~My Very First Filipino Catch~

Miss Gloryfher, G1 P1, 18 years old came into the clinic at 10am while I was on day shift. She was 40 weeks and 6 days and as sweet as ever. She was having mild contractions lasting 50 seconds , every 3 min. I did my first IE on her and I could immediately feel the baby’s head, 8 cm dilated, 90% effaced, buldging IBOW with contractions, post font, sutures from 9-3 o’clock, and head at 0 station.

With that said, she breathed beautifully during her contractions while I took her vitals. Everything was normal and I was ready to rock and roll with this baby mama!!
I went to check baby’s heart tones but before I could she stopped me and said, “I want to push!”
I said ok with a quivering voice and I hurried and put a pair of gloves on my jittery sweaty hands.
I looked down at her yoni and saw slight vaginal opening and called my supervisor in asap!
Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Baby is coming and its all me!

My supervisor came in and the baby’s hair was beginning to show a little. “Are you ready to catch a baby Tiara??”
“Yes.” I whispered and smiled at her. “I’m ready!”

She really started to get active and push and so we breathed and pushed together. I was so focused on her face, trying to breath with her, making sure she was ok, that my supervisor had to remind me to keep an eye on her in the opposite direction to make sure I didn’t let that baby hit the bed!
I got her on the birth stool on the bed with her bana behind her, to support her from behind. She had a low pubic bone so sitting on the birth stool helped open up her pelvis. The baby’s heart tones dropped while on the birth stool to 80,70,100. So we immediately did head stimulation to the baby and perineal pressure before baby’s head was crowning. We would have transported her if the baby’s heart tones stayed low, but because the baby was already crowning, we had no choice but to deliver this baby NOW!

I moved her to the bed on her back and she pushed his head out very nice and slowly, NO TEAR!!! Woohoo!
I checked for nuchal cord…nothing.
I waited for the baby to rotate and he rotated to the left, LOA position. Then his shoulders came out and I helped guide them out, gently maneuvering his body up and down, up and down.
One more small push and baby boy was out!!! It was 1:08 pm. He slid right into my arms and he was so tiny! My first time receiving a newborn baby straight from the safety of his mother’s womb into this big bright world! Welcome love!! It was unreal! Ah! I placed him on his mother’s bare chest and she immediately loved him!

At first he was floppy and blue with mild caput on his head and his eyes were bulding out. He was not crying and he was completely cyanotic all over. His APGAR scores were not so hot…4/10 and 6/10. My heart skipped a beat and everything I had been studying the last 2 months came flooding back to me. It was surprisingly just my natural in stink!
I rubbed his back while the birth assistant immediately gave him free flowing oxygen and waited for a cry. I was not going to breath again until I heard a cry! At this point…even a whimper would do. We waited and waited and waited……………………………………then a CRY!! WAHH! WAHH!! WAHH!! Thank You Lord!!!!
I took a long, deep breath…and relaxed just a bit….
The placenta delivered with no problem, thank God, and her bleeding was within normal range.
I weighed the baby and he weighed 5lbs 11oz! Tiny little chicken nugget. I noticed he was a bit small for his gestational age, and looked very disproportionate. His arms and legs were flimsy and skinny and he looked like he was a little malnourished. He was just too small for a 40week 6day GA. I was concerned and had my supervisor come and check him out. We determined that he was an IUGR (Intrauterine growth restriction) baby and also SGA (small gestational age). He looked very week and fragile. But I loved him and knew that after referring him, he was going to be ok. He was my first catch and I was going to make sure that he thrived and had the best care possible.

I learned more then I thought I would with my first catch and I had my first experience delivering a baby that did not breath right away. What a day! Thank God Dr. Lu, the pediatrician that we refer most of our babies with complications too, took wonderful care of him and he began to grow beautifully in the next few weeks. Thank You Jesus!!

~Princess Tiara Colby~

Birth in Davao, Philippines. The most memorable birth ever!

