science museum pics

water play area
where is home, daddy? do we only live in hotels?
the science centre!
checking out lizards, hamsters and mice.
cutest little fountain hair do. we're waiting to get her to her glammy before it's cut!
the "stages" of labor and birth.
pretty cool journey through the babe's in utero development. above the exhibit was a tv showing live childbirth in a hospital setting.
looking out of the tree house. shirt from kuta, bali vegan restaurant.
view from the walk up the tree house stairs in the ecogarden
contrary to popular belief, there is litter in singapore.

where is the granny midwife?

e's first underground subway ride (called MRT here). she rode the tram in australia but it was totally above ground. we rode it from downtown singapore (colonial district) out to the western part of singapore. then, we walked over to the science center. we walked back to the MRT and rode it and a bus out to the Jurong Bird Park.
e wanted me to post this one. she's here helping me chose pics.
flamingos
her favorite part of the bird park was watching the penguins swim.
she loves penguins! she said, "this one is little. and that one is big." as she hugged and kissed all over the little one.
emus are called that b/c it's the sound they make. e loves to say, "emuuu, emuuu."
by the largest artificial waterfall in the world.
turkey like birds perched on either side of the waterfall.
beautiful, glittery bird full of different sheeny colors.
so, watch your back!
ostriches
tall, skinny legged birds
two puffy birds
yesterday, we spent most of the day in little india walking around looking for a hostel or more long term housing. we ate some incredible food at a vegetarian restaurant where ez peed on the bench much to the amusement of our neighbors. We also visited two homeopaths in search of a granny midwife who is lurking little india still attending homebirths. For some reason, i am convinced in both my head and my heart that she exists. I refuse to believe the hype that only OBs attend homebirths in singapore. Now, i know that some of you are glad that at least homebirths are attended my a birth professional of some sort to give women peace about having one. I can see that some women are comfortable with OBs attending them in labor and birth. Personally, I would only want a midwife to attend any homebirth i was having. And, i would never PLAN to go to any hospital to labor or give birth. If there was a medical emergency beyond the scope of midwifery, then of course, we would care for our family in every alternative way possible, which may necessitate a hospital visit. Most likely, we will have the great joy of gentle homebirths for all of our precious ones. The homeopaths both tried to convince me that the hospital is very "homey". But, pregnant people are not sick, i told them. They smiled.

in addition to the unfriendly attitude toward midwifery and homebirth, it's really difficult to find an affordable place to stay for the night or the month. at first, it was so confusing to read the newspaper ads for apartments; the $3.5K- $20K prices were per month and not for an entire year. Whoah! No way we can afford that. In additionally sad news, the doula group never responded to my contact and LLL doesn't meet for another 2 weeks. Things aren't looking so great for us beyond being tourists. We're planning to do a bit more sight seeing today and tomorrow but will probably be leaving Singapore asap.

The city has a great public transport system that we are thrilled to be able to use all day everyday. Ez really enjoys it, even. She did break the posted rules of "no eating or drinking, $500 fine" by nursing to sleep on the MRT (subway) the day before yesterday. Luckily, no one fined us. That would have been an interesting debate for me to have. muwahh, hahaa, hahhaa!

singapore arrival

we arrived safely in singapore last night. what a city! highrises all over the place and food stalls every step of the way. we're staying in a $80 a night hostel in the city until we can find a more affordabe place to live. hopefully, we will find that place tomorow. for today, we are exploring and havig a blast. right now, we are at the sciene museum which has a water area that ez is about to strip down and enjoy. we rode the subway out here; her first time on an underground subway. in perth, aus we rode the above ground mass transit rail all the time. she seems to remember those rides well b/c as soon as we stepped onto the subway today, she said, "australia, perth!". next, we are headed to the chinese and japanese gardens then the bird park. all should be within walking sdistance or at least a short bus ride. the mass transit here is awesome and accesible; we bought ez-ride cards this morning that can be used with a quick scn on the MRT (aka subway) or the buses. some buses are double deckers and e already wants to ride them. a and i keep talking about public transport and how we have to live in a place where we an easily use it all the time. in addition to vounteering and haing a fabulous time exporing cities, we talk a lot about our life upon return to nc. what we love about it (mainly, how great our friends are and how yummy the food is) and how we would like to change a few things about our lifestyle. since i am blogging from the "icafe' within the science museum, i better move on for now! we're taking lots of great pictures and thinkng of the fun we had at the Durham Museum of Life and Science on LLL's 50th anniv party and with our co-family. We look forward to more of those days in the future!

