The reality of it is..

I just received a call from Sherri (Dr. Sam's wife)... here's the situation...A young woman in the village where they are had been seeing the midwife in the area.. apparently her health problems were beyond the scope of practice for the local midwife (preeclampsic), so the midwife advised her and her family she needed to deliver at the nearest hosptial.... They apparently decided to go unassisted... She delivered... they waited... no placenta (this is a very common problem here)... anyway... after several hours of bleeding on/off they went and found Dr. Sam and his team... (around 2:30 am)... When he got there she was already mostly dead having lost way too much blood... He did all he could do, but you can't reverse damage sometimes... So now there is this little baby... he's also not doing so well... They are looking into options for him, including possibly bringing him here into the city until he is past danger... please be praying for this family and the responsibility they feel for their daughter/wife's death... and for this baby... that the best possible plan could be made for him... many thanks...
Makes me so much more determined to continue working till their is healthcare access all around... everywhere!! Lessen these sensless deaths!

Don't Mess with these princesses!!

Megs and her friend Kailee are two peas in a pod... get them together and they will disappear and reappear wearing new clothing every time... When they are together they "share" their shoes, clothes, even underwear!! The girls both have very 'giving' spirits and it's up to us moms to sort it all out of what's who's after a get together... But... both these girls got enough attitude as you can see... they both have brothers... so don't mess with these princesses!

The Sniff a holic

What can I say? I have strange children! My youngest has this obsession with sniffing... everything!! He sniffs soap, spices, pancakes, socks, dogs, etc... you name it.. he wants to smell it! What's funny is Joe's little sister was a big 'sniffer' when I met her... (she was 3 at the time)... Must be inherited... if only I could use that excuse (they don't share any genetics)... None of my other children have had this oddity... other weird past times yes (like garbage collecting as their 'treasures'...) but never sniffing anything and everything...

Anyway.... someone told us and we felt the prophesy of 2009 being the year of new things, new beginnings.. seems we're already starting down that road... We bred our doxie the other day... then we tried to NOT breed the cat (which is a story in and of itself)... but were unsuccessful in keeping male cats out of our yard (even at the risk of death to them considering the doxies)... we got ourselves a nice street cat winner of a male... one eyed and bald patches... lovely! The kids of course are stoked! Now if only the stupid cat would stop 'calling' at night and thinking our rugs are her love blankets! We were actually quite embaressed the other day when we had a friends kids over while our dogs were breeding and our cat was acting... well... in heat! I'm sure they got lessons in reproduction that their parents were wishing would have waited a year or two! Just kidding (sort of)... we told them the dogs were just "resting" together... you know.. dogs always rest back to back...... Ok... i'll stop before I offend somebody!

Just another day in the life of the GermainS!

Buck up baby!

You know when we get tired... we tend to get kind of whiny... thus begins a downward spiral of feeling sorry for ourselves, which leads to more whiny, which leads.... well.. you get the picture... I generally tend to be the type of person who says to just "buck up"... you know... get over it?! And I even tend to tell myself that... and it usually works! But today no amount of 'bucking up' seemed to want to get me through my day... I was TIRED... I don't know how many prenatals we did this morning for initials... but the line NEVER seemed to end!!! It's always interesting to do intake prenatals... we found 2 sets of twins today!... but also exhausting to make sure each woman has the necessary tests and shots and her fundus matches her due date... lectures on eating right, drinking MORE WATER...etc... by the end of the line you can hardly remember if you'e injected this one?... told this one to drink water, go to the dr...etc ..... We finally ended at 2 pm... (from 7:45 start time)... then had class at 2:30... then I had my lady from yesterday come back for a baby check up and newborn screen check.... On my way home I was almost crying to God that he needed to give me stregnth cause I didn't want to come home like a rag muffin and ignore the kiddos I hadn't seen all day... So... like I said.. no amount of kicking myself to get over it was working today... instead I finally chose to focus on how blessed I am... how amazing God is... and you know what.. HE IS!!! and I AM!!! I'm excited to come home to my kids running up and saying "Mommy's home!"... and asking if I had baby's today!... It's not like I'm not still tired... I AM!... but God changed my attitude... and that makes ALL the difference in the world! I felt doubly blessed when a fellow midwife was saying she'd only caught one baby this month and was feeling like it's cause she works all swing shifts this month... I gladly offered her my night shift tonight in exchange for her swing tomorow! She was excited and hopefully she catches a baby and I get her dead shifts!! LOL... funny what we wish for eh!
On a seperate side note... totally bummed.... yesterday I had a continuity delivered... nice, quick birth (10 minutes after she walked in the door... can hardly get much quicker!) And since there wasn't much going on at the clinic and Tonia was with me... we headed home... 10 minutes after I went home a gal came in that was supposed to be transported to the hospital... but her babies were coming too fast,..... YEP... twins... And I missed it... Sayong! But alas... another day na lang... Be Blessed be blessed... BE BLESSED! (I am!) :) :P

