The Last Few Days and Coming Home

I think I left off on last Tuesday, right? The lady who came by in early labor never came back… who knows why. Haha There was not much to do the rest of the day so I just hung out, helped out around the house, went for a walk, helped out with some visits with clients who came later… those kinds of things.

On Wednesday Angelina left! I am not sure if I didn’t know she was leaving because sometimes I can be really oblivious or I just missed it somehow within all of the Spanish… probably a bit of both. She left to go to northern California to visit with a back and neck specialist because she has some serious back and neck issues. It was funny because Aurora is from northern California and actually went to pick her up at the airport and Angelina stayed at her house for a night. It was so funny because I was skyping with Aurora and giving her the heads up on a few things before Angelina came and she had been talking on the Internet with Esteban and gave me the heads up on some things… kind of just like it was when Aurora was still in Mexico!! I was sad that Angelina left, but a little bit relieved at the same time. I had been learning LOTS from Esteban as well and he really tried hard to explain things to me before or after we would do something and he always spoke really clearly and it was easier for me to understand. Angelina is an immeasurable wealth of knowledge and of coarse I was learning a ton from her, but she is a little “all over the place” and can be exhausting at times. When I figured out she was leaving that day I was both very sad and kind of relived. Esteban and I dropped her off at the bus station (and of coarse Angelina, who was already running late, just HAD to go but 5 kilos of tortillas, which is a TON of tortillas, to bring to Aurora and her mom before she left. And since we were already out buying tortillas we just HAD to go buy a million other things too!! Hahaha) I thought for sure she was going to miss her flight, but thankfully she didn’t. Afterwards, I helped out with more consults and hung out with the family. That night I COULD NOT fall asleep, I have no idea why. I finally did around 3:00am… that was a huge bummer because around 6:00am Esteban woke me up because we had a birth! Yay!

Wednesday was a crazy day. The birth in the morning was nuts! I didn’t find out until later, but the lady, Alejandra, had been in the casita since 1:00am and had been laboring all night. She didn’t need much assistance until around 6:00am when Esteban came and got me. She was dilating pretty quickly so we were guessing she was going to give birth by around 9:30 or 10:00am. Unfortunately though, this was not the case. Alejandra was about 10 days past the due date, which is considered within the reasonable boundaries, and is a friend of Esteban’s family, so we had been expecting and hoping for this birth for a while. By around 9:00am Alejandra was almost completely dilated and we thought we were ready to go. Her contractions were hard, long, and strong. She was moving around a lot and we were trying different positions that would help the baby come down more. We did this for a very long time. Our guess time of 9:30/10:00ish came and went and she labored on. The baby, Miranda, was doing fine, but her little head was not quite in the easiest position for birth. It was totally fine, but we just needed to try different things and positions to help her head come down more and not be blocked by Alejandra’s pubic bone. The contractions slowed down a bit and Esteban decided to put her on an IV with some glucose just to help her have more energy. Her body was just so exhausted, that the contractions slowed down a lot. This helped a little, but after some more time with little improvement Esteban decided it was necessary to use some Oxytocin to make something happen. The Oxytocin did definitely make something happen. I was able to do one vaginal check and feel the baby’s head come down. That was a really cool experience. FINALLY by around 12:15pm Miranda started to crown. I had gloves on so Esteban looked at my quick and quietly asked me if I would like to catch the baby… and of coarse I said YES!!! I was very excited, but a little nervous because this was not one of the quick amazing births like I had seen mostly, this was a very slow and tough delivery. Poor Miranda and Alejandra. Alejandra kept saying, “Mirandita, ayudame!” Which means “Little Miranda, help me!” As the head was coming out I tried to do what I has seen Esteban and Angelina do before… and push the labia a little to the side around the outside of the head… I really didn’t know what I was doing though. Esteban was right there though and just kind of did for me what I didn’t know do to hahaha. It was pretty easy to tell after a while though that this was not the most typical birth. Esteban told me to wait and he started to go to work. The baby’s head came out so slow and he had to do a lot to help it come out. After the head was delivered, the rest of the body did not just slip right out… even after the next contraction the body didn’t just slip right now. Esteban thought it was shoulder dystocia, so he told Alejandra to flip over on to her hands and knees… this is where things got a little crazy. Poor little Miranda’s blue head was out; her cheeks were HUGE and she looked very peaceful, but I knew she probably didn’t feel so good. Alejandra was kind of a bigger woman and it freaked me out a bit to watch her try and turn over and all fours while little Miranda’s head with just poking out. We tried one contraction with Alejandra on her side, but still not luck. It was very messy with Alejandra turning over and Esteban trying to pull the baby out. Finally, after THREE contractions with the baby’s head out, Esteban was able to reach up and pull the shoulders out. Alejandra was shaking because she was pushing so hard, Esteban was shaking because he was pulling so hard, I was shaking because I was freaked out of my mind….I reached out my hands and kind of “caught the baby, “ but not exactly because Esteban was already pulling her out hahaha. The poor thing had a very blue face and a very white body. She started crying the instant she came out (gracias a Dios!) and her color improved a lot. It was a bit complicated to give the baby to Alejandra while she was on all fours, but we just passed the baby beneath her and then she turned back over. Needless to say, we were all very dirty and exhausted by the end of it. I was still shaking for a while afterwards. Like all of the other births, everything was totally fine in the end hahaha. Alejandra was great, Miranda was great, everything turned out wonderful! Oh and it ended up not being shoulder dystocia (which is when the shoulders are turned so they get stuck on the pubic bone and you have to reach in and turn the baby a bit), it was just the fact that Miranda was HUGE. For sure the biggest newborn baby I have ever seen. Granted, I have not seen THAT many newborn babies, but still, really really big.

