Monday, August 27, 2007

i like papaya salad

hello friends,

since blogging last, i got to attend a peacefully wonderful waterbirth with my two buddies here at the birth center. one is a nurse and the other is a midwife, both from a birth center (that is closing) in texas. we ate take out dinner at my house and got really jazzed up talking about birth. then, we all walked down to the birth center together and attended one. it was wonderful and i feel really spoiled by getting to be in the presence of such women. my head will hang in sorrow when they leave next week.

yesterday, i helped two moms with breastfeeding. e tagged along and helped me demonstrate the importance of a full latch instead of just the nipple. awesome. today, i did a surprise pre-natal visit for a mom who was at the clinic. it was a quiet day partly b/c our acupuncture doc was not there b/c she's leaving for the states this week and busy packing. we had the weekly monday potluck lunch at ibu r's house. my fave was the papaya salad. incredible food. at lunch, e told her dad that she "wants baby friends.". we promptly found one for her to play with for the remainder of lunch. then, we went back to the clinic so andy could solve some of their computer problems. i nursed ez to sleep on one of the couches after she got bored playing by the pond and with the rocks and reading books and sweeping and visiting the newborns. i hung out with a mom who was getting some breastfeeding help from the student midwife. a got an adjustment from our chiro roomie, then we ordered food and ate it up at the clinic. i dropped some penicillin off to ibu r so she could treat a mom who just gave birth and has a STD. the baby seems to have the STD, as well so the midwives are all doing research, calling the experts and thinking positive thoughts for the family. this is the first known case of a mom with a STD in the six years that the clinic has been functioning.

now, we're home and i am ready for some rest. love to you each.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

sleeping babe+ high speed internet=ability to upload pictures

we are sitting in a restaurant right now which is owned by our friend, noel. he is the son of the midwife who founded the birth center. the internet connection here is so fast that i am having trouble keeping up! so different from our shoddy access at home. therefore, we may get to upload lots of pictures! woo hoo!

she loves the bike now and is always talking about riding it with dada. she says, "handlebars. biiiike. ride on dada's bike. see monkeys. ready, go?"

from our anniv dinner at sari organic, the farm place we trekked through rice patties to get to. we ate bbq tofu skewers and e loved playing with them. yeah, she poked someone's eye out with that thing. no biggie. note the brusie on my right leg from acupuncture four days prior. it's finally going away now.

yesterday was a really fun day for us. we took a really long bike ride to the ubud botanical gardens. on the way, we stopped off at one of our regular spots, bali buddha where we met a friend for raw cacao smoothies and cinnamon raisin bagels to give us energy for the steep climb up to the gardens. we browsed the used bookstore, too and i bought a copy of "little women" which i have never read but only watched (at least 15 times, i might add). oddly enough, i sw a book called "dnacing skeletons" which i had to read in my cultural anthropology class back in the day. i still have that copy at home so it was a bit silly to think of buying a book i already own back in the states. the book is about maternal and child health, specifically nutrition, in africa. so, i bought it and will share it with my roomie who recently spent 5 months in western africa then sell it back to the bookshop for a half price refund.

we love bike riding and the challenge of that hill was incredible. the ride down was so fun as we got to coast the entire way until we hit the main road in town. the gardens were ridiculously beautiful and interesting. we'll let the pictures speak for themselves. i am sure any of you that have been to said sort of beautiful place have a hard time capturing it on film or using words that give it justice. bear with me, nonetheless. the meditation garden was my fave part and the orchid house really captured my attention and was where i sat down to read for a bit. the islam garden was probably the most beautiful and what i would like to have near me.








In my head, i heard the voice of corey feldman from my fave movie, "The Goonies" where he is reading in the attic, "Ye intruders, beware."

stopped by the local mechanic to get air in a's back tire. e was a bit uncertain about what the heck was happening.

Friday, August 24, 2007

just chillin

with our roomies gone and few births, it's been a quiet week around here. we have spent a lot of time as a family riding bikes, taking walks, reading books to each other and to ourselves, visiting restaurants and rice patties. we went exploring through our little part of nuy kuhning village, finding a river and getting a better view of where the cows live.
this dog was wandering around the restaurant while we ate brunch.

i had a nice long talk with my mom on the phone the other night. well, it was actually morning for her and my mom isn't a morning person unless she's still up from the night before. she was very gracious to entertain me and i am excited for what's going on with her craftiness these days. my mom is a master knitter and crocheter. i begged for her to send me some yarn as there is no yarn and perhaps no word for yarn even on this whole island. i even went into a store where 89% of the items they sell are made of yarn to ask where they got it. the language barrier was way too high though. must learn. more. indonesian.

a and i have been talking about the next step once we leave bali. we have no intentions of leaving anytime soon although that depends on what happens with our visas. ultimately, we do not think we will make this our home. we love our town and our friends and the whole community we have back in north cack. it's hard to beat it. even so, we have been thinking of creative ways to be more giving and loving to our family and our town. it's so fun to dream like that, isn't it? i promise to share more about it in upcoming blogs.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

2 births in one night

saturday night was my first night back in the clinic after a bit of a hiatus to rest and recover. i am healthy, again thanks in large part to some fabulous chinese herbs! my tests came back negative for amoebic dysentery, too! e had a bit of a fever and some diarrhea but once again, chinese herbs to the rescue! we only had to get about 1/4 of the pill inside her mouth. on mondays, a local pediatrician does free pre-natal visits for anyone in the area who needs one. she is a homeopathic doc, an acupuncturist and trained in traditional healing from her native madagascar. she gave ez some moxabustion while i nursed her then taught a how to do so e would cry less. she encouraged us to keep giving the herbs for just another day. she also told us to give colloidal silver, which taste like water so e drank it up easily when we got some from the midwives house. quite a wonderful ped visit. it's only e's fourth one in her short life and the last one she had back in nc was total crap as we didn't see either of the docs we like but some new person. she offered to hold e down by her arms so she could look in her ears. are you friggin kidding me? we do like the other doc who heads up the practice, if anyone needs a recommendation out the western wake way. our other doc we liked has retired. e is all better now, too!
now that she's healthy, she's planning a trip to the bird sanctuary.
saturday nights from 5-7pm we host drop-in pre-natal visits. women are asked to come back in a week, two weeks, three weeks or a month depending on how far along they are in their pregnancies and if anything abnormal is going on, such as baby's position is breech at 37 weeks. we'll do some thing there to encourage the wee one to turn, empower the mom with techniques she can do at home and offer a chiro visit if he is in the clinic at that time. the women can chose to come back on a tues, thurs or sat night. since most walk or ride motorbikes, few of them come when it rains. since it rained a bunch last week during the week, saturday was a busy night. we have these new little number cards so we see people according to their number now. since i have been here, i have worked on learning how to take people's blood pressure. i observe a bunch of other skills at the prenatal visits but this one has been my initial focus. it frees the midwives and nurses up to do the more skilled things like palpate and measure the fundus. they are more hands on and speak indonesian so it makes more sense to me that they would do those things. i do observe though and get to palpate with their guidance. we were so busy on saturday that my ears were throbbing from wearing a stethoscope for 2 hours straight. i checked about 30 women in that brief time period.
yayasan bumhi sehat aka the birth center where i volunteer. this was on indonesian's independence day with the national flag flying.

after that, i got to attend a birth where i did charting, observing and general assisting. (there were a total of four women in labor and another woman had given birth right before pre-natals started.) this woman had either a friend or sister sitting behind her and her hubby by her side. the dad looked a bit worried so i gave him a few drops of rescue remedy every once in a while. first time that i've given it to the dad and not the mom! she was delivering her second child and the very wonderful part is that she was having a vaginal birth after a cesarean birth (vbac)! my first to witness! the baby's head was crowning with the bag of water intact (aka in the caul). it was so fabulous! the baby came gently and slid easily out. the whole room of midwives, nurses and her supporters was so happy that we cheered. the dad was praying and had a huge look of relief on his face!

after that birth, i attended another woman offering doula support. i have seen this woman at a few prenatal visits and i think her daughter resembles my e. they have the same skinny bodies and beautiful faces. with the help of an indo speaker, we conveyed this message to the parents. this mom probably struggled a bit more with labor than many of the other indo women i have attended. she was more vocal, grasping and clawing and kicking her feet. the wonderful midwife who is visiting us from tx, usa was there to apply support to the perineum which prevent even a first degree tear. there was very little post partum blood less, as well. due to a white rice diet, we see a lot of blood loss but this mom told us her favorite foods are vegetables. her healthy eating habits were made evident. this birth was the second boy i have seen here at bumhi sehat. neither his placenta nor his penis were cut, i am happy to report.

last night, i did prenatal visits as the chief blood pressure taker. we had about 22 women come in. one of them i have gotten to know a bit and want to attend the birth of her babe. she had come in sat for a prenatal, sunday on her due date with some leaky fluids but no contractions and then this tuesday she was back for another prenatal. perhaps i will get to attend her labor later tonight! last night, i had another special treat that i promise to tell you all about soon. bali hugs until then!a close up of our sign.