The clock hit 2pm and I was officially on swing shift. Her name was Lyzel. She was a beautiful Filipina pregnant woman. Her and her bana (husband) were endorsed to me when I walked into the birth room and onto swing shift. I had noticed her during endorsements, walking around. She wore a purple dress, matching earings and a perfectly clean, pulled back ponytail. She looked radiant. Her bana was walking beside her. He was wearing a black wife beater tank top, had a few tattoos (which is a little rare to see in a poor city), and stripped bleach blonde hair. It was obvious that they both took pride in their appearances, even in the stress and excitement of expecting a baby VERY soon!

She was 4cm dilated when she was handed over into my care. After doing an IE on her, she was now 6-7cm dilated, 70% effaced, +1-+2 station, IBOW and enjoyed walking around a lot. I walked the stairs with her because the baby was asynclytic to the right. (head was not placed evenly on the cervix). She also had a cervical lip that was cause from uneven pressure on the cervix. After about an hour, I was severely winded and had to lean up against the wall and while gasping for air, tell the fully-pregnant woman in active labor, to go on without me. (Don’t worry, after this I bought a gym membership to the local gym in the city.)
Lyzel would go up and down the stairs, from the birthing floor to the prenatal floor on the second level, over and over and over again. The entire time with a sweet smile on her face and only stopped briefly to breath through a huge contraction. Unbelievable.
After a few hours, Lyzel and her bana came back into their room and she sat on the bed and labored there for a while. Us three sat and talked, laughed and joked all the while I was tracking the progression of her labor next to her on the bed. They spoke very good English and asked me all about my family back home, how long I would be staying in Davao, and how much I missed my boyfriend who was all the way across the world. I was surprised at how much information I told them, considering most women in labor are usually not up for a family history/personal love story detailed conversation.
I told them Colby’s name and they kept looking at eachother and saying, “Colby! Hahaha Colby, I like!”

I asked how they met and she smiled, looked at him, then at me and said…
…”Mam, we met a dance club here in Davao and he is a professional dancer for clubs. Then we became friends. Then one night, was had too much to drink, and now we are having a baby. But we are still just friends.”

I almost fell off the bed in shock.

…. “So you are not married?”
They bursted out with a laugh, “HA! No! No mam!”

She flirted with her “bana” or “dancer” or “baby’s daddy” (not sure what to call him) the whole time even when getting closer and closer to transition! She would push him lovingly when he would tease her and they would both laugh and laugh. She would flip her ponytail around and smile at him and every once in a while, check to make sure both earings were still on. Hilarious to watch this happening, it was. I was just dying to see how this interaction would change once she would begin to push! I could just picture her flirty shoves, turn into rage and pain-filled, shoves throwing him across the room once this baby started crowning.

Transition came and went, with a few deep breaths, curling of the toes and long quiet moments, and she still looked lovely with her bana friend at her side. Now the baby’s head was visible at the birth canal with pushing! The cervical lip was still present and as the baby’s head was emerging, the lip was causing the uterus to drag down with the head down through the pelvis, so Ate Eliah had to hold back the lip while the baby’s head emerged out of her Yoni. Baby was now crowing. I took over and did perineal pressure because she was so tight being that this was her first time giving birth. The baby’s head emerged with a nuchal hand (hand was up pressed against baby’s face) and the baby restituted to the left. I maneuvered all of this 5lb 10oz beautiful body and this little girl was born! It was now 9:14pm. She was stunningly gorgeous! Just like her mother! She was pink and perfectly chubby even for being such a petite baby. She had puckered pink lips and light skin and BIG brown eyes. She didn’t look much like a Filipina!

They stared at her with wide eyes and then back at us just to make sure everything was still normal, (they could tell by the looks on our faces). And yes, everything was perfect. The baby girl latched on right away to her mother’s breast and her daddy watched in amazement. Perfect.

After I delivered the placenta and her bleeding was assessed and under control, I asked the new parents what they were going to name their new addition.
And Lyzel replied, “What is your name again mam? We want to name her after her midwife.”
…I wanted to cry… “Tiara” I answered.
They both looked like ‘oh crap, we now regret this decision.’
“Chhhiaarra, Tara, Tchiara…” They desperately tried to pronounce it.
I jumped in and said, “I know. My name means princess crown, so you can always call her Princess!”
They loved the idea, but did not want to drop their midwife’s name still.
SO, they decided on Princess Tiara.
AMAZING! Just when I thought this couldn’t get any better, the bana looks back at me and says, “mam, what is your boyfriends name again? The name we like?”