The placenta delivered just fine and was totally intact. You always examine the placenta after a birth to make sure there are no pieces left inside the uterus still, and (I know I am so weird) this is a part that I think is really fun… bahahaha J. Anyways, we also examined the labia to check for any ripping. I was expecting there to be some major damage and for us to stitch up, but there was actually almost none!! We didn’t have to do any sutures; Esteban said it would heal better on its own! Yay!

After everything, I took a much-needed shower, ate some lunch, and went back to bed. Thankfully it was Thursday and there are no visits on Thursdays so Esteban was able to rest as well.

Friday we got a call in the morning that there was a girl in labor in a town about an hour away called Tepotzlan. I think I forgot to write in one of my blogs that I had already been to visit this lady before with Angelina. She and her husband live in the very earthy, hand made cottage up in the mountains. It’s a very small, quaint, circular wooden house with and outdoor bathroom and little electricity. The husband made the house himself! When Angelina and I visited before, one of the major issues with this woman is that she has a very large tumor growing on the outside of her uterus. She is already a tiny girl there is just not quite that much space for a huge tumor and a huge baby!! Esteban and Angelina were confident that her birth would be just fine. The only thing that made me nervous was that she wanted to have a home birth and she lived so far in the mountains, a transfer to a hospital would not be an easy thing to do if it was necessary.

When we got the call that she was in labor, we were both nervous because she was just shy of 35 weeks pregnant, this is relatively premature. Esteban said he thought the baby would be fine and this was probably just because there was not very much room left inside this poor little lady. We were hoping that maybe she just had a UTI or a kidney infection that was causing her to have early contractions (this is REALLY common in Mexico). When we got there I had a big feeling she was not in really labor, and sure enough she was not. We did a quick urine test and she did have a UTI. We stayed there a while and chatted with the couple and Esteban checked out how the baby was doing and gave them some instructions for how to prepare for the actually birth and how to treat the infection.

We left a while later and Esteban asked me if I has seen the pyramids in Tepoztlan. I said no and he said, “Well lets go see them, you are only here until Sunday!” So we went. I had NO idea what I was getting myself into. I was just wearing jeans and a t-shirt with some semi-fancy sandals. We ended up hiking around 2 kilometers up this mountain (I am soooo sore) over slippery rocks!! It was crazy! We got to the top and it was so worth it. There were these crazy animals that I have never seen before that almost attacked Esteban and I because he opened a bag of peanuts. They kind of look like a mix between raccoons, possums, and…. I don’t know… they’re hard to describe. They are definitely not afraid of people and will jump on you to get your food! I was really scared of them. The pyramid was pretty cool, but it was the view that was really awesome. I mean it was really cool that thousands of years ago people were able to build this impressive pyramid at the top of this huge mountain, that’s for sure, but the view of all the other mountains and the cities below was truly breath taking.

We stayed up there an hour or two and then made the trek back down. It was so funny both of our calves would shake every time we took a step down, we both had not been working out enough! Haha

When we got back there were a few more visits at the casita. Two women came in who were having contractions and both of them ended up having kidney infections too!!

Later that night another woman came in REAL labor and it was very obvious that she was really in labor. The baby’s heartbeat was a little bit low, not too low, but just enough to want to monitor things more. Esteban had me stay with the family the whole time and check the heart beat of the baby every 15 minutes and the mom’s blood pressure every 30 minutes. I really enjoyed that though. I had lots of time to talk with the family, teach them about labor support, and actually feel somewhat competent.

Esteban guessed that we would have a baby by around 5:00 in the morning, but that baby just flew out by 2:00am! It was a beautiful baby boy. He didn’t have a name, even after we gave them the birth certificate, but the family was still just as excited and loving as could be. He had the cord wrapped around the neck when he was born, which explained the low heart beat, but we just unwrapped the cord and he was totally fine!

Saturday was a fun day. I went to downtown Cuernavaca with the two youngest sons, Misael and Juanito, and we bought some school books for them and some souvenirs for me. Later that day the three sons and I drove to a different town for “lunch” around 4:30pm. We all laughed and joked and ate and had a good time. Later at the house we watched Spiderman and ate “pan dulce” which I LOVE. I spent a lot of time packing up and getting ready to go.

I woke up around 8:00am on Sunday morning because we had to head out of the house by 9:00am. Esteban wanted to leave so early because he said this was the last day of summer for most people and there would be lots of students heading to Mexico City on this day to go back to school. He predicted that the traffic could make the bus ride to Mexico City almost 3 hours. We headed out around 9:00am, picked up some tortillas for me to bring back home, and went to the bus station in Cuernavaca. I got a ticket for the 9:45am bus to the Mexico City Airport. There ended up being absolutely no traffic on the freeway (HAHAHA!) and I got to the airport a few minutes after 11:00am! My flight was not until 2:40pm, so I had some serious time to kill. I took my time through all of the security and everything, it was nice not to be rushed. It was very empowering to do all of these things on my own too! My bag ended up weighing too much and I had to put a bunch of random things in my carry-on, that was kind of annoying. Once I got through everything and found my gate, I went to a Starbucks, got some lunch, plugged in my computer, and started writing this blog!

