Day 137

It's 1:00 am. I've been chatting with the midwife for the past couple hours. Feels so good to catch up on each other's lives. She has been a teacher to me in so many ways.

So, the rapture hit. I'm still here. I will admit that reading on Facebook that there had been an earthquake in the Bay Area tonight did kind of freak me out just a bit. Fortunately, when I called home, no one even knew what I was talking about.

The past couple days have been fairly light clinic days. Some of the new interns are still being helped through each cita, which means I get to go to near every cita there is, yet it hasn't felt overwhelming. However, I totally think this is just the calm before the storm. The clinic is running a deal right now that consists of a discounted package price for the prenatal, birth, and postpartum care ($500) if a woman registers and delivers in the month of May. So many women who took advantage of this deal are about to give birth any day now.

In the down time between citas and births, I've been working with the new interns to develop their skills. They've been practicing blood pressures on me, after a mini lecture from me about the importance of using the right size cuff. We've also been talking about the components of a full physical exam and how to make sure the student knows they are doing it thoroughly and correctly. To their credit, they've been stumping me with questions. I love it, because it forces me to either fake it real well (a skill in itself) or prove that I know what I'm talking about. More than a few times I've given a short lesson about physical assessment skills and then, when the students weren't looking, I went and looked up the info just to confirm I gave the right advice.

I have really enjoyed listening to the midwives share their skills lessons with the students, because I pick up something new each time I hear it. One of the midwives here is particularly skilled in performing and teaching gentle, empowering, comprehensive vaginal exams. I am so grateful I've been able to learn such a valuable skill, because it is so often done in a really crappy way. I'm glad the new midwifery students here are being taught by example how to be compassionate care providers. What an honor it is, really.

The other night, we all watched the movie Kung Fu Panda. I thought it was cute! I loved the line from the wise old turtle, "yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift, which is why it is called the present." Ah, so true.