…”Colby.” I smiled.

“That’s it. That’s the name.” He said. “Her full name is now PRINCESS TIARA COLBY!!”

I couldn’t believe it!!! “Are you really sure??” I asked.
“YES!!” They said, holding her in their arms.

Ahhhhhh! The joys and blessings of being able to be a part of this new families life! (and Colby too!)

Welcome, baby Princess Tiara Colby!! And sorry for the name. My bad. ☺

Placenta smoothie anyone???

I know, I know....Not sure about it either. I can't decide if I want to laugh, cry or vomit. This was requested by a mother. What can ya do?

Placenta Smoothie recipe:
2 scoops chocolate protein powder
3 cups soy milk
1 chunk of raw placenta
1 cup ice
1 cup chocolate ice cream.

enjoy?...I guess.

Heeeeey Juuuuude…..

My preceptor woke me at 2:45 in the morning. “Hey hun, baby is coming soon, get here as fast as you can.”
I woke up in a hurry, threw on jeans, a top, brushed my teeth and pulled my hair back in a ponytail. I called my fiancé and told him what was up, and I was off!
“Lord, don’t let me get lost”, I prayed.
I arrived at the cozy home 15 mins later. The house was warm and comforting. The smell of coffee and fresh bread haunted me, making my mouth water. I wanted to curl up in a ball and go back to sleep and at the same time I felt like someone had just given me an injection of epinepherin (pure adrenaline).
I walked into the bedroom and saw our laboring mama. She was in the pool, floating on her back, head and ears submerged and blowing bubbles in the water every time a contractions came on. So cute. She was so composed. The second I walked in she looked at me and said, “Hi! Help yourself to a cup of hot coffee and some treats on the stove!”
I couldn’t believe it! Here she was in full-blown labor wanting me to make myself at home and be taken care of! Haha. I thanked her and said that maybe a little bit later, (like after the baby was born) I would help myself to cup of coffee.

She labored beautifully and her husband was a sweetheart, helping her through every contraction and encouraging her through each one. While she labored, we boiled some hot water, and steeped some tea and herbs for her to use later.

After about an hour, she was fully dilated and ready to push! She pushed out the baby’s head under water, and as he restituted, he opened his eyes and looked all around. Amazing!
With one more push, his chunky little body flopped out of her, into the water and floated up out of the water into her arms.
A baby is born! Glory to God! Heeyyy Juuuddeee…..

After the baby was born, we waited for the placenta. And waited. And waited. And waited. An hour passed and we had tried a few different positions to help the placenta come out. Squatting, standing, laying on the bed…. NOTHING. Then the bleeding came. And Came. And came. Still no placenta. The midwife decided that a bimanual removal of the placenta would be too risky because of the bleeding. After 20cc of pitocin (a medication to stop bleeding), and still no placenta, the bleeding finally subsided but the placenta was still not out.
We told her that we would have to transport her to the nearest hospital for retained placenta, and she was broken hearted. Her mother and I laid hands on her and prayed for her that the Lord would comfort her during this time and we reassured her that He was with her and would never leave her.
She had peace again and was ok with going to the hospital. We called for an ambulance to transport her and so they came and got her.
She was taken care of and recovered beautifully after they had to surgically remove her placenta.
All in all, it was a wonderful labor and birth with a not so wonderful ending. But God was with her and she knew that. Thank You Lord for being with us through it all. And thank you Lord for a healthy baby and healthy mom!

Baby Rylan's journey into the world!

The midwife called me around noon and gave me the heads up that our client was in early labor! I had been waiting and waiting for the call, so this was wonderful news!!
I began my journey down to Lake Elsinore (2 hours away), where this baby girl was to be born.
By the time I had gotten there, the midwife had already taken vitals and did an IE (internal exam) on her and she was only 3cm. She was barefoot, dressed in a little sundress was she was all belly!

