Mercy In Manila

How amazing it is to see God at work in our hearts as he smoothes out our rough edges. I have to confess that I have had my moments of not being "like Jesus" since being here...Life carries on after coming off a 24 hour birth shift with little sleep! God's grace is there all the same, ready to be received. His grace IS sufficient for me!
My last birth was on Thursday, April 20th, with one of my favourite patients, Rosemarie. She gave birth to a beautiful daughter and named her after me. "Joyce" a twist on Jocelyn. I was so humbled by her decision on a name...Joyce Emily is a healthy girl with an active 3 year old sister named Rochelle who "helped" me at every prenatal appointment by pumping up her mom's blood pressure cuff, holding the doppler or the one end of my measuring tape! I have enjoyed getting to know their family. It's one of my favourite parts of midwifery and ministry...relationship!

Two weeks ago I was at a birth that became an emergency. A baby boy was born with a quintuple cord wrap around his neck. At first it looked as though the cord was wrapped three times, but as we kept unwrapping, it became obvious the cord was tightly wrapped twice more around. So tightly it left an indentation in the baby's neck. There were no signs of distress prior to the baby coming out. As we quickly unwrapped, we prepared to resuscitate the baby as there was no respiratory effort on his part. Praying out loud the whole time, we gave PPV (positive pressure ventilation) breaths to the baby with an Ambubag and oxygen. The baby's heart rate was fine and after just 5 breaths, he began to cry. We serve an amazing God and in His hands are "the life and breath of every creature" (Job- the Bible)
I believe we are so priveleged to see miracles every day at the clinic. Our God is a good God.

That same birth, the mom began to bleed so we handled it by getting the placenta out quickly, by giving an injection of Pitocin and doing CCT (controlled cord traction) once the placenta has separated from the uterine wall. Still, she lost nearly a liter of blood so I had to insert an IV with replacement solution (Lactated Ringers) for the first time in an emergency situation. Again, I was praying through...please God help guide my hands so that this IV goes in smoothly! And He was faithful. What a great feeling to see that fluid running out of the bag and into the tubing!
His Spirit brought calm to that room and though things were stressful, they never felt chaotic.
I know He walks through each experience with me and I am so grateful for the peace He brings. His strength not mine, His love not mine, His hope not mine, His power, His joy, His promises. To Him be all honour, glory and praise