Saturday, August 18, 2007

finally, a picture!

The token anniversary picture!

two happy's!

first, let's say happy independence day to the wonderful country of indonesia! what a fun day full of frolicking, late into the night get togethers, and a rowdy game of tug of war played on the soccer field near our house. e got to hang with her best friend. we saw the cutest little twinsies dressed in pink from head to crocs. the white and red flag was flying around every bend and turn in town. though the fireworks were lacking, it still reminded us of the fourth of july in our home country.

second, a happy anniversary to me and mine! we've been married for nine years now! this is only the second year that we spent our anniversary week somewhere other than the outer banks, specifically our fave lil town of buxton. sweet buxton. love you. if you know us, then you know he is the greatest and more than once you have wondered why he stays with me. you know how we love each other through the really really hard stuff and through ridiculously easy life times. glory.

we slept in just a bit then rode bikes to a cafe called kafe where we had a yummy lunch. i had a teryaki tempe salad with dressing so good you want to drink it like water and lick the drops left at the bottom of the salad bowl. yummy juice infusions, vegan chili for ez and a quesa- dilha for a. i am big on giving gifts related to anniversary year and do lots of research and planning. this year, i spent an entire week prior to our big celebration day on bedrest and in the bathroom. thus, no gift for a from me...yet. he gave me a skirt that i tried on weeks ago and a really neat button bracelet. precious.

our roommates (did i tell you that we now have two roomies who we adore?) invited friends out to meet us at dinner at sari organic which is a farm that grows it's own stuff. we got a ride there, well, nearly there. you have to get dropped off by the main road then walk for about 10 minutes on a dirt trodden path through rice patties along a stream. on the walk, roomie s gifted us with vegan mouse cake which i sampled. yeah, the best thing that i have ever eaten, pretty much. it tasted incredible. although my stomach is still a thunderstorm, i was able to bite into bbq tofu kabobs, which i doubted but hoped for even as i ordered them. they SURPASSED my picky expectation by far. i want to bathe in them...sans the wooden skewers. e loved waving around the tofu on a skewer and had us all rolling in laughter. j gave us a dream catcher which we hung from our mosquito net! she is so thoughtful and has the best stories. we all spent so much time laughing at each other's stories last night. it's funny that we've known each other less than three weeks and get on so well. we got to meet two people and one of those persons i have been looking forward to meeting since my birth center buddy told me about her. well, she did not disappoint as i sat rapt listening to her stories of studying maternal health from an anthropological perspective under the famous james mckenna! are you kidding me?! then, she whipped out the vegan peanut butter chocolate chip cookies brought all the way from oregon to tempt our taste buds. more kidding me?! then, she lit up m's face like nothing i have seen do so far; they only let go of each other to eat. so, seeing my birth center partner in crime so happy made me happy. did i mention that she's a midwife, too? a great dinner! we came home and i immediately crashed in the bed.

what a wonderful day!

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

what sickos watch and read

i am still struggling through my nasty stomach issues. last night, a woke up with a fever and stomach cramps. we're not taking any chances though and are awaiting lab results right now. thanks to d back in nc for the tips and concern; we will take your advice.

since being stuck at home, here is the list of movies we have watched:
shrek 2
the simple life 2
the holiday which made us long for snow and sweaters!
les choriste (aka the chorus)

and books that i read/am reading:
take me to paradise by jan cornall (who i got to hang with here in bali)
the irresistible revolution by shane chlaiborne of the simple way in pa

and some old fave blogs that i got to catch up on yay!:
a fellow mdc mom from my due date club
sister to one of my dearest friends
i saw her being born!

and my new favorite blogs:
lulubeans
tania
alicia paulson

Monday, August 13, 2007

she's cute; what's wrong with me?