They were a young couple, newlyweds! They had been married for 2 years and were madly in love. The most amazing thing about this birth was that both mothers, the mother of the laboring woman and the mother of the father, were both present, waiting with such helpful, loving hearts, and wanting nothing more then to help in any way, big or small, usher in the life of their new little grandbaby. At first I thought this might hinder her labor because sometimes without even realizing it, a woman’s labor can slow down or even stop when too many are present and they feel that they have no privacy. But not this time. There was such peace that it was hard for me not to cry watching these two servants of the Lord, run around, selfless, wiping the sweat beads off their daughters forehead during contractions. What family. What love.

Because she was only 3cm, we left to grab some lunch and relax before things really started to pick up.
We got a call around 3:30pm that her husband had been timing the contractions and that they were now 3 mins apart and that she was in the birthpool now. PERFECT!
We jumped in the car and set off back to the house. When we arrived, we checked her again and she had progressed to 8cm!
She labored beautifully and at about 9cm she started to go through that wonderful transition to being fully dilated. This for some women is the hardest part of labor. She began to cry and say, “Please, I can’t do this! It hurts too bad! Please God make it stop! You guys, Im sorry but I can’t do this…”
Before I could even attempt to make an effort to comfort her to tell her that she could do it, (ya…me….the one who screams for a vicodin for my period cramps..) …her mother jumped in, laid her hands on her bare back and began to pray aloud … “Oh Jesus, we lift her up to you Lord. Please Jesus give her the strength to push this baby out and bring your daughter into this world! Jesus give my daughter strength!” By this time, we are all in tears as we stand there, watching this mother, impart peace and ask the Holy Spirit to come help her daughter help push out her daughter. Three generations before the King of Kings. Three generations brought to life out of love and love multiplying itself.
Her husband also jumped in the conversation and wrapped his arms around his vulnerable wife and held her, whispering in her ear words of love and encouragement. His mother said, “lean on him, Julianne, your husband is here for you, lean on him when you don’t have the strength!” And she let out a huge SIGH and leaned back on him. He caught her and loved her.

Of course by this time, I have tears shooting out of my eyes and all I wanted to do was grab a video camera, sit back with some tissues, maybe some popcorn, and get this amazing, timeless moment on camera, but I know that that moment will forever be remembered. Such love.

After she was, what seemed to be, fully dilated, she wanted to hop out of the birth pool and onto the bed. So we let her
lead the way. As soon as she hit the bed, she looked at us and said, “I’m ready to push.” “Ok.” We said back.

She pushed and pushed and seemed to be making little to no progress bringing that baby girl down. The midwife did an exam to see if she could find out what was going on. What we found was a cervical lip from 1-4 (clock point of view). The baby could not come all the way down out of the cervix because some of the cervix was not being pulled back over the baby’s head. So during pushes, the midwife and I would take turns holding back that little part of cervix so that baby Rylan could come down fully.
After doing this with 3-4 more pushes, baby Rylan finally got past the cervical lip and was now crowning!!

My preceptor and I switched places and I was in the line of fire to catch this little girl.
Earlier, we had a feeling that this was going to be a posterior birth, (baby will come out face up), due to the nature of her labor. Her contractions were a little irregular. From 3 min apart to 5 min, to 4 min to 5 min to 6 min to 3 min then 3 min and so on…but yet nice and STRONG! So we prepared for that. Its not a dangerous position to birth your baby in, but can be a little more painful for the mom.

Finally, baby Rylan’s head emerged….I held it back gently so she would not tear. Then her little body came sliding into me arms! What sweet bliss! A new wet, slippery little baby! Her APGAR scores where 9/10 and 10/10. Beautiful. She had a full head of jet-black hair, fair skin and blue eyes. She was simply gorgeous. 7lbs and all baby. Thank you Jesus!

The Bob Marley, almost water birth.

In the Bob Marley Den…Little Baby Pheonix entered the world.



FIRST BIRTH BACK IN THE STATES!!!

It was around 11am and I was at work (cutting away at skin cancer and making slides) when my preceptor midwife called me and said that our client, a young, client, G-1, P-0, (first pregnancy) was in active labor and I needed to head over to her apartment as soon as possible. The midwife and I had talked about the fact that because I can’t leave work early, for any reason because I am helping in assisting surgeries, that there was a chance that if she could not find another birth assistant at that time, then she would be attending this birth alone. This can be a little scary for a midwife because after birth, you now have TWO clients and lives in your hands with only one pair of hands to attend the both of them. So, almost never do midwives attends births by themselves unless there is no other way….