I had no issues coming back into the US either. Yay! The only thing was that when the immigration guy asked me where I had gone I answered, “Mexorica.” Yeah… brilliant. I tried to recover, but he just laughed at me. My parents met me right at that place where people can meet you… haha I don’t know what that place is called… but anyways it was great to see them! It felt really good to be home J

More Mexican Life :)

Friday was another pretty laid back day. Everyone was getting antsy because there had not been a birth in a really long time, well at least I was getting antsy… With Aurora gone I felt a little bit weird, I felt like I had to re-find how I fit into the family, but that’s ok. Not much happened on Friday. We had some visits and that was about it. I started to feel a little homesick this day, I think just because I had been gone for so long, I was now the only gringa, and there was really not a whole lot to do.

Saturday was a really fun day. The WHOLE family came over for breakfast. That included the two oldest sons and their wives and all of the children. It was a big crew! And of coarse when I say they came over for breakfast that means we ate around 1:00pm and just called it “desayuno.” After we ate, the oldest two son’s families’ invited me to go to a “temescal.” I didn’t know what it was and they tried to explain it to me, but there was no way I was going to understand, I just had to go. They told me it was kind of like a sauna, but boy was it NOT. I mean, yes, it was a hot room that you sit in and sweat a lot, but this was VERY different.

We pulled up to this random, almost farm looking place and I was very confused… I was expecting us to go to something like a spa. We got out of the car and walked down this grassy path to these little mud/igloo looking things. They had some little shacks built around them with cloths hanging everywhere. So the women and the men split up and we all went to go change our clothes. They said I could bring a bathing suit if I wanted, so I did, but everyone else just got naked and put a sheet over themselves. I decided to leave my bathing suit on… haha. So I followed everyone as we crawled into this mud igloo. I was SO disoriented when I first got in. One thing I did not realize was that it was going to be pitch black inside there. So I crawled in and kind of freaked out because I had no idea what is inside this thing, where I was going, or what I should do- not to mention that its all of the sudden a bazillion degrees!! Of coarse in this crucial moment where I am freaking out, I suddenly cannot understand any Spanish! Thank goodness one of the sons speaks pretty good English and was able to give the poor, confused gringa the simple instructions, “Just sit.”

After a little while I was able to figure out what was going on. It’s just a pitch-black, super-hot, mud-igloo that you sit in and sweat. They had buckets of hot and cold water that you could poor on yourself, pieces of Aloe Vera plants that they call “savila” (or something like that) that you rub on your skin, and these special flower/bush thingys that you brush (well more like whack) each other with. Pretty weird right? Oh yeah and they have these different chants that you can sing and breathing exercises you can do. It is supposed to be a kind of body “de-tox”. So it was all pretty surreal because it’s just so dark and so hot. You have the freedom to come in and out as you want and go back to the changing rooms. We did that a few times and that was nice. Whenever someone would come in or out it would let light in and that is when I would realize how weird it all really was. There were little kids in there, very very old ladies, men, women, everyone… and they were all naked… rubbing plants on themselves and each other… and chanting and humming… and sweating profusely… I don’t know… it was sooooooo weird! It all actually felt really awesome though. I really felt great afterwards. Nobody smelt bad either too, we all smelled really fresh from all the plants that we put on our skin. They told me that the “temescal” is a really really old tradition that was started from like the Aztecs! (I think, don’t quote me one that, but its like thousands of years old). Anyways, that was pretty cool.

Later that day, actually at night, one of the sons, Daniel, and his wife took me out for some Cuernavaca nightlife! One of the other sons, Juanito, came too. We had a great time! We got to talk and laugh and dance, it was really fun!

By Sunday we were all wondering where all the babies were! We wanted some births! Haha, but no, there were none. I hung out with the family during the day. Angelina gave me some lessons in medicinal plants and then we made mole. Mole is a pretty typical Mexican dish, it actually just a sauce that you put over rice and beans and chicken. It is special though because it is made with chocolate! It is very interesting. It is like this spicy, chocolately, sauce. Very different, I kind of liked it haha. After we made and ate the mole I went to church with the family. It was pretty interesting. It was hard for me to understand parts, but it was a good experience overall.

Monday was a VERY busy day. We had visits ALL day long. The clinic is only open from 9-5, but if there are people still waiting after five, they will still do the visits. And on Monday we did visits until 7:00pm with very few breaks! And then we had a girl who was in labor who stayed after that! Thankfully she had lots of family and was not that far in labor, so we could all rest a bit. Her water had broken at 5:00am that morning and she had been having contractions all day. When we checked her in the evening when she came to the clinic she was only 1 cm dilated. This was a little disconcerting, but the baby was doing just fine, so we had no reason to worry. They have three steps that they use to help move labor along if it is needed. First, they give the woman a few homeopathic pills to suck on, this helps the women release more oxytocin. If they need something a little more, they have this AWESOME tea (that I am going to get the recipe for) made from the special plants that they have that helps to release even more oxytocin. The tea is amazing and works really well normally. The third step would be to give the woman and IV of synthetic oxytocin (or pitocin). You see this in hospitals very regularly. We went through the 3 steps with this woman, but even after all of it and many hours, she was only dilated to 2.5 cm. It was sort of a group decision by the family and the suggestion of Angelina and Esteban to transfer to a hospital. The baby and the mom were totally fine, it was not an emergency at all, but most likely in a few hours the baby would need to be out. And by the way her labor was moving she was not going to have this baby in a few hours. We all headed over to the hospital around midnight. Once we were there, there was not much Esteban or I could do so we went back home. I have not heard how things went, but my guess is that she probably had a C-section and she and the baby are probably fine.

