Me, Caity and the Honeymooners

Since Caity and I finished at the hospital we have done our best to have some fun!!  And by fun I mean tours that include 12 couples on their honeymoon and us.

The first tour we did was a land and sea tour that one of the Midwives hooked us up with. Her friend Joe owns the company and he gave us a big o’l discount. We showed up at the gated dog guarded empty shopping area by the water and were guided in. About 15min later two buses from a local resort dropped off two large groups of American honeymooners. We happily jumped on the boat and at 10:30am the Rum punch started flowing.  The music blasting, the Rum flowing, and the sun shining, it was pretty sweet.  We stopped at some local towns and then they docked the boat and had us jump in the water where we snorkeled and saw some of the most amazing fish!!

 After that we hopped back on the boat and went further south to Soiufriere where we enjoyed the view of the Pitons and we then lathered ourselves at the mud baths and swam in the waterfall.

We then stopped for some delicious Creole Lunch and enjoyed fresh coconut and coco

The tour guides and the couples on the boat were all such awesome people. It was the perfect way to see the island and for the first time I felt like a tourist.

The next day we recovered by the pool and then headed out that night to the local street fair with one of the midwives we worked with and her friend and danced in the street and in the rain.

Today we did what we had been planning on doing for weeks, we zip lined through the rainforest with yet another bus full of American honeymooners.  I’ve wanted to zip line forever and it was pretty awesome. 12 lines that got higher, faster and longer as we went.

We have only one more full day in St. Lucia and then we head back to the overcast chilly 60degrees of Seattle and I can't wait!!

So Long Victoria Hospital

Caity and I decided to work our last day doing the morning shift together and it was the longest slowest day EVER. No babies, and hardly any admissions. We bantered one last time with the Nurses and Doctors, Nursing students and medical studnets who we’ve become so fond of. I said my goodbyes to the security guard who I befriended over the last few weeks.  I helped some moms with breastfeeding and said my last goodbyes to some of the moms who have been on the Maternity ward for the past few weeks.

(Going to miss this mom who was on bed rest for the past 3 weeks awaiting the arrival of her twins)

As I’ve said I got what I came for, I grew and expanded my confidence in my skills.  However, I totally wish I had another breech birth under my belt. It became a joke today that we’ve missed all the vaginal breech deliveries because it either happened fast or the Midwives were unaware of our request to be called.   Regardless they all happened when we weren’t on shift so it just wasn’t meant to be.  Today there was a mother who was stuck at about 4cm with a footling breech. Basically this baby was trying to walk out and it just wasn’t going to happen.  Caity checked her and felt little baby toes grab her fingers. (I so wanted to check her but couldn’t make this Mom go through another exam after all she had been through so far)  We helped get her ready for a C-section and that was the last birth that occurred while we were on our shift.

The day before I caught my last baby as a Midwifery student. This 4^th time mom was hardly contracting and hanging out at 7cm for hours. We finally broke her water and still not much was happening so we did as they do here and gave her an enema.  She went for a walk. Came back almost two hours later and I checked her and she was still 7 so we gave her a tiny tiny bit of oxytocin in her IV and within 10 min she wanted to push. I checked her again and she was STILL 7cm but this time her baby was MUCH lower. We helped her breath, I set up for the birth, put my gloves on just in time to turn around and see the head almost out.  1.5 pushes and her first baby boy was earthside.  It was a great last birth I did everything with ease and sutured without anyone over my shoulder, and after I was done the midwife happily approved of my work. (PHEW)

It’s so weird to develop relationships with people and work with them every day for a month and know that you most likely won’t see them again. There are a few midwives that would love to venture out of St. Lucia and I hope one day to have them come visit and see how we do things on our end.  The hospital is also planning on moving to a new location in the next year and attempts are being made to do things a bit differently so I’d love to come back in a few years with some bright eyed students to see these amazing women again. 

4 more days in St. Lucia and hopefully a little bit more fun before we leave.

Last few days....

We leave in a week and only have a few more shifts left at the hospital!

Friday started off with a bang with baby after baby and since then I’ve had no babies on my past 2 shifts. It’s been slow but I’ve been keeping busy with the theme this week of “my baby is still hungry and I don’t have milk” Oh how these women would benefit from Lactation counselors in the hospital. The midwives do all they can in trying to educate these moms about how the breast is best but some of these new moms aren’t understanding the natural process and would like to hand their baby over to be fed by us. I get it; I can only imagine how exhausting and frustrating it can be to breastfeed especially in the first few days postpartum when these little ones are working so hard to make the milk come in.  And I also understand that breast feeding doesn't work for everyone but it's at least worth a try, right?!  Anyway I’ve done lots of education with these Mommas this week about latch and positions and the process of breastfeeding so hopefully they will be able to take these little nuggets home with them.

  I’m so grateful for my time here . Being here I feel I was able to improve so many of my skills and grow personally and professionally.  I now feel competent in doing catheters, enemas, suturing, and giving IV’s.   Yes, yes I know all very exciting!!  I also was thrilled to learn how to rupture someone’s membranes without using an amnihook (which will no doubt come in handy when I’m stranded at a homebirth with a multip and a birth-bag that wasn’t properly restocked).  I feel more skilled in how to do skills when and if all the luxurious accoutrements aren't available.  The midwives also taught me how to open a bottle without a bottle opener or a lighter, so I’m feeling especially skilled after that.  Being here has made me appreciate the care that I’m able to provide back home and the stressors that come with providing care in a hospital no matter what country you’re in.  I’m grateful for the midwives showing me how they do things and being open to how I’ve learned how to do things.  It’s been an awesome experience!!

Caity and I will now spend our last few days here finishing up our final school work and going on a land and sea tour with some mud bathing and snorkeling along with some other day adventures so stay tuned!