The midwife said she had told the Lord, “Lord, please send someone, I don’t want to do this alone.” And just then a friend midwife of hers called her and said, “Don’t worry, if the Lord wants someone there, someone will be there.”
Just then I called her and told her that I had gotten my next work shift covered (which is normally not easy) and that I was on my way!! She cried with joy and amazement at God’s faithfulness.
I arrived to the apartment excited and nervous as this was going to be my very first birth in California since I had arrived home from the Philippines (months ago) and my first time attending a homebirth! Even though I was only assisting with this birth, my heart was racing with anticipation for what was about to unfold.
I felt a little rusty even though I had attended many births before and caught a few babies just a few months ago in the clinic in Davao and with an OB/GYN here in the States.
This was NEW; in the complete privacy of a young couples home that I had never met before. And here I was, parked outside of their place, frantically changing out of my work scrubs into some more casual jeans and top that I had put in my car just in case, and praying that no one would walk outside!
I walked up to the door and could hear from the window our mama in labor, moaning away, sounding very active. I walked into the tiny, one bedroom apartment and the smell of incense was overwhelming. The sounds of Bob Marley softly played in the background, filling the place. The place was dimly lit only by candlelight and I noticed chuck pads laid out on the floor in the TV room, covered in birth supplies…gauze, sterile gloves, bulb syringe, umbilical cord clamp, you name it. This wave of a familiar, peaceful feeling came over me…”Thank You Jesus.”

The midwife came out of the dark bedroom where our mom was laboring and we talked a little before I went in to go meet this new family.
After discussing where the oxygen, pitocin, and other emergency supplies where kept, she led me into the bedroom where the birth was to take place.
There she was. A young, beautiful, very pregnant woman, lying in the birthing pool, eyes closed, breathing heavily during her contractions. She had a few tattoos and a nose ring that would every once in a while, in the right angle, would reflect the light of the candle that sat on a small table beside the pool. Her boyfriend sat beside her, next to the edge of the pool, breathing with her with every contraction.
It was so dark I could hardly see where I was going. I was terrified that I was going to trip over a cord or bottle of massage oil and fall into the warm pool of water, landing head first next to this woman.
I introduced myself to her and shortly after she started pushing! She pushed hard and good and after about 5 pushes with little progress in the pool, we got her out and had her try different positions to see if we could get the baby to come down more. After moving around, she somehow ended up on her back on the floor and wanted to stay there, with her boyfriend at her head, talking to her and pushing with her. Shortly after, head was 3cm visible with pushing!! Heart tones stayed beautiful and strong. With a few more pushes, some perineal pressure, and one strong mom…..tiny baby Pheonix’s head was out! Then one more push and his whole, 8lb body came tumbling out! Oh the joy of new life!! He took his first breath of air and cried. Welcome baby boy. He pinked up right away, while his mama cried, “look! Look! Our baby! Our baby! Look! Ohhhh my baby boy!” We all cried with joy at this new little life!

…….And there is was again, the same familiar feeling of unbelievable joy and peace when a baby is born into the world. When the presence of the living God fills the entire house and wonder and love somehow takes on an entirely new meaning. Praise You Lord for the life that you have breathed into us.
For so long, since I had come home from the Philippines, I thought my dream had died. I thought that the Lord would just have to find something else for me to do, that it was just not possible to start all over again and live still completely in the will of the Father and what I knew He had called me to do. And yet, it wasn’t true! Our God is still the same God here at home as He is all over the world! Even on the mission field. He is still the same! What joy that even when we are convinced that something is impossible, He says, “Nope. Not impossible. Never impossible” ……and there is was, watching this woman, nurse her newborn baby, staring at him in awe and wonder, and his father, watching, learning, like a child himself, and now falling in love with his very own son…….I never thought I would really be in this place again. At least not for a long, long time. And yet, there I was, and there it was, the evidence that God is still alive, still cares, still knows us, still loves us, still keeps His promises, still is the Great I AM. The fact that He never gives up on us, whether or not we know what He is asking of us, what He is saying, even in our disobedience and doubts…He is BIGGER. He is a GOOD GOD. I don’t know how I even got back into midwifery, well, no, I do…HIM. And the fact that He is FAITHFUL. His ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts…and Thank God for that!! …….It was about this time, when I realized that God wants you to have it ALL. The joys on earth, the joys of your heart!! Its all YOURS!!! And its all FROM HIM!! You can be in love, follow God, and follow your calling!!! What Joy!!!


A few minutes following, her placenta plopped out and we were happy. She recovered very well and immediately after we got her tucked away with her baby in bed, she asked for some In-n-Out Burger, so that’s exactly what she got! We left the house that evening two very tired midwives. Two very JOY FILLED, tired midwives. Welcome baby Pheonix, child and servant of the living God who loves you beyond measure.

ENGAGEMENT DAY!!!

My love and I.

KAYLA (Doobie KK) Came down from Davao, Philippines to visit!!

My Soul sister. I love her so much and Colby and I miss her like crazy!! Can't wait for her to make her way back down to California again to be in our wedding this March!! Love you my beautiful sister!

I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine.

Colby and I at Tiff and Bri's wedding.



Colby and I at Unlce Fred's Cabin last 4th or July, our first together!

RECAP!

I realize that there are many birth stories that I have not shared on my blog yet!

To be honest, this last season that God has just now been showing Colby and I the end of, has been wild. He has taken us through a valley, covered in a blanket of jungle, and surrounded by snow covered mountains. Make sense right? Ya. That’s how it’s been. Its been a season of sadness and joy, extreme highs like getting engaged to my soul mate, and extreme lows… feeling that the next time I would ever even get to be in the presence of birth, would be a long, long time. I cried…feeling this calling, what I thought…slip away from my hands and die. I thought that because Colby had placed a ring on my finger, a ring that symbolized our promise of love to each other, a promise to grow old together, have our own babies, live, love and learn together, serve Jesus together, to give our lives completely to each other, that I had to choose one or the other. Little did I know…and little do I still know.

Oh the sweet feeling I get when I look down at my finger and see our promise of love! I would never have it any other way. And I will forever cherish this season that I have gotten to meet Colby, fall in love with him and realize that we could not live without each other. And if the Lord did ask me to choose between one or the other, my love for Colby FAR outweighs the other, no question. Colby prayed with me and supported me through this process of how and when and what God wanted to make out of this. I leaned on him like crazy. Sometimes I feel like I put him through hell, and yet to me he was heaven on earth. With all the questions and doubts and reaching out I tried to do, but never really got anywhere, yet still he was there. And there he stayed…a solid rock, comforting and reassuring me always, that God is in control…wait on Him. Colby has been Jesus to me in countless ways. And I know not just to me, but a lot of others too. I can’t even put down in writing how freakishly blessed I am to have him as my soon-to-be husband. Sometimes I look at him now and all I can think is, ‘seriously Lord? This is him? I get to keep him? Oooohhh myyyy…’
However my heart longed. Longed for Jesus to use my hands again. To feel tears run down my cheeks again, from watching a man and woman see their daughter or son for the first time. I know that this is something that I have seen a lot of young men and woman struggle with….they feel as if they have their “calling”, then fall in love and everything changes. They don’t know how to balance the two…what if my partner doesn’t feel called to this? How do the both of us stay in the Lord’s will when we feel called to different things? I know I still feel that God is asking me to open up clinics around the world, what if this isn’t something Colby feels called to? How do I submit and respect my husband but still live in nothing but complete obedience to the Lord and what He is had called me to do?
Even though Colby is completely surrendered to the Lord and would go anywhere and do anything for Him and for me…I still wondered… ‘Would it be fair for Colby to feel that he is just following me around the world? I do not want this, Lord.’ I cried out day and night. Lord, How can I do both??? Show me.

Well, lets just say, He wrapped the answer in a box, put a huge red bow on it and threw in on my doorstep…

Addressed:
“To: You (you know who you are)”
“Love: Your Papa God who loves you.”

That’s when I met the two midwives who would take me under their wings, full of wisdom, patience and love. And who would teach me everything they know. That’s when the births started coming…one right after another….