welcome to bali, krispy kreme and kings of leon!

mango raspberry icee. check out the glee on e's face. we ate burritos and chips with gauc and salsa, too. so yummy.
slinging papa on the beach with his babe
having lived in winston-salem, north cack, i am familiar with the birth story of krispy kreme doughnuts. our first year married, a and i lived within a short walk to a store and actually met with some people there every sunday for a sort of alternative sunday school we started out of our church. yeah, we had lots of krispy kreme love. my last visit to that same location will probably be my last visit ever, unfortunately as the ingredient list includes eggs and milk. it would be torture for me to meet you for coffee; i would be trying to lick the air probably and that would certainly distract you from whatever you were trying to share with me. so, i just dream about their food and eat it in my sleep. the night before last, i dreampt that i went to krispy kreme and ate a doughnut. i woke up remembering it. being in indonesia, no harm was done b/c certainly there are no stores here to actually tempt me. in a small town near our village, there is a dunkin donuts though! after our fun day at waterbom, we walked out to the road to take a picture of some sad sights. Along the street was an "A & W" as well as a "KFC". Somehow, we had missed seeing Starbucks that morning. Additionally, we had missed seeing Pizza Hut and KRISPY KREME! We about fell out in the middle of the road. What was it doing here in Bali? Especially, after i had dreams of their soft doughy delight just hours earlier! I think they were closed; we didn't climb the stairs to go inside. A has a family friend living here in kuta now, who grew up the next town over from Winston; I wonder if he has discovered KK, yet?

the other much cooler familiarity for us happened two days ago. while getting ready for the pool in our hotel room, we hear some loud music outside our window. sounds familiar. "a, do you hear that? omg, it's kings of leon!" we have spent so many hours of our life together listening to them. one record came out soon after e was born so her first month or two of life involved lots of living room dancing to kings of leon! a says we should post on their myspace page that they have crossed into a small beach town in asia.

we're flying to singapore later this afternoon. it's a pretty short flight compared to our original flight from the usa to austrlia that ended up taking 3 days with layovers and delays! we're really excited to explore singapore and to stay in little india. we're not sure how long we will be there. it depends on what opportunities i have to volunteer, mainly.

i will try to hook up with the local La Leche League. Also, there is a doula group that i e-mailed to volunteer for but haven't heard back, yet. I did exchange a few e-mails with some MDC singapore mamas and one other doula/hypnobabies instructor.

Pray that we have safe travel and that ez is content. we had so much fun yesterday; she stayed busy playing in the water the entire day. after a morning fuel at 5am, she didn't even nurse until later that evening when she woke up in a thai restaurant. sitting in my lap on a plane, i am certain she will make up for the lack of yesterday's nursing, no doubt! how thankful i am to be able to soothe her ears as we take off and land.

waterbom

this morning, we are off to a waterpark called "waterbom" which i think would be spelled "waterboom" in the states. we are excited to float down the lazy river. ez has become quite a little fish. she can even handle going under water every once in a while. she lies across our arms and kicks her legs while squealing, "i'm swimming!"

the house cont... and the village

monkey forest monkey family
chickies
the birth center where i caught my first babe!
e's best friend's house. it's really her "family compound" where her extended family lives, on her dad's side. there are lots of beautiful singing birds that they care for.
walking away from our house to the road where the birth center is located
our house from the road. the top deck area is really a temple and we were scolded for putting anything near it or on the wall beside it. it was okay for ez to play in it though. maybe she grew spiritually from it. it definitely increased our spiritual awareness.

