Midwifery 101, Labs

Yes, it is true, I have taken my first course in midwifery in the form of a goat birth practicum. It was really cool.

8:00 a.m. Sunday, Bethel who was on weekend duty, came to the apartment door waking me up to tell me that Frosty was obviously trying to pass something. I was pretty nervous because on Friday we had taken Frosty in with several other goats for an ultrasound to try and confirm who was and was not pregnant. Our ultrasound friend, Earl Peacock, said it looked like something very abnormal was in her uterus- a mass or infection, possibly a kid but not anything healthy, and that we would possibly need to induce a labor soon if her body didn't pass it on its own. poor thing.
So back to the story
I run, litterally, up the road to the dairy barn and see that, indeed there is something starting to make its way out of Frosty's back side, so she had apparently been working for a while. I could see her belly tighten and I could see her demeanor change when the contractions came, close her eyes, seem really focused, get down on her front knees, and I would send her love and encouraging thoughts when they came. I tried to stay back and watch without bothering her, not wanting to interrupt her hard work or frighten her in any way. I got some clean straw down in one area and she new it was for her so she went there and then man, she really started pushing it out! I was really afraid that whatever her body was laboring to get out wasn't going to be healthy or that, if it wasn't shaped like a kid, that i might have to help her get it out. I was terribly relieved when I could tell it was a little hoof and a head coming out together! Justin arrived and, of course, he thought it was gross looking. what a jerk. but then he noticed the little baby open up it's mouth and so we could tell it was alive! So exciting.
Within 5 minutes she had laid down on one side and the contractions became really productive! she started bleating really loudly and it was just seconds and he was out! She went to work immediately licking him off. I brought over some hay, she was starving!
The kid was really big for a newborn, and was completely healthy! I am so relieved that our ultrasound got it wrong!

Let me just tell you, you're lucky i didn't have my camera with me or you'd all see things that would gross out most and only very few of you would think were cool or beautiful. Today's a day off for me since i worked all day yesterday with baby and momma so maybe i'll go out and take a picture of baby Billy Jack for you to see him in all his cuteness.

HOORAY!

Day In, Day Out

Should I be feeling this odd sense of guilt and obligation whenever I haven't updated this thing in a long while?

No.

Welllllll. My cell phone was recently borrowed (as long as I have hope of it returning to me, I will continue to say that it has only been borrowed and not stolen by you, stealthy 8th grade girl!) So a feeling of disconnection this week has pushed me to this desperate point- actually writing something on my blog.

Well folks, Justin has a job, and a great one at that. He is the Maintenance Coordinator for Mission Waco. ...close enough to ride his bike, wonderful co-workers, volunteers assist him from the male drug and alcohol rehab house, and this is sufficient fundage for his current needs!

He also just moved. He now lives at Barron estates with Cici and Tim Carter and Jared and Laura Himstead and with Ollie and Indie (puppies). His room is literally about 7x8 feet so he's building a loft for his bed.

I am enjoying my many jobs and accepting their challenges, occassionally even with grace. I'm learning a lot about race dynamics in these public schools and I have also gotten a smidgen better at managing the bahavior issues that come hand in hand with kids who live near the poverty line.

My days are almost always wonderful from 7:00 to 12:00, and it's the rest of my afternoon that cause me to long for the weekend. Garden clubs are where my frustrations lie. I am no good with kids from grades 3-12. God help me if I ever find myself thrown into youth ministry. Last week I left Sul Ross garden club beside myself with irritation. This week at Brazos Middle School my phone walked off. My attempts at being seen as fun and caring and interested in these kids personally sometimes backfires- especially with 6-8th grade kids. I am not seen as someone to be respected or trusted so they're leery of me. They do not think I am cool, they do not think what we are doing is interesting, they don't want their pants, shoes, or hands to get dirt on them, and they don't want a hippie white lady teaching them about organic gardening...I am the object of a lot of jokes and laughter throughout my 60 minutes/week at BMS. slowly, slowly.


My house, my church, my kitchen and my garden are my refuge. On MLK day I baked Christmas cookies and that brightened my perspective on things. That day and the following inaugural day made me happy and give me excitement for the future.


In other news, I need braces. Yippee $3,500!!



Well, I have garden club preparations to do.


Peace

Can I get a 1-2-3?

Or even an Uno- Dos- Tres would be good for now.

I've started school. Actually, I'm three weeks well into school. I thought I was pretty prepared for teaching little kids after nannying the Flanagan boys for 4 years, but in ways that I couldn't have anticipated, this job is difficult.

I did anticipate the following in this job:

• kids crying the first few days
• teaching them how to wash their hands, stand in a line, and other basic necessities
  
• throwing rocks on the playground
• needing to put kids in time out
  
• throw up
• snot

I did not anticipate:

• needing to tackle kids bolting for the door
• that speaking English to the kids would still get no response after three weeks
  
• that I would not be teaching them English so much as taking a crash refresher course in Spanish
• laughing every day at their preciousness
  
• being utterly exhausted every day of the week by 11:30
• poop
• yes, I said poop. One of the kids brought me a fecal sample of their very own on the playground with the words, "teacher, I need to go to the bathroom, see?"

It is a very good job but it is tiring. I have regained about 1/2 of my Spanish, still only speaking in present tense with an occasional fue, fuiste, fuimos or fueron (it's the past tense for "go"- it means "i/we went"). While I'm glad to be speaking Spanish again, my goal here is to teach them English- which is very hard for now. see the following: I get no response to "stop throwing the blocks!" and get an immediate response to "no lanze los bloques!" and since I'm a thinking being, I do not want to continue to do those things which provide me with no results. Therefore I've been learning a lot of Spanish rather than teaching much English.


Theres not a whole lot more to say about school. It's fun. Every day I have another funny story to tell my roommates when I get home. Every day they hug me. They're terribly cute and I like them all, even the defiant ones.


Here are some pictures for you:

mi casa con las bouganvillas.


These two plants belonged to Justin's grandad. I inherited them when he passed in June and nursed them back to health.

Una parte del jardin! Here all you can see are sweet potatoes, squash, tomatoes, but there is much much more.


CHICKENS!!
the two in the middle here are Grushenka and Old Warsaw


here we have Mr. Boltitude and Gingo


I love Old Warsaw's feathers



This is actually my roommate. Kris Hiew. Yes it is.
don't laugh too hard- he got $20/hr for this



This past weekend was spectacular. It was a huge Waco reunion as Ethan Durelle played their last show together. 8 years as a band and you'll know a lot of great people.
These are from the show at CG:

I have the WACO sign in this one. mucho gusto




The amazing Reeve Hunter.
L-I-V-E in the H-E-B

And there's Ellie, on stage with her best friends. The pinacle of this experience for me was watching her singing at the top of her lungs "I'm not worthy of this life."

Oh yeah, after the show- around 2am, roughly 40 people came over to hang out. Enough stayed the night to fill every room other than the kitchen and bathroom. We had 20 in the house when I woke up the next day. good grief.


All in all it was a poignant and triumphant close to the 8 years of music. I was glad to be a part of the final day. I love my family here.

kids that I love: