeks. It feels a lot long than that. I am blessed to be here and get to serve in the clinic again. This morning I had a prenatal clinic. We had 70 women show up for checkups.

Baby Christian Aya-ay!

Early this morning I got a text saying that my friend N-day was at the clinic in labor. I have known N-day from when I was here in 2003 as a student. I took responsibility of her care and was her midwife for her first baby. This last spring I found out she was pregnant again and decided that I would love to be her midwife again. The only problem was that she was due just around the time that I was planning on coming back to the Philippines. There was a big possibility that she would deliver before I got back. Luckily she waited for me to return. She arrived at the clinic at 5am in good labor. She delivered a little after 8am to a cute little boy. They were really excited, their first baby was a girl. Everything went smoothly. I was so blessed to be able to share this experience with her. What a cool way to jump back into life here! I found out after the birth that N-day and her partner had a wedding date today for 11am. Unfortunately they were not able to make it to their wedding, it made for good laughs though.
I am adjusting well to being back. Tomorrow night I officially jump into things with working the night shift.

I have completed my journey back to the Philippines. I got in last night around 7 in the evening after 45+ hours of traveling. It is great being back. So much has changed since I have been gone. New house, new roomie, the clinic is rearranged, and some of the girls have moved on, aka graduated. I woke up this morning at 4am which is to be expected with jet lag. Today my goal is to unpack and try to find places to put all my stuff. I am pretty intimidated by the task at hand. I start work in the clinic on the 8th. That gives me a couple of days to get situated. I want to thank those who were praying for me on the journey. I am in a peaceful state. My verse for today is Psalm 16:11
"You will make known to me the path of life; In your presence is fullness of joy; In your right hand there are pleasures forever."




These are pictures of my travelings this past week. The one on the left is in Portland OR, and the one of the left is in the bay of Portland Maine, on a 90 ft sail boat.
God bless

1 Week Left!

Today was my last day in Oregon. Tomorrow I embark on an adventure back east! As in Maine. Every 3 or 4 years my mother's side of the family has a reunion, this year I was lucky enough to get to make it. I am traveling with my mother, sister, and grandmother on this trip. I am excited! I will get to see family I have not seen in 7 years. I missed the last reunion cause I was in the philippines. This will also be the first time in a long time to have some travel buddies. Tomorrow we will fly into Boston then drive to Rockport where we will spend 2 nights with my great uncle, then off to Maine for 4 or 5 nights. Our family owns a cabin on a lake. I must say it's a great way to go, spending the last days in a lake and filling on lobster. I will fly from Boston back to the Philippines on August 1st. I am very happy to say that my time at home was very eventful. I got to spend a lot of good time entertaining dear friends and even making some new ones :) I also spent a lot of time in the boat doing what a girl does best... Fishing! I filled my fishing quota for the summer, I am now satisfied for another year, well hopefully :) I am excited to get back to the Philippines and get back into live at Mercy. For all of you that are there, I am comin home soon! Oh Boy!!!

Back in the States

Hey everyone! I have been back in the states now for about a week and a half. Life is going well. The first couple days I was back I spent migrating down through Oregon. I spent my first night with Briana in Portland. It was so GREAT! to see her. I wish I could of been there longer. I then headed south and spent the night with my sister in Corvallis. GO BEAVERS! Then I made my way down to Eugene where I spent 2 nights with the Dashers. This was most enjoyable. I got to meet Niaya and bond all over again with Analyse. She is something else. She is walking and talking and still the center of attention. She is very much in love with her little sister, always giving her kisses and excitingly saying Baby!

After a couple of needed days in Eugene I headed down the coast a little more to meet my parents in Reedsport. I find it funny that I reunited with my parents on a fishing extravaganza, seems appropriate though. We went perch fishing which was my first time fishing for perch. We caught like 50. It was tons of fun. Since then I have been content in Bandon with the occasional trip up north or south to catch some fish.

Last wednesday night I got a call from Staci saying that they were planning a trip to Crater Lake but the weather wasn't so great so they were wondering if they could come and visit Bandon instead. I was of course thrilled. They would come the next day and stay the night. They also brought Shane's Mom (Bonnie), and cousins Jaime, and Lindsey. We had lots of great conversation and took a sunset walk on the beach. They are planning on coming back down at the end of next week for 3 or 4 nights. I am sure a lot of you are jealous about the time we got to spend together, and you have just reason to be cause it is all I imagined it to be. All of you who are planning on seeing them this summer are going to be blessed. This next week Jenn is making her way up north and is planning on stopping by. I am excited to see her, she might even come when Shane and Staci are down. I miss you all in the Philippines! I am excited to come back and live life with you again. To all others who happen to read this blog, God bless you all and if you live in the Bandon area I would love to visit with you while I am home :)