the weekend

our first all nighter:

the night before last we had two first-time moms (G1) who went into labor... almost simultaneously! Lo and i had gone to bed pretty late after our night in the redlight district, probably around 1:30 am... Lo got a call around 3am that two of the mothers were at 8cm (another mother had delivered that night while we were out with Father Heinz). Half asleep we threw on our scrubs and made our way to the clinic. both women were in the delivery room on beds divided by a curtain, and with the two of us, there were more than a dozen people in the tiny delivery room! we were monitoring the mom's and babies' vitals and checking their progress with labor. originally it seemed that the younger of the two women was going to be first to deliver, but she was stubborn and not listening to instruction. as one of the midwives put it, when she would push it was actually vacuuming the head rather than forcing it out, interesting visual :) and after getting her to squat and feel what it's like to push properly she decided she didn't want to push anymore (i wasn't aware that was an option during labor), so they had her lay on her side and waited for the baby's head to descend on its own (or for the mother to change her mind and resume pushing)...

as for the other mother, while all of this was happening she was up and "exercising" and squatting and staying active, so she was soon ready to push with her contractions and she did an excellent job. i was assigned to her (and lo to the other mom), so when the baby came out i got to suction the mouth and clamp and cut the cord, then give the eye drops (to prevent blindness from many of the common diseases and infections here), and then bathe the baby and chart as the mom's tear was being sutured by sheila. i was also in charge of rubbing the uterus and monitor how well it contracts down to its normal size (critical to prevent hemorrhaging). you have to push down so hard on the mother's stomach and it forces out a lot of clotted blood (sorry for the detail :) I'm sure you've figure out by now i don't censor much), and you record so that they have an estimate of how much blood loss there is - a two hand scoop of blood is about 100cc. this is done every five minutes for at least a half an hour after the birth and vitals are taken just as regularly. the mother did really well and the baby was perfectly healthy! a boy!!

the other mother was still refusing to push, but her contractions were so severe she could hardly bear it (again, both mothers were almost completely silent throughout the labor, although mine was saying she felt like poop in Cebuano when her contractions got really bad, poor girl, i think I'd be using more severe words were i in her situation). the young mom finally started pushing and it was a long labor (as evidenced by the cone head on the baby boy that was born just as the sun was coming up!!). two baby boys in the middle of the night!! both healthy and well :)

Cebu City Medical Center:

We went back to the apt to get an hour of sleep before we left for the CCMC with Shane. She was going to check up on one of the mothers who we transported there because of her hypothyroidism. I have described the exterior of the CCMC in a previous blog and after seeing the inside i don't know exactly how to convey the destitution of the place with words. we found the maternity ward and the mother we were looking for with no help from the front desk - they keep patient names on flash cards that sit in a holder with the letters of the alphabet on it to keep them relatively organized, no computers and plenty of illegible handwriting. the hospital is dimly lit and everything seems to be falling apart... it hardly looks equipped to treat the common cold and you feel more likely to catch a disease or sustain an injury while in the hospital than anything else. in the maternity ward the beds don't have sheets ("sanitary" does not mean much here), there are a few fans providing minimal relief from the stifling heat, and many of the mattresses are torn or slanted. the one "extension" of the maternity ward was so packed it looked like an auditorium of people, all staring as we stood searching the patient board for the woman we were looking for. we eventually found her and she was doing well, as was the baby, very cheery and unphased by the conditions of the hospital, i guess if it is all you know... that seems to be a trend around here. people are so tolerant of the dismal conditions because the know nothing better. before leaving we visited the ER - a small room with security guards at the entrance (there are security guards with BIG guns at the entrance to pretty much everywhere, including the mall). no curtains dividing beds and actually, very few beds to speak of anyway... patients were everywhere but i only saw one young man getting his head sutured. you couldn't pay me to go to that emergency room, anything happens to me here and ill trust a midwife to make me better for before i go seeking treatment at the hospital.

Beach day!!!

Here it is mom! finally a happy blog! after the CCMC, despite our exhaustion, Lo and i caught a taxi to blue water resort on the other side of the island. we paid P600 for a day pass to the resort (that's about $12 US) and proceeded to spend the day in paradise!!! (see the video on Lo's blog). The resort was really adorable, the epitome of a tropical getaway and was very nice considering it isn't even close to one of the nicest resorts in the area. After some difficulty trying to get towels (somehow i ended up getting the phone number of the chief of police, who was trying to convince the cabana boys to get us towels because we're volunteers... sounds confusing i know, we weren't sure what was going on either), we claimed some chairs and dove into the turquoise water to float and "ponder life" as Lo's travel book had recommended. Floating in the salt water i was pretty sure i could have fallen asleep, but our hungry tummies wanted food so Lo got the beach bbq while I opted for an incredible mixed seafood sandwich from the restaurant. you're just gonna need to see pictures of where we ate our lunch, it's too amazing to describe. relaxed for the day, swam out to a floating island of sand, explored the resort, went down the water slide, fed the sharks!! (though they weren't really hungry so it made it less exciting), then once the sun had gone down we curled up in a hammock hanging from a banyan tree and read (slash i fell asleep :). around 6 hilary and david picked us up at the resort and took us to their favorite restaurant in Cebu.

the gate to the restaurant and swanky resort looked like nothing special, just a simple metal gate in a high cement wall right on the main road with a sign that read, "honk to be let in". once inside it was apparent that we had entered a different world. the contrast between the resort and what we have been living in and experiencing was so drastic i had to try to hide my culture shock. the resort behind the wall belongs in LA... it was an odd experience to be in a candle lit, open-air restaurant overlooking a bay, with food to rival the most elite American restaurants. hilary and david know the owner and many of the employees and our experience there was such a treat! being thoroughly exhausted from a sleepless night followed by a day at the beach, i was basically in a coma after the delicious meal of prawn risotto and french truffle beans... and for dessert they brought us a little of basically everything their menu offered: creme brulee, ice cream, cookies, chocolate mousse, cheesecake, it was incredible. needless to say i slept like a rock last night :)

in the morning it was back to reality. gram stains (basically pap smears) all morning - Lo and i are now proficient at them, except when i got a patient with an inverted uterus and it was almost impossible to locate the cervix (we eventually found it, i know you're all relieved :), and tetanus shots and hanging out with Martinelli, our favorite mom who is the clinic while her newborn receives photo therapy for jaundice. her English is incredible and we often just sit and talk with her about anything and everything, a lot of time food :) i also had a long conversation with a man selling oranges who was interested in practicing his English, he was very good as well and i told him so but i have a feeling he'll be back to spend more time speaking with an American.

alright friends, extensive blog i know, feel free to email me with your updates!! miss you all!! and see lo's blog for pictures!! (and a video of us at the beach!)