So then today is Tuesday. I was really exhausted from the day before and woke up a little late. There was not that many visits, but there was one prenatal class. I would not really call it a class though, it was just one lady. I sat in that for a while, but then started to feel really tired and kind of weak, so I went up to my room and ended up sleeping for almost 3 hours! Crazy! I went back down to the “casita” (that’s what they call the little clinic) for a few more visits and then we got a girl in labor! Yay! She was already 8 cm dilated! She was a very calm, little lady for sure. She would be having a contraction and would just sit and talk to me or to her husband anyways! It was incredible! Within an hour or so the baby was already crowning! She barely even said ouch… it was crazy! The baby just slipped right out at natural as can be, she didn’t tear or anything. It was so beautiful! Her and her husband were very excited. It was a beautiful baby girl J. Her husband did not want to, so I was able to cut the cord! Yay! I felt so special haha.

Births are so beautiful.

There is probably going to be a birth tonight! A lady came in around 6:30pm in very early labor and so we told her to come back when things start to progress. We will see though! Yay!

Another Week of Adventures in Mexico

It’s hard to believe a whole week has already gone by! It was a very good week.

Saturday was another go-all-around-town-with-Angelina day. We started at a homeopathic doctor for Aurora because she was very sick. She is very into alternative medicine. Aurora then took a taxi home and Angelina and I headed off. To be honest I can’t remember all of the places we visited! I was feeling sick as well (but just in my stomach), so this day was a bit of a blur. We visited the woman from the very first day I got there to check on her and everything was good. We awkwardly interrupted her family party, but proceeded to check on everything anyway J Angelina is very funny that way. We also visited Fernanda (from the first home birth I attended.) Of coarse, everything was well there too. Post natal visits usually just include checking on the general health of the mom and baby, checking the baby’s belly button for infections, teaching good cleaning of the baby and it’s belly button, and checking on how the mom’s belly is reducing. Angelina knows lots and lots to help stretch marks, saggy skin, or whatever the issue may be! Somewhere between all of this we did lots of shopping. We always do lots of shopping. I have come to understand that when Angelina says “Ok now we are going back home” (but in Spanish obviously) that NEVER means we are going straight home. We will ALWAYS stop at least once, if not more times to pick up a huge back of carrots, tortillas, tomatoes, herbs, or something! It is pretty hilarious.

Sunday was a pretty cool day. I was able to sleep in a bit. Angelina made AWESOME pancakes and that was a very nice surprise. We all got dressed up and ready to go to a wedding! It took me a while to figure this out, but Angelina and her family are Jehova’s Witnesses and the couple that was getting married were from their church. They explained to me that they had a different kind of wedding ceremony in their church and other things I should look out for. I was excited for the new and interesting experience. We left around noon for the wedding. The church was a really small multi-purpose room, nothing special, and the wedding was a very simple interesting ceremony. I could not really understand what was going on most of the time, but the couple sat a table in the front of the church facing a man who I assumed was the Pastor and he talked to them for a really long time. Then the stood up and said some vows to each other and that was it! Afterwards was the fiesta and that was really fun. It was in the huge, covered sports court/ auditorium kind of thing. There was lots of food and lots of dancing. I had met the bride and groom and some of their family a few days before the wedding at the house so I was able to hang out and talk with them for a lot of the time. Well, not the bride and groom, but the family. They were around my age. Anyways, the wedding lasted all day! Aurora and Esteban stayed back home because they weren’t feeling well and someone needed to be home if there was a birth. So I just went with Angelina and her husband Juan. It was really fun! Lots of Latin dancing, I love it!

Monday was a busy day! I got woken up early in the morning, around 7:00am, by Angelina because there was another home birth! We were not in a hurry, so we got ready, ate breakfast, did some chores, packed up all of the supplies, and headed out by 9:00am. Thankfully the woman lived in Temixco very close by. When we got to the house, the husband greeted us and let us in. He looked kind of Pacific Islander or something and was shirtless with lots of Hawaiian looking tattoos and jewelry. The house was very nice and really big. He lead us upstairs to where his wife was laboring. She was Canadian and spoke Spanish, French, and English. We all just spoke Spanish though.

WARNING: The following contains graphic material that may not be suitable for the faint of heart or weak of stomach.