You know you're a midwife when

-You come home from a birth and undress out of your scrubs, but put on deodorant and pj's, not knowing if it's day or night...
-You get text messages while sitting in immigration like "Ma'am... what is amniotic fluid?"
-You wake up to text messages telling you about the discharge coming out of you know where... and you proceed to text for the next while about the color, consistency and any other signs and symptoms she may be having.
-You can openly discuss with women topics such as their bedroom life, their personal hygiene and their eating habits almost all in the same breath!
-Your 11 yr old daughter is comfortable enough with birth that she can hold the flashlight while you check for a tear...
-You can get so sleep deprived and tired that you can completely understand how a doctor could accidentally cut off the wrong leg in surgery!

But... I'm not tired... at least not at the moment... I did wake up to texts about bloody show this morning... and then I got texts in church completely in text Visayan (which is virtually impossible to understand) from a gal who was wanting to look at our dog I had advertised... After arranging to meet her at 2 at our place, went back to church... Came home, ate, got a text at 3:30 saying the contractions were continuious and they were coming in!... Still no show on the lady about the dog... Now... If (and a big IF) I'd been smart.. I would have text the dog lady back and given her my hubby's number... in case she needed further directions or something... but of course I wasn't... So at 3cm head visible I was getting text from the dog lady, trying to text my hubby her number or her my hubby's number or SOMETHING... she was apparently sitting outside the gate, but no one was answering..blah blah blah... It was actually funny... the phone would NOT shut up! Thankfully my supervisor took over the texting (hey she understands that shortened writing anyway) and I proceeded to catch a nice, fat, healthy baby boy! Kristoff Jay... I seem to be on a run for big babies... This guy was 8lb3oz... Nice size for here! I am blessed... I couldn't dream of wanting another job... even with sleepless nights and weird eating habits and even stranger conversations... God is so evident in new life that HIS presence cannot be denied! I LOVE IT!!!
p.s. And yes... my eldest daughter did come again with me to the clinic (she's always begging to)... and she thinks it's "interesting and different"... that's about all you can get out of an 11 yr old I guess... :)

The Plateau

I told our language teacher this week that I feel like I've reached this plateau in my language skills... I can understand the jist of most conversations, although maybe not interpret in its entirety (which of course leads to misunderstandings)... but what I find most frustrating is my inability at times to form what I want to say into Visaya to respond... Example: Today while walking home from the clinic I rounded the corner to a side street I take and an older guy approached me and asked me if I wanted to come home with him... I pretended to not understand and politely said Good afternoon and walked on... I find that if I walk with 'purpose' people tend to be less "friendly"... As I neared my house the warehouse workers were unloading boxes and starting teasing one of the guys that his wife was walking down the street... they were teasing him (although they said nothing to me)... I wanted to say a few words to both these guys today... but was unable to form a sentence fast enough... course maybe in these situations that's better... but in other situations it would be nice to be able to think on my feet (in the language I want to speak in!) So praying that I have a break through in my language skills SOON!

Fun Photos...

Meggie 'given sum luvin'!

Ready to eat it!

Mama given Sam some luvin!

There's a lot of luvin in this family!

Showin off them big ol luscious lips!

Showin off my smile

Peek a boo!

Handsome goober

A lovely pair!

More cuteness!

Mama said there'd be days like this...