house pics

from inside looking out
close up of the backyard Buddha
our backyard Buddha
the rice patty view from our top deck
welcome to bali, indonesia! this is the airport. can you believe all the intricate details? there were fish swimming everywhere, too.

that super speedy internet connection has been found!!! sooner than we dreamed possible. we're sitting poolside at a hotel eating lunch after swimming all morning. how do i do a two month photo update without overwhelming you all (or myself?). Bear with me as i bombard you all with a photo journal recap of our last two months on the wonderful island of bali. let's do some house pictures, first. we live in a two story house near rice patties in a small village. we share fences and trees with our neighbors. the owner of the house is an art professor. a woman comes everyday to make offerings in many places throughout the grounds, inside the house and for the upstairs temple. there are two small ponds with fish (a mama had many babies), lots of night croaking frogs, tons of geckos and a few large geckos that pee down the wall.

3 quick things

Three incredible things:

1. I caught my first babe yesterday morning under the loving guidance of Robin Lim! My heart is full of joy and thankfulness.

2. We are leaving for the beach in south Bali in about an hour for four days of relaxing fun. E's best friend is joining us tomorrow for the water park and a slumber party. They are as close as sisters, it seems so send her thoughts of easy separation as they have to say goodbye. We'll certainly weep and hug all over her parents. Good friends are coming down tonight and we are stoked to hang with them! Another cry fest will certainly happen as we say good bye to them. i cannot really think about it all. yesterday's farewells were hard enough.



3. We fly to Singapore on Saturday. We are stoked to enjoy this city, uhm, I mean country, uh...both! And island! We plan to stay in Little India, eat our weight in dahl mahkni and visit the local La Leche League meeting. We hope to gain some insight on where we should go after Singapore. We plan to stay something like 2 weeks to 3 months depending on how involved I can be in the birth scene there. There are no homebirth midwives to be heard of but the hospital OBs attend homebirths or you can have a water birth in the hospital. I am so curious to see and read and talk about the women's options in the childbearing year.

If we have a decent internet connection, I will upload so many pictures that you will get sick of seeing our life. I am really excited to share photos of our time here with you all. See you after the beach and our flight to Singapore! Think safe travel prayers for us, please!

Another Birth with Ez

Tonight was my official night at the birth center. I am still on call for births but it was the last time i will attend pre-natal visits. The whole night, I kept thinking that it is the last time I will see most of the mamas. Unless they give birth in the next 48 hours or so, I will not see them, again and they will go on to have children at bumi sehat and i will certainly not be there. Each belly that i touched seemed all the more special b/c i don't know when i will get to do that, again. Perhaps in Singapore I will have the opportunity to doula for mamas but i doubt that i will have one mom after another coming in for a checkup. I have had a lot of fun laughing with the moms as their babes moved and squirmed under my hands. Tonight, as soon as we finished with our last client, a women in labor was ready to have her fourth baby. One midwife went in to check on her whiel the rest of us were in the other room. She walked in and said, "A baby is about to be born." with a rather shocked look on her face as this baby seemed to be coming quickly. So, the other midwife and i followed her. Then, toddler ez followed us into the room. This was the second birth she has attended with me at the birth center. She just watches and asks me to nurse her. It was a beautiful gentle birth!

We are off to Singapore in one week from today!

A Few Reflections on Life in Nyuh Kuning Village

when we were walking down the street yesterday, i commented to hubs about how things that happen here are just so rad sometimes and they would never happen in our homecity. here are a few examples of the things i love about where we live right now.

1. A friend and I went to the tailor so i could pick out fabrics to have some clothes made. The friend (and the tailor) liked the skirt i was wearing so much that they asked me to leave it there. "What will I wear home?" Oh, any of the sample clothes that you like. So, I left my skirt there with them to copy and walked back to the birth center wearing a different skirt than the one i left in merely an hour earlier. Everyone laughed when I got back to work.

2. Hubs says, "I'm gonna go see W and take him some music." I reply with, "I don't think he is home." Immediately, we hear W playing his banjo from across the rice patty!