my lil toddler is so freaking cute these days; it is ridiculous. just today, she's been spinning around with her hands high in the air saying, "weeeee" as the gentle breeze blows her golden blond hair. she's been putting the bear to my breast saying, "milka, milka, milka." she likes the bike rides in her little seat now! she holds the bear or an umbrella and she squeals with delight. when traffic gets too congested, it frightens her as much as it bothers me. " wrap eza" means she likes to be wrapped in a blanket like a burrito then unrolled out onto the bed very quickly. she immediately responds, "doidgen!" in her happy voice.

she's with andy now loading up on movies as i am sentenced to rest in bed for the next 24 hours. after the fourth trip to the bathroom (between 3 and 9am today), i decided that i need some medical attention or at least, a second more professional opinion (than my own of andy's). on friday, i spoke with one of the docs and she told me to take some chinese herbs (sorry to be so vague) in pill form. two pills every three hours. i would not have to run to the potty for a while but eventually, the stomach cramps and the aftermath would come back. so, today, andy helped set me up with a more intense doctor visit. the midwife sent a driver to come get me and bring me to the birth center. there, i met with the same doc and discussed my symptoms. then, i had my first acupuncture treatment lying in an open air room with a bunch of other people having my friend change the burning moxa from my needles. the other staff would come by and check on me or wish me rest as i got treatment. the top of my right foot is sore still as i don't seem to have much room for needles there. the doc gave me a bag full of more chinese herbs in pill form and i am to take 8 (yes 8) of them three times a day over the next day. additionally, i am to take an entire bottle of small chinese herbs tonight and in the morning. she thinks i have amoebic dysentery. as bad as that is, it is better than having typhoid! keep me well in your thoughts and prayers for restored health and send some energy for andy to care for ez.

you may get to hear more from me as i could be bored over the next day. or, i may get to catch up on some reading (borrowed a book from the clinic that was written by one of the volunteers) and movie watching. i have a check in with the doc later tonight and in the morning. if things aren't better in the morning, she will call another doc to take blood and an uhhhm, other sort of sample. oh, the benefits of working at a birth center that is so much more than just a birth center!

Sunday, August 12, 2007

church day

let me try to start this blog with something a bit more positive than the last. this morning, we went to church at the only church in the whole town. we found out about hill of shalom last sunday around 2pm on our drive to a potluck pool party. our friend mentioned that her mom goes there for the indonesian service. there is an english service before it at 9am. we were trying to keep open minds about it the whole week and really just looking forward to meeting people regardless of the actual "service" part. we began the walk to the church hoping to be offered "transport" and someone did stop to pick us up. he said, "no charge." before we got in the vehicle. well, ironically, he is the husband of one of the birth center staff! we had heard lots about him and his wife but only just met her last night. they have a one month old babe (and four other children) so were lying low recently. it was quite a walk so we were super thankful for the drive.

upon arriving, we were greeted by an indo man named daniel. it was a bit difficult to understand but we gathered that the pastor is out of town in the usa on holiday. the church was started in 1983 by some missionary man who is also on holiday in the usa. after some old school hymns accompanied by a keyboard, we got to meet people and wish them peace. another person shared the shortest sermon i have ever heard in my life with the gist being "don't lie". there was some liturgy, which andy is very fond of doing. we got to meet everyone afterwards at the tea, coffee and oreo cookie (which are vegan!) gathering next door. we met a man from holland who had never eaten or even heard of oreos. impressive.

we then walked home to eat spaghetti lunch. so, we are trying to be optimistic about the church since we don't really have many options here about joining a group of followers of christ. we're certainly longing for that kind of community.

the rest of my family is napping now and i am waiting to be called in for a birth. on our way home, we stopped by the clinic to hear that a woman was in very early labor. it's been a few days since i attended a birth, so i look forward to being at one later today or tonight. i did pre-natal visits last night, mostly checking people's blood pressure. i even was unsure and had someone else re-check after me but my findings were correct. that gave me some confidence that i am learning.

