Delivery!

Friday, Oct. 17, 2008

We had a delivery early this morning! She was a lovely patient that I had seen many times for prenatal care. She came in the middle of the night because she was having some bleeding and was scared. That turned out to be fine, but when her water broke there was thick meconium and it was my turn to be scared! Luckily, I had a very experienced OB nurse with me (thanks Amber!) and I called John down as well in case there was trouble with the baby. I can't tell you what a difference it makes to work with a nurse who actually knows what she is doing...and is good at it!!! Our Honduran nurses are really sweet, but when it comes to OB, I have to hold their hands and tell them every little thing to do.

Everything turned out great, and as you can see in the photos, Mom and Dad were beaming!!! Three of their six other children were there as well and treated their new little sister like a new baby doll. They were thrilled! So, needless to say, this was a very fun day for me!

Girls Night

We had a birthday party/sleepover at my place and what a blast! I invited all the MK girls over and we made pizzas, had cake, played sharades until we couldn't laugh any more, and then cuddled up on my bed and floor to watch a chick flick.

During the movie there were 6 of us on my bed. However, they all wanted to stay there to sleep all night. I swear, they are like a pack of puppies, they just lay all over each other. I'm great with that while movie watching or hanging out, but sleeping is another matter! So, Catie and I slipped out and slept in a different room and had beds all to ourselves.

It was a great time to reconnect after most of them had been gone all summer. I've really missed those girls and it's great to have them back!

Don't wear flip flops in the mud

One of the most important lessons I have learned this week is that you should never wear flimsy flip flops in thick mud that is stickier than molasses. It makes for great difficulty in walking.

Norma and I went up to the mountains to meet with a community health nurse about an upcoming outreach to the mountain villages nearby. It had been raining for 4-5 days and there was plenty of mud everywhere! The car had no problems, but my feet were not so good! I had worn my lovely flip flops that rinse off easily, thinking we would be walking through a river and I didn't want to get my boots wet. Unfortunately, our trek led us down a very sticky red clay road and up a cow trail covered with cow patties and slick mud. About 10 steps from the car Norma did a classic "slipped on a banana peel" maneuver and landed square on her bottom. Once we could contain our giggles and move on, I started leaving a flip flop behind with nearly every step! My foot would sink completely into the mud and the suction wouldn't let me pull the flip flop out! It was very frustrating and made for slow progress! Where there were no obvious sticks and rocks, I just went barefoot and squished through the manure laden mud, trying to imagine that I was actually getting a very expensive mud treatment that was very good for my skin! :) I have to admit that on more than one occasion, Norma and I mistook a soft squishy cow patty for a solid rock and rather than finding a stable foothold, found ourselves sliding back down the hill. Ick! Unfortunately, all that trekking through mud was to no avail because the river was too high to cross and the nurse was not able to come meet us. We'll have to try again next week, this time with proper footwear!

This photo is after I had washed off my feet. I was actually covered in red clay up to my ankles most of the time! And you should have seen the splashes of mud on our backsides and even in our hair!!!

Swimming lessons

Many of you may remember the story of a girl in a little white dress who was sexually abused by a man with HIV. Praise God, her 3 month test came back negative for HIV!!! That is such great news! We still have to check again at 6 months, but this is very encouraging. Little Maria actually seems to be doing quite well in spite of all that has happened to her. She is doing well living at the Children's Center and attending school. I had the chance to take her and some of the other kids from the Children's Center to the beach and the river this summer. When we were at the beach, she wouldn't go out deep and play with the other kids and she told me that she had never learned to swim. So, when we went to the river, I took some floaties for her and we spent some time learning to swim. Jasmine was a great example. I didn't even have to try to explain the doggy paddle, she just had to imitate the dog! When she was in clinic getting her HIV test done this week, she ran up to me excitedly and asked when we were going to the river again. She is ready for another swimming lesson!