3. Toddler E wants to walk to Monkey Forest and she really wants her best friend, A to join us. A's grandad sees us walking near their house on the way to Monkey Forest and ushers E into the family compound; A is sleeping though. E cries loudly when she understands this. A stumbles out of her room, ready to go after a quick pee. We all head out to Monkey Forest together. We had a lovely time together.

4. Hubs and I scheduled full body massages at a sweet spa just down the road..but then I fell down the rock stairs and my body is all bruised and scratched. So, we switched our massages to just head massages that also involved lots of hair cream under a steamer. We got to wear robes while they shampooed our hair, rubbed our necks, heads and shoulders and arms. Then lots of cream that looked like really think yellow pudding. We sat under dryers that only emitted steam. Soft, relaxing music played, incense burned and no one spoke. Then, they rinsed our hair and massaged it more. Lastly, a conditioning oil was applied to our scapls and combed through our hair, turning hubs into a Miami Vice cast member complete with his floral kimono. They brought us hot lemon tea with plum sugar and a cookie then headed to the corner where they spoke to each other quietly. We were so calmed by this brief get away. As we were finishing up our time, our two attendants asked where toddler e was. She was with us when we booked the massage originally. We told them that she was playing with her best friend and her best friend's parents were hanging out at our house with them. They then asked, "Why didn't you bring her with you?" They were inviting a 22 month old toddler to come to a massage at a spa! Can you imagine?

5. The last one leads to the thing we probably love most about Bali. People care for children here. They respect them, hold them and trust them. Adults are with children all the time but not overbearing or interfering. We have been told more than twice that child abuse is unheard of here. Gentle births, respect for the placenta and breastfeeding are expected...not alternatives. This way that life begins is continued on for toddlers and is so evident in the contentment, curiosity and joy of the children. Certainly, we are foreigners observing but some things are just undeniably clear. Children are people here.

A Few Reflections on Life in Nyuh Kuning Village

when we were walking down the street yesterday, i commented to hubs about how things that happen here are just so rad sometimes and they would never happen in our homecity. here are a few examples of the things i love about where we live right now.

1. A friend and I went to the tailor so i could pick out fabrics to have some clothes made. The friend (and the tailor) liked the skirt i was wearing so much that they asked me to leave it there. "What will I wear home?" Oh, any of the sample clothes that you like. So, I left my skirt there with them to copy and walked back to the birth center wearing a different skirt than the one i left in merely an hour earlier. Everyone laughed when I got back to work.

2. Hubs says, "I'm gonna go see W and take him some music." I reply with, "I don't think he is home." Immediately, we hear W playing his banjo from across the rice patty!

3. Toddler E wants to walk to Monkey Forest and she really wants her best friend, A to join us. A's grandad sees us walking near their house on the way to Monkey Forest and ushers E into the family compound; A is sleeping though. E cries loudly when she understands this. A stumbles out of her room, ready to go after a quick pee. We all head out to Monkey Forest together. We had a lovely time together.

4. Hubs and I scheduled full body massages at a sweet spa just down the road..but then I fell down the rock stairs and my body is all bruised and scratched. So, we switched our massages to just head massages that also involved lots of hair cream under a steamer. We got to wear robes while they shampoo'ed our hair, rubbed our necks, heads and shoulders and arms. Then lots of cream that looked like really think yellow pudding. We sat under dryers that only emitted steam. Soft, relaxing music played, incense burned and no one spoke. Then, they rinsed our hair and massaged it more. Lastly, a conditioning oil was applied to our scapls and combed through our hair, turning hubs into a Miami Vice cast member complete with his floral kimono. They brought us hot lemon tea with plum sugar and a cookie then headed to the corner where they spoke to each other quietly. We were so calmed by this brief get away. As we were finishing up our time, our two attendants asked where toddler e was. She was with us when we booked the massage originally. We told them that she was playing with her best friend and her best friend's parents were hanging out at our house with them. They then asked, "Why didn't you bring her with you?" They were inviting a 22 month old toddler to come to a massage at a spa! Can you imagine?