Friday, August 10, 2007

bathrooms, bikes, transfers and soule

i have been sleeping or just laying in bed practically all day long today. why? well, let's just say i am depleted of energy and that i don't want to be more than two footsteps from an upright, clean toilet positioned near a sink with soap and running water. yeah, those should be enough details for you to imagine what it's like to have the runs with only squatty potties around. i like to wash my hands after such activities, as well. and, then i like to lay back down tired and exhausted from emptying myself into a bowl.

in other news, andy bought bikes for us to ride around town. they are indonesian made and his has a baby seat on the back that ez hates. he took it back into town today to have it adjusted. we haven't tried riding her around today though. they (along with the man mentioned below) are checking out the youth center that bumi sehat runs, as andy has been asked to teach computer classes there. ez has a crush on a male staff member and she says his name repeatedly, loves being carried around by him and always wants to ride in the van with him. he has two kids of his own who are 8 and 12 and a wife who works as a treasurer for the government of indonesia. he wears breastfeeding and natural birthing t shirts everyday and is a famous wood carver. not a bad choice, ez.

the last two women i attended in labor ended up transferring to the local hospital. i don't know what happened to them once they arrived at the hospital. they both were in labor for a long while and the birth center staff thought it best to transfer them. i was home sleeping when they each transferred or home lying in bed waiting for my cell phone to ring with the request for me to come assist in the birth. i spent most of the afternoon at the center yesterday, practicing my indonesian and trying to learn to take people's blood pressure. i practiced at little of both on every staff person i could find. thankfully, they have humor and entertained my learning. then, i spent a few more evening hours helping with pre-natal visits. every tuesday, thursday and saturday from 5-7pm are times when pregnant moms can stop in for a check-up. i took practically everyone's blood pressure much to the smiles and amusement of my fellow staff workers who only hours earlier were themselves my practice clients. i learned a bit about palpating pregnant bellies and measuring fundal heights.

now, i am sitting on the top deck of our house catching up on soulemama's blog. you know what they say, soulemama is good for the soul. we share babes named ezra, a mild obsession with thrifting, love to nurse our diaper free toddlers and until recently we shared dogs called rottweliers. i cried when hers passed on to doggie heaven. i live vicariously through her serious talent for being a great mom and her crafty skills. i have regan to thank for the link she passed on so many months ago.

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

my yesterday

i am so glad that i didn't just start blogging yesterday. now that all the prompts (is that what they are called?) are in indonesian, i have to go by memory to make sure i am clicking on "publish" instead of "reject" or "delete" or something. let me go ahead and apologize in advance if you don't see your comments up here. additionally, let me apologize for the lack of photos. it takes so long to upload just one photo and we don't even have internet access at our house. i sit on a stool perched on our top deck with the laptop on the rail facing my friend's house across the rice patty fending off huge red ants. the view is so beautiful that i forget to get frustrated if i lose a signal in the middle of a skype conversation.

there are so many things that i keep forgetting to blog about until i am falling asleep at night or walking by a certain place in town.

I got my haircut yesterday. the woman who cut it did a great job and the other woman who took ez outside to play so i could relax while andy read a magazine did a great job, too! the people of bali seem to love and respect kids in this easy sort of way. as parents, andy and i feel so at home with it. an impromptu massage came after the cut was finished with a woman on each arm and another woman behind me all over my head and shoulders. after spending 12 hours massaging a woman in labor the day before, this was an indulgence that i deeply enjoyed.

our fave restaurant,"bali buddha" was where we spent lunch after a nice 2 mile walk into town. bali buddha uses as much organically grown goodness as possible. they have a vegan menu, a raw menu and a vegetarian menu. it's amazing. and, they deliver. i work with the sister of the delivery guy so whenever we order from the clinic he stays for tea after dropping off our yummy food.

we walked home gazing at stores full of beautiful paintings, wood carvings, embroidered dresses, toddler clothes cuter than zutano, and sandals that want to slide onto andy's tired feet. we have not bought anything outside of food or household goods at the grocery store. i have a book on hold to buy today and fear my wallet is opening to never shut. as odd as it sounds, $6 US seems a bit steep for a skirt when i am used to buying 98% of my skirts at the local goodwill. i need to get over it perhaps and show my support for the local businesses. i have also been encouraged to pick out fabric and let the seamstress across the street make my clothes. two pairs of my pants didn't come back from the laundry yesterday...perhaps they will show up eventually but i need pants for work and need them to be washed. things like blood and other body fluids make their way onto my clothes at most births just as it was in doulaville, usa. thus, the need for washing and available pants.

our saving grace (the woman who helps us cook and stay clean) has the next two days off. it was difficult to understand but we think she has to go to her home (not her house here one block away but her family's home) for a cremation. so, we're just holding here in our thoughts and prayers the next two days and missing her company and food. her daughter and ez and becoming dear friends. they play together and run after each other and sit on the stairs sharing books.

i worked from 5pm last night doing prenatals, which i am still learning how to do. i did take a few blood pressures but mostly observed and charted. the midwives and nurses all had a good laugh at me b/c i had indonesian words written on my hand so i wouldn't have to use english or look up the words every time i needed them. then i attended a woman in labor. when i left after 10pm, she was resting to avoid swelling after she pushed for a good hour or two. today, i will pop in at some point to see if she transferred to the hospital (from exhaustion) or to make sure breastfeeding is going okay. one of those two things has happened by now. andy will be at the clinic today to help with the internet installation that is happening. they are upgrading to a high speed connection. so, let me go see him off and get ez in the shower!