Forgive me if this post makes no sense... it's currently almost 3 am and I have had less than 3 hours sleep in what seems like a long time... I'm too tired to figure out how many hours... I worked a day shift and a night shift yesterday... then this morning I wasn't able to sleep from the pain in my leg (I have these lovely blood clots)... anyway.. figured it was finally time to see a doctor about it... for me this is a big deal because I avoid doctors like the plague... (how ironic that I will be working for one)... anyway... The DR offices here are open like 2 hrs or 4 in a day... so I went and was seen, then went to the lab for more blood work... got home, ate, then was almost asleep when it was time for our herb class... Came home, ate dinner, went out for supplies to make yogurt for the kids for in the morning... was just about to start the yogurt when I got a text from my continuity saying she was in labor and was it ok to come to Mercy.... YES! Every night when I am exhausted I usually pray that my conts don't go at night... but this one I was so excited... Her first baby died after only living 4 days... no real reason given... she was fearful and apprehensive for this baby... So I quickly made yogurt with Joe and set it to 'set' for the 6 hours it needed then grabbed a shower and headed to work...
It was a great labor, great birth... little shoulder dystocia, little trouble 'starting up'... LOTS of prayer and a great big baby boy later... we are celebrating the arrival of Al Gave Real... yep that really is his name! His mom is sooo happy! She told me that she was really going to miss me... sniff sniff... sweetest thing anybody's ever said... I so love what I do..... I love helping women overcome their fears and fall in love with the miracle in front of them! God is so amazing!
So... why am I still up? Only another 10 minutes and I can get the yogurt out of the warmth and put it in the cold... :) And I particularly am enjoying hearing the rats run around in my ceiling... haha.. not! Least they're up there and not down here!

Interesting..

I just liked this shot... pay attention to the detail... in front you have a nice new pick up... you have a dingy cement wall... shacks... in the background you see nice new places... and a coconut tree to show you are in the tropics... Just thought it was interesting... :)

Reality

This may be hard to comprehend.. but this is real... the reality here in the Philippines for those with limited access to health care.... Imagine being 31 and hearing that the lumps growing in your breast for the past several months have grown too big... they are attatched to your bones... they have erupted through the skin... You have several children who depend on you... but what now... you have only a few months to live... This is the case of a patient that visited Dr Sam on Saturday... brought in by a worker from the tribal villages... In the same day he saw three women from the same area with breast issues... one just had fibrocystic tissue... 'keep an eye on'... another had a lump that had grown to the size of a big orange in just a few months... He changed the plans for the day and prepped her for a masectomy... the other is the patient I described first... all were young... to us they still have so much of their life ahead of them! Most know that 'something' isn't right... but they lack access and/or funds to do something about it. Another 'in my face' reminder that yes... what we are working towards is for a reason... not just an 'experience' to have... not a 'mission'.... but to serve people and offer them medical care and resources to further treatment in the name of Christ... "For I was thirsty and you gave me a drink... I was hungry and you fed me... " Matthew 25:35...

MR. Frank Breech...

Title is in honor of Kendra... (Who is so fun to work with.. specially at night when we're sleep deprived!) Anyway...
I sat down to write this blog oh... about 4 hours ago... In the meantime I broke up fights between my 3 darling youngest children who decided that since they don't get to go to the Martial Arts Class with the older 4... they would just practice on eachother! Nice... :/ Then lets see... I sat down with my coffee and no sooner had I turned my computer back on then our helper Heide came in to tell me that there was no more Shellane (gas) for our stove... Since Joe was out with the kids and the guys who can deliver Shellane were out... what to do?? We are Alaskans and missionaries... so no worries... we just built a fire in the driveway and cooked over the fire... Hamburgers AND french fries! Yum!
Anyway.. back to the title.. Last night I had a feeling it was going to be busy... mostly because I brought my computer thinking I would knock out a book report and some homework... And.. because I forgot snacks and only brought ONE packet of coffee... All this combined would logically make me conclude that it would be busy..
So.. we were endorsed a couple labors... My gal was having her 4th baby so no worries right? Then MG got a G1 who was a little freaked out that labor was hurting so much and taking so long... As soon as we finished up endorsements another labor walked in the door... another G4.... The same cm's as my labor... KC took her and we declared a race between the two to see who would deliver sooner... Dips was on my gal as she seemed more active than KC's...
So... ya with me still... 3 labors... Then another labor came in.. This time our supervisor (a midwife visitng from the states that used to work at MMC) took her... Upon IE, it was determined she was breech and an immediate transport was necessary... specially when she had SROM (her water broke) as we walked out the door... which meant we had to do the whole stretcher routine... Since our supervisor couldn't leave the birth room I volunteered to head to the hospital with the breech gal... As we're driving to the hospital I told God that I really wanted to see a breech born... (ok I was whining)... not that I wanted to deliver this particular gals breech since it was her first baby and we were in a moving ambulance... but the funny thing was I felt so clearly that God told me I would see a breech... and soon!
So... gal #4 was transported with no complications and I returned to hear that my labor felt like pushing... AND both other labors were also pushing... Ok.. no worries right... The supervisor asked me if I wanted to assist KC's gal since there was BOW visible (Bag of Waters)... I said that I would rather chart as that was I could sit between the cubicles and keep an eye on my labor who was starting to push (although wasn't 'serious' yet). There was SROM a minute or two later on KC's gal... and a little squirt of poo went flying after... KC turned to look back at the woman and found herself staring at a little scrotal sac and penis! Oops... :) Breech!! And no time for transport. Amazingly all midwives stayed calm, we set up resuscitation equipment in case the need arose... got all things prepared, gathered more towels, ect... then just watched the baby slowly emerge... a litte more.. little more... Amazing how they can stick those feet up over their heads like that! At about umbilicus the baby's feet were helped out, arms were made sure they were down and out... then in a slow, steady motion upwards the baby's head popped out... baby out!! Safe and sound the little guy was! A/S was 5/7 (for those midwives out there)... Only a couple puffs with PPV and he was good to go.
Ok... so... that didn't end the night... My patient had a very long, very interesting delivery as did MG's... And my patient ended up delivering LAST... Almost 3 hours after she had originally started pushing (she rested for the hour while the breech was born)... BUt eventually a nice healthy 9 lb baby made its way into the world! (This is exceptionally large for a filipina... although her last baby was over 9lbs)... The baby's head was slighly cockeyed (not straight) in the birth canal... which is part of what held up the head from coming down at a normal rate.
Anyway... it was an amazing night... so blessed to see a normal breech delivery! Now if I can add twins under my belt.... ;) Someday...
Ok.. that's it for today... I'm kapoy ka'ayo!!! (VERY tired)!

Sweetness

This is a few pics of my continuity that went to 441/2 weeks pregnant... That's over 10 months! :) Actually it was inaccurate dates... I delivered her baby earlier this year in January... then again on the last day of the year... Two babies in one year! She's the sweetest thing ever... works like mad to help provide for her family... in fact she went back to work with the baby only 5 days old... But.. instead of formula feeding, she was convinced to pump this time... so hoping this works out for her as its so much cheaper! Well.. enjoy... totally sweet.

Levi

Levi is all of three.. but anybody who has known him knows he's somewhat of a unique child, and I don't say that because I'm his mother! He's the one who at only a few months old would cry if someone would look at him (even his Uncle Steve!) ... and heaven forbid you look at him if he was thinking of throwing his food over the edge of the high chair! He's always been a VERY serious boy... loves to watch his siblings... then when he decides he's going to do something, he just does it!
Anyway.. he's somewhat obsessive about food... LOVES his breakfast, not so much lunch or dinner, but also wants 'snack'... So to entice him to eat his 2nd and 3rd meal of the day, we took away snack the following day if he didn't eat... and the boy can remember! He'll announce just after nap time whether or not he gets snack that day! And if he lost it because he didn't eat... no tears... just quiet acceptance! Anyway... we also limited the amount of intake at breakfast as he could down twice as many pancakes as some of his siblings (sometimes 8 pancakes)....
Levi LOVES pancakes... I think he would eat that all day long if you'ld let him... but breakfast in general is just his favorite meal... He asks Joe every morning what's for breakfast and keeps on asking him to start cooking it from the time he gets up until it's done cooking! On Saturday we had a special treat of cereal... so of course Joe didn't need to get cooking right away... this bothered poor Levi to know end as he couldn't grasp why Dad wasn't cooking his breakfast! So... he'll sit at the table and just wait... and wait... until his breakfast is ready!
He also loves to just sit in the kitchen and 'help' with meal preperations... I'm thinking maybe he'll be a chef someday?

Wrestling

Wrestling in this country has a whole different meaning than wrestling with my Dad growing up! We had carpet and it sure wasn't as hot! But... boys will just be boys... and as Joe says.. they're just tougher here! So Joe usually has to take a shower after his wrestling with 5 boys.. and they sure need one as well (specially my little African boy!) But they all have fun and usually there aren't too many tears! Soon though Joe will have to watch out or those boys will get the best of him!

Photobucket slideshow

What if??

Sometimes I sit and wonder about things... about a 'perfect' world... course there is always the usual thoughts of a world without poverty, without violence, evil, etc... but then lately I have been thinking about criticism... part of my thoughts come from the fact that I strive to criticize my children less and encourage them more, simply because I see how much they blossom with positive encouragement and gentle leading rather than cutting down and criticizing. But then I have to take this beyond just putting it into practice in my household... what if I stopped criticizing my fellow missionaries, my fellow classmates, my supervisors, my friends? I would love to say that I never do these things.. but I know that I do... and most of all I criticize myself... oh yes... I am ever so judgmental of myself... Many years ago when I was in counseling in high school... my counselor told me that I had extremely high expectations of myself... and of course that led to very high expectations of those close to me.... I thought she was nuts! (Remember the first step of recovery is denial!) I have matured some over the years (really I have).. and have come to see that yes, I do pretty much demand perfection of myself... and I have to be very careful not to demand it of others... But.. this isn't about me and my shortcomings... I was just thinking of how much nicer the world would be if we encouraged rather than tore down... I mean... think of it... wouldn't you LIKE to go to work if your boss and your co workers encouraged you rather than criticized you every time you made a mistake... Wouldn't students WANT to learn if their teachers, professors, administrators showed compassion towards each other and didn't tear each other down like packs of wolves? Hmmm... it's an interesting thought! I remember a class in high school with a teacher that loved to pick on a few students... really, just a few from the whole class... and he would criticize the papers, thought process, etc... of these few students... who always happen to be Christians who would stand up for their beliefs... He would ridicule and humiliate them till sometimes they would quit the class or end up being so meek and afraid they wouldn't say anything in class... ever! Now... do you think these students learned anything valuable from this teacher? Probably not! What a waste!
Now... I know we all have our days where we are tired and irritated... trust me... I have those every so often! ;) But.. I am reminded of a speaker who spoke at a Family Life Marriage seminar once... he was talking about spouses who say things in anger, declaring that they just were so mad they didn't truly have control of themselves... he asked this question... If.. in the middle of your argument, a person rang your doorbell or your phone rang... would you be able to stop yourself and nicely say 'hello'? If so... then you have control... So... here's the question for us Christians... when we find ourselves criticizing or cutting another down... if Jesus himself walked in the room... could we stop ourselves? If the answer is yes (and I'm pretty sure that it's always yes)... then maybe we should learn to 'bite our tongues' as my mother used to say! Or maybe she used to say "If you can't say something nice... then don't say anything at all"... You know.. one of those mother sayings!
Phew... if you made it through this little trail of my self reflection... then way to go! I think I'll step off my little soapbox now before nobody wants to read my blog anymore! Really this is more just my own convictions for myself, but since it's my blog and you choose to read it.. I guess you get a front row seat to my inner convictions (or at least some of them!) LOL God Bless! (P.S. I'll put pictures on my next post... really!)

archives

For those wanting to read waaay back... like from our adoption journey to here... (has it really been 3 years?) Anyway.. the old blog is www.spaces.msn.com/9germains
Ok.. that's it!

Suzie homemaker?

Those who know me know that I am anything but a classic stay at home mom who likes to cook and clean... but... seems like lately God has been teaching me so much about frugal living... This past month I have learned how to make pasta from scratch as well as spaghetti, white sauce, laundry soap, sausage and how to make 2 chickens stretch into 4 meals for a family of our size! Not bad! ;) Our laundry soap broken down into per load costs us less than a peso a load to wash our clothes now! I'm quite impressed with the results actually! And... it was a whole lot easier than I thought! Only took me about 30 minutes to make! I'm amazed how God is teaching us so much in preparation for village life later this year.... So... what's next? I'm not sure... homemade shampoo? :)

New life for the new year...

This wasn't the first baby of the year at Mercy... but it was the second! A cute little feller that we nicknamed 'Fred' for lack of a name! I arrived at work this am around 5:45 and was told they were needing to transport a patient for shock. Since the day shift guard hadn't arrived and the night shift guard hasn't yet received his drivers license... I was the quickly enlisted to 'be the one'... so off to DMC (our local government hospital) I went... When I came back to work I was last up, so I was the one who took care of the baby until the father could return (which ended up not being until around 1)... The midwives always love babysitting duty... Play with the baby all day... return them to the parents at night... Can't get much better than that... :)