5. The last one leads to the thing we probably love most about Bali. People care for children here. They respect them, hold them and trust them. Adults are with children all the time but not overbearing or interfering. We have been told more than twice that child abuse is unheard of here. Gentle births, respect for the placenta and breastfeeding are necessary...not alternatives. This way that life begins is continued on for toddlers and is so evident in the contentment, curiosity and joy of the children. Certainly, we are foreigners observing but some things are just undeniably clear. Children are people here.

amed and sidemen

we spent the week traveling the beautiful island of bali. after working so much for the past five weeks, it was really nice to relax by a pool and not be on call at any moment. we could not have picked a better spot than ahmed where our hotel pool looked over the ocean. i took nancy's advice and worked on my tan; the last time we talked on skype, she commented that i was looking too pale and needed to get a tan. so, i have one now as she saw last night! i am greatly enjoyed getting it this week!

we also met up with some friend in sidemen (pronounced like cedarmen but without the r) at a retreat center for great veg food, swimming in a river by the largest mountain in bali and laughter, laughter, laughter. we watched the sunrise and sunset as often as we could either over the ocean or over the mountain. we felt like fish after all the great times we spent in water this week.

ez worked on catching a cold and is now wiping snot on my shirt when she lets up on nursing long enough for me to wear one. this is making me feel pretty overwhelmed right now and i would appreciate some good mama thoughts b/c i am not having many myself. shame on me.

in birth center news, i have attended about 15 births now. the day before i left, i got to attend two births and one was very special. i have gotten to know the parents via prenatal visits and spent over 12 hour with them in labor doing all kinds of fun stuff like moxibustion and calling in the chiro to give her (and her mil) an adjustment at 8 cm. there was a part going on in the afternoon at the clinic so there was lots of really yummy veg food, all the volunteers and staff and their fams, some priests and dr. spock's wife, of all people. ez grabbed her backpack, then informed me she was going to her best friend's house and kissed me goodbye. i felt a bit like it was first day at preschool or something else equally weird (clearly for me, not her!) where she was independent before age two. (and, yeah, now i am struggling with her being a bit too attached...where is the balance?) the birth was beautiful and so many funny things happened as well as heart tugging beauty like a dad and mom singing into their first born's ear. yep, i was crying. it was a great last birth before heading out into the wonderful world of bali.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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

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!

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.

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.

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!

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.

tried to catch up with some pictures

the trees in downtown perth.

We leave for Bali, Indonesia in the morning! Our flight takes off around 8am so we'll be arriving at the airport around 6am to drop off the rental car and check in. Before we go, I should post some pictures of our time here as some parts have been really beautiful. Here you are with some pictures of Western Australian.

More later as the server seems to be struggling here. Perhaps we'll actually have internet access at our house in Bali. Wouldn't that be delightful? We promise to be better about being in touch and uploading more pictures. I just got an e-mail that someone from the birth center is scoping out a house for us today! Hope to update you all tomorrow and throughout our first week in Indonesia.

Visas, check!

We got our visas today for two months in Indonesia! YAY!!! We just need to find a printer now so we can print out our e-tickets. Just a few more days until we leave early in the am for a short flight. We are so stoked!

This week, we took a road trip down the coast of southwest australia. We drove through Mandurah, Bunbury down to Bussleton. The ocean views were beautiful. We saw our first kangaroos! A whole field of them were lounging about next to the ocean on one of those scenic turnout drives that we took. But not a single one was moving. No hopping kangas. Half of them were just lying on the ground on their sides and eating grass with their cheeks to the ground looking lazy. Others were lying on their backs with feet up in the air and a few were standing about or bent over eating. Ez said, "kangas, kangas." and made little hand motions in front of her chest. Hilarious.

Joondalup, Indo and Ez Update

Joondalup is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Please look on google for some pics of it asap so you can enjoy the view. Unfortunately, we did not have our camera on hand when we spontaneously drove in yesterday.

