Stay-at-home no more?!

Caleb is turning 16 months soon and my stint as a stay-at-home mom is getting a new twist. The 16 months were fast-paced and insightful. Becoming a mother changed me.

First, I became more conservative in two major aspects. I have always been the adventure-seeking type and never had any second thoughts about small plane rides or routine open-sea boat trips. 

That changed.

I also had the tendency to splurge when I am sad. That also changed.

Scariest ever. Didn't know I was 2 weeks pregnant.

Flight out via a chartered plane in Pamalican. ~16  weeks pregnant

Official summer travel costume during boat rides. Don't laugh.  Did I tell you I can't swim?

Transferring to smaller boats called "bote-bote" during low tides.

Second, I found new passions.

Mommies ask what kind of doctor I am (a tiny one?! haha!). Back ten years ago, all I knew was that I wanted to become a doctor but didn't know that there were many different kinds of doctors. And that to be this or that kind, 3 to 5 years of study, on top of 5 years of medical school, on top of a college degree is a must. Had somebody warned me, I wouldn't have pursued medicine anymore - nah! 

When I was training, I enjoyed almost all fields thoroughly except Psychiatry. (Untoward patient experience. Interns should have salaries or should be insured.). When people asked me what I wanted to be, I tend to answer the specialty where I was rotating in (meaning my answer changed almost every month). I have always dreamed of going to a far-flung place so I felt eager-beaver with all the procedures I can get my hands into. For possible future application, I thought. Served well, great foresight, I had a screaming and kicking psych patient under my care during a tedious 16-hour boat ride. I will never forget that for the rest of my life.

Got this from a kid's nose. The tamarind seed, not the coin. Mother was so happy she brought me a chicken the next day.

Upper GI Bleed.  December 24. Thank heavens, it resolved.

Stab wounds (the involved parties, all  3 of them at the same time, this was the least graphic). Christmas day.

After my barrio stint, I was left with 2 loves to choose from -- obstetrics and ophthalmology. While pregnant, I have seen how my obstetrician cared for me (love her so much!). Knowing my tendency to be OC with patients, I felt I might not be able to adapt to a similar future lifestyle. What a vocation. They have my utmost respect.

When Caleb arrived, I came to terms with my motivation for wanting to become an obstetrician. It was not the prenatal trips. It was not the rush that a bloody surgical field gives. It wasn't even the "baby out" frenzy. 

It is the magical moment when the mother sees her baby for the first time. And equally magical, almost sacred, is when the baby starts to latch on at her mother's breast. 

(Nope, I am not going to say Pediatrics yet. It's still Ophtha for the past 20 months.) 

At the time I delivered,  the WHO and DOH were putting into place a set of  simple guidelines (with emphasis) proven  to result in less infection and less harmful events for both mother and child (ergo less deaths, less hospital stay, less hospital bills, happier experience). The guidelines were relatively new but my attending physicians were proponents of it, so I was confidently delighted. 

To my dismay, the hospital failed to apply it to me and my boy despite the standing orders.

I lovingly prepared a bonnet for my baby as the guidelines called for. The first ever garment that will touch him, I thought. It was lost forever.

Caleb stayed all night in the nursery,  alone in an unfamiliar environment instead of hearing my soothing voice that sang to him every night while he was in my tummy.

He lay in a bassinet, with all the hospital bacterial flora he gets into contact with instead of getting the protective bacteria that my skin can afford.

He was bathed the soonest he could be washed - babies can't cope in the cold like us adults, and early bathing is proven to be a cruel thing to do to a newborn! (Can you imagine dipping a newborn puppy in water? Yep, this is what is being done in most hospitals to newborns. I will tell you more soon why this doesn't make much sense).

I was told that I had to be rolled all the way into the nursery, in all my post-Ceasarean glory, IF and IF I wanted to breastfeed my baby.  (There was no medical indication for Caleb to stay in the nursery by the way).

My bouncing baby boy was wheeled away from Mama :C

I spent my first night as a mother sobbing to have my child taken to my side. And I, a doctor, can't do anything about it. It was terrible. When my attending neonatologist came, I broke down into inconsolable tears and garble. Was my frustration justified or was it the hormones? I think both.

In fairness, Caleb was latched on to me after he was dried and while I was being stitched up. For less than 5 minutes, if my Nubain-tainted memory serves me right. I am not blaming the well-meaning hospital staff or the hospital. In fact, what they did was the norm in most hospitals. And this is what we are trying to change.

Going back to my new life twist.. 

My teacher, a well-respected neonatologist,  was commissioned by the WHO and DOH to form UNANG YAKAP. It's a group of gentle doctors - general practitioners, pediatricians, obstetricians, anesthesiologists, neonatologists and public health specialists - who advocate simple and life-saving birthing and newborn care practices. So far, they have trained health staff from different provinces - from the ARMM to the different military hospitals, from small birthing clinics to big wig (yup, I am talking about big and famous) private hospitals. I got excited when she invited me hang out with them so that I can expand my horizons.

The Unang Yakap team also recently held a workshop in the hospital where I delivered. Hopefully, they will choose to abide.

The idea is all Filipino mothers and newborns, rich or poor, deserve the best care. Our desire is to make it so viral, that all health-care providers will adapt the practices OR all pregnant mothers would ask for it, whichever comes in first.

WHO-DOH Unang Yakap Essential Intrapartum and Newborn Care Team Workshop in V. Luna Hospital. Me in plaid.

If you are pregnant, or if you have a loved one who is pregnant, tell them about UNANG YAKAP.  If you are a doctor, a hospital or a local policy maker who wants to bring UNANG YAKAP to your community, you can also get in touch with us. 

I am still a stay-at-home mom out on occasional advocacy stints with the team. And I am still breastfeeding my toddler. Residency training is in 7 months!

Excited to live in between :)


Lei
"..by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me is not without effect” (1 Corinthians 15:10)