When Angelina and I got to the couple’s room, she was fully naked and fully in labor. Her and her husband had clearly prepared themselves for the labor. He was very much into to helping her and she felt very free to do whatever she needed to feel better. Angelina, Hector (the husband), or I would use counter pressure (pushing on the woman’s hips from behind and moving back and forth like you are dancing) for each contraction. This is a really good technique that we use a lot here. Somewhere in that time Maria’s (the mama) water broke… kind of all over everyone haha, not really, but it did get on my feet because I was behind her give pressure during the contraction… oh well. She labored for a few more hours and we tried different things and Angelina checked the baby periodically. It was obvious things were moving more rapidly because Maria was in a lot more pain and she was bleeding more and more. At one point, after Angelina was checked on the baby’s heart beat, Angelina stepped outside the room with me and said “El bebe no esta bien.” I FREAKED out inside. Angelina usually never makes a big deal out of anything so for her to say that was like…. AHHHH!!! So I just followed her instructions and got all of the emergency oxygen and other equipment ready. During one of the contractions Angelina gave Maria a quick injection of Pitocin which is the synthetic form of Oxytotcin, a hormone that women release in labor that brings on contractions of the uterus. It’s also a hormone that creates bonding and attachment and is sometimes called the “love hormone” but that’s a whole other thing. Back to the story. Angelina did not say anything to the family about the baby’s slow heart beat, she kept saying lots of positive things, but the way she was working with Maria was clearly different. She was definitely in we-need-to-get-this-baby-out-of here-mode. By the way Maria was laboring, I thought she would give birth standing up, most likely, but Angelina asked her to lie on the bed. Angelina reached in and proceeded to assist in getting that baby out. She had Hector start to do “fundul pushing” which is when a person pushes on the top of the uterus to help get the baby out. It was a pretty high anxiety moment… there were lots of things running through my head. Finally the baby’s head came out, and boy was it big!! Maria and Hector were both able to touch and feel the baby’s head and face. Within a minute or two more the rest of the baby boy was born and of coarse the rest of him was huge too!! He was pretty blue, but he looked the same as the other babies I had seen. He started to cry right away so that was a HUGE relief. After that everything was fine J. If the baby stopped crying, Angelina would rub his feet or something to help him cry some more to get some more oxygen in his system. His color returned and was very health looking relatively quickly. It ended up not being a big deal after all! The new family was absolutely beautiful. Hector was an adorable mess at the sight of his first son. There was no rush for anything so the new family had lots of time to kiss and cuddle and love each other right when the baby was born. So beautiful!!! We then cut the cord, delivered the placenta, and started to clean up. Angelina was, or coarse, very excited about the placenta and wanted to make placenta tacos! Oh yay… So we went down stairs, we cleaned up the placenta and she put me to work sautéing onions and garlic. And then, since I was already cooking everything else, she just threw in the placenta and I cooked the rest of it. Yep, I cooked placenta tacos. I would just like to say, for the record, I did not eat the placenta tacos. Only Maria, Hector, and Maria’s mom ate them, and they really enjoyed them too! It was interesting to say the least.

Maria had torn a little bit so she needed some sutures. I was nervous about this, but I knew this was a very normal part of a midwife’s job and that I needed to experience this. She had not torn vertically, rather laterally on both sides of the inside of the labia. I just helped by getting things for Angelina and holding different things in different places while she stitched. Oh by the way, don’t worry, we totally used a local anesthetic. Just like the kind you get when you get a filling at the dentist. The stitching took a while, but it really was not all that gross, especially because Maria could not feel a thing. After that was done, we did all of the paperwork and foot-printing, measuring and weighing… and a bunch of other stuff haha. It was all really great in the end.

We got back to the house in the afternoon and I rested. There were some consultations at the house and I found out that there had been a birth while I was at the homebirth! I went to bed pretty early because I was totally wiped. Aurora came in the room later that night and told me that there had been another birth! She said she was going to come get me, but the lady was 5 cm dilated when she checked her and them twenty minutes later the baby was born! NUTS! They didn’t have time to come get me. Oh well J

So Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty similar days. No births. Lots of little visits, pre and post natal. I learn a lot doing the visits too, so I was not sad that there weren’t any births. As usual I went out and ran errands with Angelina and did some home birth post-natal visits. On Tuesday there was a prenatal class that some of Angelina’s friends put on, so I sat in for that and learned some more there too! I did lots of good hanging out with the family and Spanish practicing, nothing too crazy though. One lady who was pregnant with twins came in and that was fun!

Today is Thursday and there are no visits on Thursdays. Aurora left today and we almost were going to drive her to Mexico City because they wanted to go to this great and really inexpensive medical supply store there anyways, but it didn’t end up happening, so she took the bus. So sad to see her leave!

The youngest son of the family, Angelina, and I all went out and did errands today instead. We stopped by Angelina’s sister’s house and ate some food and then went to Maria and Hector’s house. The baby and the mom are doing really great! The baby’s belly button was a little infected so we taught the family how to clean it properly. Angelina has a theory about bathing babies, she says its better to bathe them in a more vertical bucket kind of thing rather than a horizontal bath because it’s more similar to being in the womb. So Hector got a bucket and we gave the baby his first bath! You have to really hold on to the baby if you give one a bath like that, he really did seem to like it though! After that we went to downtown Cuernavaca to buy the youngest son his books for school. That was kind of boring because I was really tired, but it’s all good. Angelina insisted on buying me a frapaccino (I am not sure how to spell it) before we left so that was a really awesome and unexpected surprise!! And once we came home I just headed to my room to relax and have some alone time and write this blog J

I love you all and miss you guys!

New Adventures in Mexico!

Wow. So much to write and so little time! I am in Mexico now and I cannot even tell you how different it is here! I am really enjoying myself though.