We bought our tickets for Indonesia, today. We have applied for our visas, too and they should be available by Wed. afternoon. The latest update on us is that we are skipping Thailand for now and heading straight to Indonesia. I have an opportunity to work with a midwife in Bali who runs a birth center and attends homebirths. She also runs a training center for traditional birth attendants to improve their skills and understanding toward becoming midwives. I will be a volunteer helping and learning as I go. Our visa is for two months but we hope to extend it by at least 30 days.

In other news, Ez likes to count to 10 these days, have memorized Good Night Moon and is eating large quantities of bread. We've converted to using undies instead of diapers throughout the day and she has occasionally woken with a dry dipe in the morning. She frequently says, "sherpie, come!" but he is nowhere to be found. Since we rented a car yesterday, she has been riding around in a forward facing car seat for the first time. We think she prefers it to the rear facing one. And, with all that bread she has been eating, her weight is certainly okay for it.

Off to check on the laundry.

whole foods, OH OH OH how i miss you!

It is impossible to convey in words how deeply i miss being able to go to whole foods and buy nourishment for myself and my family.

we are in perth

We finally made it to the land down under! They are a generous and kind people thus far. We've ridden the metro into town a few times; it's just a short walk from our "house". We've walked to the grocery store and into the town that is kind of a suburb of perth. It's hard to find decent vegan food and things are rather expensive. Our bathrooms are outside and there are all kinds of door codes to enter as we live in the middle of the city where there is a bit of crime and robberies. We were told our house has been broken into and that a homelesss lady jumped the fence to shake a kid saying, "where's the money? where's the money?" We laugh at this story a lot and i am even laughing out loud right now as i write it. The story is really not all that funny when I think about it but the way andy tells it just cracks me up.

so, what are some things that we actually like about this place?

australians are so friendly and helpful.
tea time every single morning at 10am.
walking everywhere and not using a gas guzzler.
perth seems to be very energy conscious. there is more than one option for what kind of flush you may need at the toilet. the electric outlets are always turned off and you have to turn them on to use them, which saves electricity.
lots of recycling and re-use going on around here.
the most common phrase we hear is "no worries, mate."

Tomorrow, Tomorrow....

Tomorrow is the day that our flight towards Australia begins, although we will not actually get to Perth until Friday morning around 9:30am. We have about 21 hours in the air so please pray for our sanity and patience. Lil e should sleep for most of the flight and watch signing times DVDs on the laptop. She should. Tell her she should, the next time you see here. ;)

Our Jetta was driven away by it's new owner, Sonya. Last night, she cautiously made a rather successful attempt to drive stick after a ten years lapse. I encouraged her that the jetta is very forgiving with new drivers. it is the exact car that i learned to drive manually. Sonya is the homebirth mid-wife who did my pre-natal care when I was preggo with lil e. More recently, I have attended a couple of homebirths with her. We are so glad that she is driving the baby jetta now. it's sad for us to see it go. but, there is a purpose to losing the car. we are so excited about all we will gain in the process of letting it go. good-bye, baby jetta.

we have started saying good-by to friends over the past week. it doesn't seem real to say good-bye to these people that we live so closely with; it's hard to imagine not seeing any of them for a year. I hope that people will come to visit us in Thailand or Indonesia or wherever it is that we end up living this year. We have been so busy setting things into place so we can leave that slowing done to hug people for the last time (for a while) isn't really sinking in as reality, yet. maybe i will cry myself to sleep on the plane. we're too busy we know b/c we are actually looking forward to a being stuck in a chair with no option other than sleep, reading or rest...or uhm, keeping a 19 month old babe entertained.

is it june, friends.

are we ready to head out on this adventure of a lifetime?

we're having a yard sale on saturday so come on by if you know where i live. we made almost $400 just today in the pre-sale yard sale. we only need $15,600 more for our year abroad. if you can donate, give me shout.

buy this car from us! we need the cash and you need the car. we're asking $8,000. it's a 2000 VW Jetta with a 6 disk CD player, heated seats, sun roof and about 98,000 miles. need more info?

i keep looking up at the calender in our kitchen from my seat here at the desk. when i see the dates, i get confused. then, i look for the month and it has flipped to may but may was so long ago. so much has happened to push us forward. it's june, friends.