Christmas Remembered:
Christmas has come and gone, and despite the fact that home was missed tremendously, it was a beautiful one. It's always a funny feeling after Christmas- maybe because we take our time getting geared up for it. Especially here in the Philippines, where Christmas decorations and lights begin appearing already in September. But now what's left of Christmas is a few extra pounds, decorations ready to be taken down, a garbage full of wrapping paper, and many memories.
This year, a new little baby girl, Newleah Mary Joy, was birthed into my ready hands Christmas morning at 7:14am: My second Christmas baby! :)
My Continuity"

On December 29th, my Con't Ma Luisa delivered a healthy baby boy, Gilbert Luis! I was so excited that she gave birth in time. She had only 4 days left before I would have had to transport her for post-dates. And this birth was special as her last baby was my first handle. It's pretty neat to have had the privileged of delivering a bother and sister.
On her last prenatal before giving birth, Ma Luisa (nicknamed Bing) brought her little girl I had delivered Nov 2008. It was so special to see a baby I had delivered now a little toddler running around! As you can see by the pictures below, she's so adorable!

- Gilbert Luis -

Maayong Pasko- Merry Christmas!!!!

Merry Christmas everyone!!! I’ve been slacking a little with posting, but gave myself the excuse that everyone is too busy anyways with Christmas rush to even notice! :o)
Christmas Eve will arrive in just a few hours here!! This past weekend we had a Christmas party with all the midwives and staff from Mercy Clinic. It must have been quite the sight seeing 30 + women having a time of their lives, and Filipinos sure LOVE to laugh- it’s great!!! Krys, the director, did an amazing job putting a number of games together.
So it looks like we’ve got our Christmas week all planned out, to make it as special and exciting as possible being away from home and family. We all have two weeks off of studies, but since some girls are away for a few weeks, extra shifts had to be picked up. So it’s pretty much working almost everyday and THOROUGHLY enjoying every minute off work with no assignments!! It’s easy to fill up those moments with Christmas baking and shopping, cooking (I’m on this week), catching up with people back home, spending quality time with the girls here, and getting caught up on extra projects. These two weeks are going to fly, but then we’ll be on the home stretch before we know it! It’s also pretty sweet getting to working shift with no assignment that normally haunt you …:o)
Well, I’m on night shift tonight, have Christmas Eve off, and then day shift on Christmas day.
Christmas Eve we’re doing a little gift exchange at our place with just us students, and then having a little service together- should be special! 

I hope you have a blessed Christmas wherever this finds you!! We are indeed blessed by the special gift Christmas brought to us so many years ago!

A big Christmas hug to you all!!




-Carmen and I on our last shift together before she went back to the States -

It's starting to look a bit like Christmas! =)

Yes- almost Christmas time!! :)This will be my second "hot Christmas," but I still can't say I'm use to it! Oh well, you just crank up the Christmas music a little louder and put up few decorations to remind you of the season! :) I'm not going to lie, it won't be easy being away from my family for another Christmas... BUT it makes me realize how spoiled I am with having a special family back home... and you can interpret the word 'special' however you like... :P No, I love them deeply and am forever thankful for them! God has a good way of providing exactly what we need!

This week on the 18th we hand in our current assignment and write the exam for it... and then- FREEDOM from assignment for two whole weeks!! :D We'll still be working clinical shifts since babies come out whenever they please! ;) But I'm looking looking forward to putting the books away for a few weeks!! Hopefully that will give some extra time for Christmas baking! :P

Carmen, one of the supervisors here at the clinic who did her training here and stayed on a few more years, will be leaving on Tuesday back to the States! :( She was my supervisor for the first 6 months, and we're going to miss you a lot!! But I'm thankful for the years God gave her here...and she needs a break from this craziness! :)

Above I posted a few pictures of my attempt to making it feel like Christmas here! :)

Have a good week... and hope nobody is getting too stressed with the "Christmas rush!" That sure can spoil the reason why we celebrate!

God bless!
Sarah

A patient walks into the clinic, and as I am next up, I bring her over to a bed to evaluate her labor and vital signs. I normally take out the fetal heart Doppler with only the thought of where I will locate the heart beat, always taking for granted that they will be present. But this time, something took place this week that made me think... Beth, one of my classmates who's currently in Tabuk, had a stillbirth this week. No heart tones could be found, and an ultrasound confirmed what was dreaded. As midwives we all know at some point we will each possibly face these difficult circumstances, yet again and again we take for granted each miraculous birth wherein God provides health and life.
As I slip the Doppler over the mother's "baby bump," I breath a sigh of relief as I hear the rhythmic beat of the baby's heart- 144, 136, 140... I can't take this for granted...
We live in a world that continually questions and blames God when something goes wrong, but never seem to give it a second thought or bother to thank Him when things do. Each day our own hearts beat about 30800 times, as He continues to faithfully provide us with life and health. Each day is a gift from God...