Monday, August 6, 2007

blogging in indonesian?

somehow, indonesian is the language of my blog now. I can type in english but most of the rest of the blog is in indonesian. i guess it's a good way to learn the language. so far, i know mainly words like "good" "deep breath" and "push" or ones that are otherwise related to birth and pregnant women. we have been here a week as of today so this blog may be a bit lengthy to catch you all up!


We have been in Bali for one week today. It's surprising how quickly we have let this place capture us, how much we enjoy being here and how we ponder just how long we will get to stay here. We arrived in Bali last Tuesday around noon. We had lunch at the airport then heard my name being paged. We met the driver from the birth center who had arrived to pick us up; the birth center is about an hour from the airport. We also met a med student on her way back to the USA after spending the summer volunteering at the birth center and we met the financial director.

I am not sure how much I should tell you all about the van ride to the birth center. Let's just say that there was not a car seat of any sort in the van. You CPS workers are my friends and thus, will not report me. Plus, you will never find me now as I live in a kick ass house that overlooks rice patties. we are ridiculously thankful.

I went to my first indonesian birth before nightfall, which also happened to be my first water birth and my first birth center birth! I went to my second indonesian, birth center water birth this morning around 6am! i am so grateful to be a part of this place. it's already sneaking it's way into my heart.

The food is great, our house is beautiful and the view from the decks are spectacular, the midwives are welcoming and brilliant and trust birth, the weather is mild in the shade and sunny in the sun, things are too affordable for our own good, and we feel at home already. ez has a friend her age who has the same name as her middle name (know it?). they dance together, eat fruit out of the same bowl, lift their dresses to show off their bellies and play for hours inside and outside our house. her mom helps us find food and cook it or slice it and keeps us sane as we adjust to a new place where most things are not familiar, yet. we are so thankful.

Since last Tuesday, I have attended five births.

The third one was another baby girl born after many hours of struggling to push this huge baby out. She weighed over 10 pounds, which is a lot of baby for anyone but especially here where babes are a bit smaller at birth. The mom worked really hard for this fourth babe of hers to be born naturally at the birth center. The baby did not breathe on her own at first so the midwife helped her breathe as we all took deep breaths in and out while standing by and watching and praying. We encouraged the mom, dad and grandma to talk to the newborn which they did, along with gentle rubs to the baby's body. The babe's color was good ans after a few shots of oxygen, she gave out a loud cry. We all cheered and clapped and thanked the baby. Breastfeeding is the norm for these mom-babe duos and it started without any problems. I got to visit the mom the next day. We sat on her bed together nursing our babes, mine almost two years old and hers' not quite two days old laughing about how big hew newborn is and how hard it was to get her out. Her other three babes were born with a few easy pushes so this one was a bit of a challenge!

The next birth i attended was a rather popular one as it was the birth of a second daughter to one of the staff at the birth center. i barely know this man and i have already seen him in his undies! he jumped in the birth tub with is wife and i was part of a gentle, beautiful water birth. i almost felt like i didn't need to be there with all of the other people caring for them. a first for me was watching the midwife rub vernix on her face as moisturizer. it seems to be a trick of the trade for keeping skin wrinkle free!

Yesterday, I spent 12 hours with a first time mom helping her move and grove and do her own birth dance, which at times looked like something from "sweating to the oldies" or one of jane fonda's videos. although this mom took kindly to every suggestion for different positions and even made up some of her own, it was a longer labor than the other ones i have been to here in bali. the mom worked really hard ad eventually, her baby came out into the arms of an awaiting mid-wife. the midwife helped this baby breathe and other attendants suctioned meconium and gave oxygen. i once, again stood watching and praying. eventually the babe gave out a good cry. I am still processing this birth as it just happened last night. one joy was seeing the midwives' granddaughter at the age of about eight attending this woman in labor. i had a lot to learn from her.