The last few days in Costa Rica were really sad. I really had a great last week though! My classes finished out well and I was able to spend some good quality time with my friends. I am starting to feel a little homesick for Costa Rica. I miss it a lot already! Going to the airport and through all the customs and security and all was annoying and a hassle, but it all went very smoothly, thank goodness!

My dad met me in the airport in Mexico and it was really nice to see him after so long! We both took a bus from Mexico City to another big city called Cuernavaca. I feel asleep on the bus because I hadn’t slept all night! The bus was really nice and played a movie for everyone. Once in Cuernavaca my dad and I took a taxi to Angelina’s house in another town called Temixco (teh-mees-koh). I was really nervous because my Spanish is still not all quite there, but there was not much I could do! Angelina came out and greeted us right away! I can’t really explain to you the kind of woman Angelina is, but she is pretty incredible! She greeted us really warmly and invited us in and my dad just stood smiling. She took us through the side of the house and up some outdoor stairs up to my room that I would be sharing with the other girl who is staying with Angelina named Aurora. She is 24, studying to be a midwife and speaks fluent Spanish, kind of a HUGE blessing haha. The room is really nice and I have a pretty large bed, a desk, and room to put my stuff. The bathroom separates Aurora and my room from Angelina’s and the three of us share it.

I had some time to settle in and then, sooner than I expected, we all headed out to go for lunch/dinner with some other midwives in a city called Zepotztlan. We had some really interesting, but yummy, organic food. It was a very interesting meal because I was not understanding everything that was going on, just parts, but Dad was totally lost. Poor guy! Haha. Still fun though. Angelina’s family, Aurora, Dad, and I all went afterwards to visit a woman who had given birth the night before in her home and they wanted to check on her. She had bled a lot and fainted after the birth, but thankfully recovered just fine! (Angelina and I went back again to see her two days ago and she is doing even better and the baby is beautiful!)

Angelina has a husband, Juan, and 5 sons! The youngest three live at home with her and the older two are both away married and have children. The oldest of the three that live at home is also a midwife! It is really something! He is really smart, loves midwifery, and helps me out a lot! There are lots of other people here at the house all the time too, its nuts! Angelina’s father is not mentally well in his old age and he lives here and everyday Angelina’s sister comes over who is also not mentally well. There is a cook/house keeper named Estella who is here every weekday and lots of other people… its crazy! And that is just the “house” part of this place. In the front yard is the birth center where women come to give birth and for other women’s healthy and pregnancy needs. They wait in the driveway if it is a busy day.

On Sunday my Dad and I went into Cuernavaca to see the city and be tourists. We walked around the city went to a cathedral, a museum, and a zoo! Later we went back to Temixco to eat dinner at my Dad’s hotel and walk around Temixco. It was really nice! I got to get to know the town around Angelina’s house and pick up a few necessities along the way. Later we went back to Angelina’s and hung out with the family. We talked (well tried to talk) and Dad played a little guitar and taught one of the sons some songs, it was really fun! Later we played a game called “Basta” which is the Spanish version of Scategories! It was tough to play in Spanish, but all the gringos were allowed to write words in Spanish and English haha.

Dad had to leave on Monday and that was sad, but I was able time to catch up on some much needed sleep and that was good. I observed and helped out with a few prenatal visits on Monday and Tuesday and hung out with the family. It took me a while to figure out the flow of life around here. I am still adjusting to it even now. There really is no normal flow of life. People come and go constantly; women come to the clinic for different reasons; if there is a birth, than there is a birth; you eat and sleep when you can and do everything else that you need to do somewhere in between all of it. AH! It’s a little nuts.

On Wednesday, around five in the morning, Angelina came into my room and told me there was a women in labor who was having a home birth and asked me if I would like to come and of coarse I said yes. So I quickly got ready and we packed up the car FULL of different supplies and headed out to Cuernavaca, which is about 30 minutes away from where we live. I was extremely excited! The house was a nice little condo that was very modern and clean. When we got there the woman, Fernanda, was laying on the bed while her husband was filling up buckets of hot water to fill up the inflatable tub they had set up in their room. Fernanda was in early labor and dealing with it all beautifully. She would take a deep breath in when each contraction began so we would all know to come and support her and the fall asleep when it was over. She was very calm and quiet and very much concentrating on her baby. Angelina and I were doing lots of different things, she taught me different foot massages and pressure points in the feet and ankles that help release hormones that speed up labor, we set up lots of “just in case” things around the room, and assisted the husband with the different things he needed as well. After a few hours of labor Fernanda changed her clothes and got in the tub. I was put to work getting more hot water from the shower. While I did that, Fernanda’s contractions came closer and closer together and before I knew it the baby was crowning! We all came around her, with Angelina at the edge of the tub ready to catch the baby, and she pushed the baby’s head out quietly beneath the water. She gave one more good push and the baby came out! It was about 9am in the morning with a little light coming through the windows; it could not have been more beautiful. The baby was very blue and covered in lots of “baby cream”. Angelina immediately placed the baby on the mother’s chest and everyone was in awe. It was an amazing moment! The baby began the cry very soon after the birth and Angelina helped to suction out some of the fluid from the baby’s nose and mouth. The baby was a beautiful baby girl named Camila. Everything moved very slowly and calmly before, during, and after the birth. It was really a beautiful thing. The baby’s color turned a nice pink tone within a few minutes, Fernanda began to breast feed and I helped to take lots of pictures and videos. Angelina said that the “baby cream” is really good for the skin so all of the grandparents wanted to have some on their face! Haha that was pretty cute… and weird. Fernanda got up after being in the tub a while and moved to the bed to deliver the placenta. Since she began to breast feed really quickly this allowed the placenta to come out quicker and easier (because of the hormones breast feeding creates). Angelina prepared the umbilical cord and Fernanda’s husband cut it. So beautiful!

