For the curious

Having a child in our city isn't a big deal. In fact, the whole city is populated with people. Having a cesarean in this town is also not a big deal. But to a girl from a different culture, it sorta was. This is my story...

I checked in the night before the surgery. We had to go to the ER to do this. I've never been in a Filipino ER before. It had 4 beds with available curtains for privacy. They asked me to sit on one of the beds so they could use the fetal monitor and check the baby. The batteries wouldn't stay in, so one person held the batteries in the monitor and one person found the heartbeat. We got into our deluxe room after a bit and ben and I slept on the couch. The last night with my big belly. I was not upset by this thought.

The following morning, in the wee hours, the nurses popped their heads in the door to encourage me to bathe...over and over again. Then, I was prepped and taken to the OR. Ben saw me to the OR door, where I was met by OR nurse Patty, who is also, in a twist of fate, our dogs' vet. We discussed the fate of our sick puppy on the way in. I was transferred onto the OR table and given a spinal. It made my toes feel tingly. and it numbed me.

Good news indeed.

I was also given something to 'help me relax.' I had the same reaction to it that I did with Ellie. I was a very happy camper. Chit chatting in Tagalog, making bets on the baby's hair color (I believe I owe Nurse Patty a Coke Light), and thinking that they really need to get some music in that room. The surgery apparently when well, Zack was born. I did not get to see him right away. BUT, I did get to see. That was a biggie. My first baby with my new eyes--no need for glasses or contacts. It is so nice to SEE.

I was returned to my room and put into the hospital bed. This, by far, was the best hospital bed I've been in--no bumps or jerks as it goes up and down. Great bed. Horrible mattress. Having to lay flat on your back for 8 hours isn't easy on a hard mattress. I came home bruised. seriously. Zack came to me right away, within a half hour of getting to the room. How do you care for a baby while you are flat on your back? that's why here in the Philippines, every body has a person who stays with them in the hospital. So, Ben held him. Oh, and they don't have baby beds available here. So, we ended up bringing in one of our plastic storage containers and putting zack in there. They thought that was really funny. The nurses all came in to see him tucked away in his plastic tub.

Oh, and Miss San Vicente came to do a 'get well' visit with the patients in the hospital and gave me a rose and a box of brownies...which I couldn't eat.

For the first time in my life, I requested the air conditioner to be turned up to full blast. I didn't realize this. It felt fine to me. But Ben went home and brought back blankets and a quilt for Zack. And he kept covering me up as I lay in bed, only to have me kick the covers off.

Oh, and you know that annoying bit where the nurses come every half hour throughout the night? They do that here, too.

The hospital I went to was a strictly vegetarian fare. So, that meant not only was it Filipino cuisine, it was tofu Filipino cuisine. Filipino food is not bad, but tofu is. really gross. I ate some bran muffin that was donated to the 'get suzy better' cause. Ben did eat some of the food. It did not sit well. In fact, it moved quite quickly. and so did he...

One of the major no-nos of have a CS is do not have a cough. It's bad.

I had a cough.

BUT, the Lord is faithful! Here, they wrap your tummy up in an exercise band after surgery. I don't know why. It was very helpful tho, as I was coughing as soon as I could sit up. The wrap, not the incision, took the brunt of the cough. Which is dandy, because I had that cough for well over a week after returning home.

I was released from the hospital 2 1/2 days after surgery. It was nice to get home, but it sure was warm. and humid. We found out at discharge that the bill was 50% more than we had originally been told it would be. Not good. And here you have to pay your entire bill before you can be discharged. All the running around that Ben did--he's a champ--ended in success and we were home by 10 pm.

As we lay down to sleep that night, comfy in my own *soft* bed, just before drifting off, I heard Ben say:

Good job.

A month of ONE's

The last 6 weeks have been pretty interesting:

One awesome visit from Ben's folks and sisters (Thanks, mum, for the BRAN MUFFINS! They are great post-op!)

One new baby (pictures forthcoming)

One major surgery in a developing country

One subsequent infection to take by the horns and conquer (feels good to conquer that kind of thing)

One night of 4 hours of continuous sleep...oh wait, that hasn't happened yet...

One time in my life when the AC was on full blast and I wasn't cold

One moment of coherent thinking in the midst of sleep deprivation :) (my family appreciated that one moment...)

Cheap ear piercings...

The other night, while all blissfully sleeping, a young boy cried out

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!"

This woke his parents up.

Unbeknownst to them, something had happened. Thinking he was scared and perhaps had pinned his ear under in his sleep, he was given his special blanket and sent back to sleep. And the hall light was turned on.

