Babies Galore

The clinic went from a baby drought to a full on flood. It's been super exciting! Yesterday alone we had 3 labors and a total of 8 moms at the clinic overnight. It's been such a blast welcoming the precious newborns into the world, and not only welcoming but being the first hands to bring them in! Each tiny, little finger and every curious, blinking eye just reminds me of God's awesomeness. It's really fantastic, and I'm excited to pursue the career of a clinic nurse midwife. This is the type of job that never dulls or loses it's splendor. Of course, there are the hard parts. We recently had another little baby that was transported due to the lack of variability in heart tones. Turns out, the baby was born with a condition known as gastroschisis. It's a birth defect where the baby is born with its intestines on the outside. The baby had a 2-part surgery to try to put her intestines back inside, but unfortunately she passed away after the first one. Please keep the young family in your prayers. The mom was 18 and the dad 19. It's hard to see this side of birth too, and even harder to continually realize how God has a perfect plan for it all.


It's hard to believe we've only been here for three weeks. Time is just flying by, and Molly and I are definitely not ready to leave anytime soon! I just switched to night shift this week, so that has been a new adventure. Typically, a lot of births come in the night, but lately, we've been having them at any given time of the day. I have now officially "caught" a baby :) ...actually two! Probably one of the most amazing feelings in the world, but I think you already caught my drift from earlier hehe. It's fun to have an active part in the delivery process, but I'm still learning a whole lot so it's nice to sit back and learn from the more experienced nurses/midwives too. I fear that I'm going to be really bored next semester in my mommy-baby rotation for clinicals because there's no way it'll compare to this.

Well that's about it for now, I'll continue to keep you all updated. Thanks again for taking the time to follow me through this trip and to keep me in your prayers! I appreciate it so much and I always love to hear from everyone back home.

Love,
Melissa