hello again...today is a mellow day here at the clinic. one midwife from canada leaves tomorrow and 2 assistants leave sunday. time for changes. the clinic is virtually empty with only one mama in residence right now. it is her 1st baby and she arrived here at 7am at 1 cm and no effacement. for you lay people out there that means...for a 1st time mama...not a whole lot is going on. effacement is how soft or "ripe" the cervix is on a scale of 0%-100%, so she was 0% effaced. and dilation is how far the cervix is open on a scale of 1-10...10 means you will soon be having pushing urges...and well, you know what 1 means:) after resting for hours we encouraged her to get up and get walking..."jalan jalan" as we say in indonesia. we tell her to "makan" eat and have "minum" drink. here at YBS the mamas are asked to bring in a large bottle of water for labor. after they arrive we add liquid chlorophyll and honey to their water...a little trick of the trade that really seems to work for keeping the energy up in labor. i would love to offer this to my clients back home so i think i will add it to my supply list and see how it goes. the women here are troopers to put it simply. they never waver...
honestly, i am not feeling so well today. i have a fever, accompanied by a little "bali belly" (if you know what i mean). i am trying to rest as much as i can until our mama gets "cookin"...don't worry mommy (aka: Judy Pugh) i really am fine. it is pretty much a given that you will get sick here at some point, in one manner or another. but of course i am in good hands b/c everyone is offering me remedies...mostly natural. i took gelsemium, a homeopathic for fever...which actually seems to be working b/c i am now sweating it out rather than just feeling hot inside. on about the 3rd day i was suffering from "prickly heat" common in fair skinned tourists who are not used to the moist heat. i had a minor rash on sensitive areas and just felt ithchy. it is amazing how we adapt so quickly...in 24 hours i felt better and it hasn't returned. it is actually a really pleasant temp. in the 80's with rain about every other day. i also took apis, another homeopathic herbal remedy for the prickly heat. it really seemed to help also. i know matt is cringing right now, but my faith in homeopathics is really growing!!! we use them a lot here in labor, so again i am learning a lot. i also learned an incredible new position for "getting the baby out when nothing else is working"...ironically it is an excellent position for making babies as well as for getting them born. details upon request:) love to you all across the seas!!!
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