As the family oogled over the baby, Angelina and I began to clean up. Of coarse, Angelina wanted to keep the placenta to give it to her friend… so we went out to the backyard to cut out the pieces that were good to keep and put it in some tupperwear… It was interesting to say the least. After that I began to take buckets of the water from the tub and pour it into the garden. I made like a million trips and was kind of sweaty and exhausted by the end, but its all good haha. The family fed Angelina and I some breakfast tacos and we all hung out for a while. Angelina went back to the mother and baby later to weigh the baby and test her reflexes, measure her, do all of the paperwork, and put her in a nice little outfit. That was very fun.

After a while Angelina and I packed up our stuff and headed out to give the placenta to her friend. However, if you go with Angelina to do one thing, you have to be prepared to do a million other things as well. So first we had to go to the store to buy Angelina a new shirt because she had gotten it all bloody. And of coarse we walked through the whole store (its was like a Costco/ Wal-mart kind of store) and bought a million other things and spent a really long time there. THEN we were on our way to drop off the placenta, but we drove right by the home of a girl who Angelina attended the birth for a few months back so we had to drop in and say hi. She was very young and super cute and they lived in a little adorable farmhouse. After that we headed out again and stopped at another lady’s house, the same one who had bled a lot that we had visited the first day, and she was doing great and so was the baby. We checked on his belly button and it was healing well. Then we finally headed out to the lady’s house to give her the placenta. It was REALLY far way up in these gorgeous mountains in this interesting gated wilderness community. Angelina asked me to hold the tupperwear with the placenta in my purse so we wouldn’t freak people out and some of the placenta blood totally leaked out into my purse, through my purse, and onto my pants… awesome… all of the dogs really enjoyed coming up to me and smelling me… ugh, that was pretty gross. So we hiked up this hill to the lady’s house, she turned out to be American and actually did not want the placenta… AYE! Que lastima! That was a lot of work for nothing. Oh well haha. So I was exhausted by this point, but we were not done yet! We made about three more stops on the way back to pick up MORE food! Hahaha INCRIEBLE!

We finally headed home around 5 pm and I grabbed some food and headed for bed. I slept for about 5 hours only to be woken up again that there was another birth! I was excited still though. Esteban (the oldest son who is also a midwife), Auroa, and I all helped with the birth because Angelina was getting really sick. The girl was 17 and was there with her mom and her sister and her boyfriend. I stayed with them and I did lots of labor support and helped her through the pain while Aurora and Esteban slept. I was a little nervous to stay with her by myself, but I just counted the minutes between her contractions and looked for signs that things were moving along more quickly. Esteban and Aurora were just steps away if I needed them. She labored beautifully for 3 or 4 hours, not that long after had a beautiful baby boy! She had him on one of the beds in the birth center and Esteban caught the baby. It was about 3:30 in the morning. I went back to bed shortly after and Esteban stayed with her afterwards since he had been sleeping. We all worked together so that we could all sleep a little. It was great!

So on Thursdays the clinic is closed (except for births and emergencies) so it was nice to be able to hang out and catch up on a little bit of sleep. I didn’t do much, hung out around the house a lot. Slept a lot. Ate a lot. Studied a lot. Nothing that exciting. At night, around 9 or 10, a women came to the clinic in early labor. She was doing well so Aurora suggested that I go to bed and they would wake me when things moved more quickly. She labored a lot of the time on her own with the father of the baby. Angelina went down to see her around 3 am and then came and got Aurora and I (because Aurora had gone to bed too) around 4 am and we helped prepare everything that was needed. By the time we got there she was very close to having the baby. She was using the cloth they had attached to the ceiling (I don’t really know how to explain it better than that) to move through the contractions and the contractions were very close together. Angelina had me run into the house to grab something for her and by the time I came back they head was already out! Within a few seconds the baby came out too! It was extremely quick! She was standing up the whole time so the baby practically fell out! Aurora caught the baby and she told me later it came out so quick she thought she was going to drop the baby! The baby is a girl and her name is Sarah. She is just as beautiful as her mother. The placenta took a while to deliver and was a bit of a struggle, but it came out fully intact and looked lovely haha. Angelina got a piece of paper and made a print of it for the new family after Aurora and I cleaned it up a bit. We all helped clean up after the birth and everyone, including the new mom and baby, went to sleep.

So today is Friday and it was another slow day. Gracias a Dios! A few women came in for consultations and one lady who was pregnant came in because she had a lot of pain and it turned out she had a urinary track infection. The woman who had the baby last night stayed most of the day and we filled out paper work for her. Angelina and I were going to go to visit the lady who had the water birth, but Angelina has been really sick so we did not end up going. I had a lot of free time to myself today so I rested and wrote out this whole thing haha. Who knows what will happen tonight, maybe another birth or maybe just time to hang out with the family? We will just have to wait and see.

I am learning so much! My brain is always tired because I am taking in so much Spanish and so much new knowledge about midwifery! I am loving it all though. All of the births have been absolutely beautiful! None of the women have torn or needed sutures yet, which is really awesome! I am sure I will experience that at some point, and I am excited to learn about it, but for the sake of the women I think it is great!

I know this is an extremely long update, I hope you all enjoy it because it took me a long time to write! Hahaha. Please excuse my grammatical errors and typos if there are any. My brain is too full of Spanish to be able to worry a lot about English. Apologies! Much love from Mexico! Besos!

Last Days in Costa Rica

It is my last day in Costa Rica. I am so sad!! I have had an awesome last week though. My friends and I went out to Salsa and Merengue dancing clubs most nights this week. It was very fun! On Tuesday night, after we went dancing, a group of us (very spontaneously) decided to go to the closest beach to San Jose called Jaco! It was CRAZY! It was about an hour drive there and it was already 1:00 am... we drove right up onto the beach at about 2:00 am and hung out there. I kinda fell in the water with my clothes on... hahaha! Thankfully the water was really warm and I didn't fall all the way in. It was kind of raining and there was a thunder and lightning storm that we watched out over the ocean. We were literally the only people on the beach and we had so much fun! We got a little hungry later and got pizza around three and then went back to the beach again. We got back in San Jose in time to take a shower and get ready for class... it was NUTS! Even though it was a little bit dumb, it was so worth it! It was so spontaneous and so fun, it is definitely one of my highlights of the trip.

Last night we went out to the normal Thursday night place called Castros. It is a Salsa and Merengue club with a very 90s vibe (I can't put my finger on why I get that vibe, I just do haha). We were all having a good time dancing and then one Tico randomly asked me to dance and it was definitely a good decision! He turned about to be a Latin ballroom dance instructor!! He knew these crazy moves and was such a good leader I didn't have to think about anything and I felt like I pro! He was twisting me and turning me and picking me up and down!! I felt like I was on Dancing With the Stars of something! It was really really fun!

So classes ended fairly well. I am not sure what I got in the class, but that is ok. I feel like I learned a lot and the was the goal in the first place. I am still pretty nervous about going to Mexico. I feel like I will be able to get by fairly well, but I am nervous the Angelina (the midwife) will be frustrated that I am not fluent or something... I don't know. It is kind of superficial, but it is just a fear that I have. I just really want her to like me! hahaha :)

I can't believe I am going to Mexico tomorrow!!! I am excited to see my dad and to start a new adventure. It is going to be so hard to leave here though... The longer I am here the more I want to come back. I thought four weeks would feel really long, but it was the fastest four weeks of my life!

Please be praying for my safety in Mexico and my Espanol (por favor!). I miss you all and I can't wait to tell you how Mexico is!

Weekend #3!

So for my last weekend in Costa Rica my friends and I decided we would stay in San Jose, see the city a little more, and REST. And that is exactly what we did. On friday Monse and I went to a local ballet! It was the perfect event for the evening. I wanted to do something fun, but I was extremely exhausted from the week (and the salsa dancing from the night before!). The ballet was a local production at a smaller venue and cost about the equivalent of $5! It was a modern ballet so it was very unique and I LOVED that! They did a lot of partner dances and used really interesting props and costumes. So fun!

Saturday some of my friends and I went downtown to do some shopping and go to a museum. The shopping was great, but the museum was kind of boring. Oh well. Later I went up to a "mirador," which is a place up in the hills around San Jose where you can see all of the city. There was a little restaurant at the top and it had a big grassy area in the front with benches to sit on and look at the view. It was late in the afternoon so it was a gorgeous time to be up there. Later that night I hung out with some of my local friends from Veritas at school and they showed me some of the art work they have been working on. I just love how much creativity is at Veritas. It is such a fun environment to be in and learn in!

Sunday was a very relaxing day. A few of us tried to find a Church service to go to, but kind of failed.... We got in the taxi and found out that it would be about a $3o ride one way and none of us had that much money, so we just had to go back home. We really did try though!! haha

Later I worked on homework on the balcony and took a nap. Monse and I went to a really nice mall a few cities away and went to the movies. We saw Shrek 4 in 3-D in Spanish. That was fun! We went to the movies with the intention of going to a VIP movie. A VIP movie here is really interesting and we are dying to try it. You get to sit in like a lazy boy kind of chair and they have waiters who come and serve you and you can order a nice dinner, even sushi! Movies here a super cheap too. The VIP movies are only $8! (not including the food you order). Unfortunately all the VIP movies were sold out so we just went to a regular one and that one only cost $3. It was super crowded in the theater, definitely a popular place to be on a Sunday night. It was a lot of fun!

Today I began my last week of school... so sad! I really feel like my Spanish is improving exponentially every day! One thing I still need more improvement on is my comprehension. It already has improved so much, but many times when someone talks directly to me I get nervous and can't understand. I have one more week to really improve before I go to Mexico, so pray for my comprehension! It is much needed.

I am having so much fun and I miss you all!

Regular Life in Costa Rica :)

I am comprehending so much more Spanish and I love it! I had to give a 20 minutes presentation in my class today ALL in Spanish. It went pretty well! It was a lot of work though and I am relieved its done. I am still having lots of fun. The weather is still really nice every morning with crazy rain EVERY afternoon... It is a little out of control, but I am really enjoying this tropical weather! I don't have a ton to update, but I am having lots of fun and learning a lot!