The next morning, happening to be a flight day, dad was off early. That left mom to greet the kids upon waking up.

The young boy came to give his mommy a hug. His ear was crusted over with blood. hmmm...not normal.

Cleaning the ear, the mom found his upper ear had been completely pierced thru, in what looked like a bite. After consulting and looking, it was determined to be a rat bite.

Facts about rat bites:
Rats rarely carry rabies (bonus)
Most people are bitten by rats in their sleep
Most bites occur between midnight and 6 AM
Mostly children are bitten by rats
While rare, rat bites can cause rat bite fever (clever name)

So, the boy was watched, the family waited. No fever, no infection. Good news, indeed.

The offending rat was caught and taken care of...




And the boy was told he could not have his ear pierced...

Rainy Season

Here's some video clips of our rainy season. We've currently had a low pressure system in the area. Who knew that I would know what in the world that meant! For us, it means that rainy, cloudy weather moves in fast, and sometimes just as fast, moves on. (on a sidenote, it also means it is blissfully cooler for awhile, which is greatly appreciated by this very pregnant woman!)
While trying to get our missionaries supplied and transported, we've encountered lots of weather this week. On Monday, Ben was weathered in a couple hours up north for the night. He was able to get back to Puerto the next morning, come home long enough for a shower and a meal, and then he was off again to fly another day!

Avionics

Two full weeks of installation and two full weeks of paperwork. At the end of the month, we were able to get the inspector down here from Manila to check it all out and he approved it for flying in the Philippines. Yeah! Meaning: We were back online. Double Yeah! We had to cancel and/or postpone two weeks sprinkled with flights because of it.

Here's some pictures of the before and after of one of the airplanes that he and another guy did (Thanks Alvin!)

And now Ben has been flying almost everyday to supply and transport our missionaries in the bush before we take a wee break for the new baby.

Ice Skating in the Phillipines

It can be done!
Not just at the Mall of Asia or Mega Mall in Manila, but in your very own home!
All you need is a tile floor and baby powder. Throw in a couple kids and the game is complete. They can make snow angels, they can slide--all without fear of hypothermia! The kids loves it, come away smelling nice, and you have free entertainment.
For more fun, add the puppy to the mix.

Water Water NO WHERE but still a bill to pay

For 5 weeks now, we have had no city water during the day. From before 7 am till after 2 pm, nothing (interestingly enough, the meter still runs...but that is for another day when I discuss conspiracy theories...). My kids are commonly heard to say, 'we don't have any water, not a drop!'

The first few days of our latest adventure were a surprise and understandably led to some frustrating moments. After all, what do you do when you have no water? Well, I can say more what you don't do: you don't do laundry, you don't wash the chickens' cage, you don't clean the kiddie pool, you don't mop and wipe the mold away, and you don't do dishes.

You DO call the water company. And after the first week, they recognize your voice. After the second week, they give up making up new excuses (my personal favorite was that the power was out and that made the pressure low. Hmmm...sorry, miss, the power is not out. Yes it is. Nope, I'm looking at my light and she's a'blarin' away. Oh, well, not all the power is back on and so the pressure is low. I see). After the 3rd week, they start giving you other numbers to call cuz they are tired of hearing your sweet voice growling into the phone (ma'am, the water pressure is weak, but if you don't have any water by 5 pm, then call this number... 5 PM!!! Are you kidding me!) After the 5th week, 'ma'am, why don't you get a water tank?' Wait a minute, that doesn't fix the problem...well, maybe it fixes their problem. And for the record, what is the problem? Apparently, during dry season, the pressure falls and we are uphill from the main line. This does not explain, however, why the pressure miraculously increases every night...

So, where has this left us? Every night, we fill up our bath tub and throughout the day, bucket by bucket, we use it up--for dishes, for watering the animals, for laundry, for mopping. I thank the Lord for the idea of siphoning water from the tub to our washing machine with a hose. And at night, we use the rest for baths or bucket showers if the water pressure is still not 'strong enough'.

But, lest you think that all my hair is pulled out from this ordeal, let me tell you the happiness that has come thru our "trial":
JOY in flushing my toilet
HAPPINESS in smelling clean...anything
SMUG SATISFACTION in knowing my 4 year old son knows the proper usage of the work 'incompetent" (as that is the best description I have for our current service)
TICKLED when I can give my dogs a bath (they aren't so happy about it, tho)

And thru this unique situation, I have not despaired. I have been irritated. And, honestly, an irritated, uncomfortably large pregnant woman is not a good sight to behold: