Im Going to Peru!!

So a lovely friend of mine Christen Marrow... I know im not supposed to use full names for confidentiality reasons but what the H... she gave me 43,000 of her frequent flyer miles to go with her to Peru for like 10 days... Holy Cow im so excited.... and we are trying to make it in the right timing to go to her friend Monica... {Who Lauren stayed with when she went to Peru} birth... you see in Peru, culturally, men are not allowed in the birth room... so Monica had asked Christen to go to her birth as a doula... well one thing led to another and christen told Monica that I was studying to be a midwife and I ended up being invited to go to the birth. So we will see... yay

Life in HD

My dad has this TV that has "High Definition” which now means that each show is featured twice one in just regular boring definition and then the other with the little signal next to the info that says HD.. Now my thoughts are this, why on earth if there is an option to watch in HD would i chose the boring regular life def. over the glorified HD??? Well i don’t really know... but i do find myself choosing to watch the reg over the new and improved "High definition"... It could be because i low self esteem and choosing the less of the two somehow puts things in perspective for me... or maybe I relate with it a little more right now. I feel as though since being home from the Philippines my life has been in snail speed. And instead of being this on fire ready for anything coming my way, i find myself in this time of transition, i want to figure things out for me, when i was away i decided to cut the puppet strings and grow up a bit and let God and me hang out, mano y mano, Live to his agenda and not what "everyone" thinks my agenda should look like ... well in the process of doing so I am finding that answers come a little slower and this snail like transition is causing somewhat of an uproar but... I feel like its good. Anyways sorry for the " blob" of words ... this was just what was in my head.

The Dome and I are Friends

I, Alex Michel, concord the Dome Monday...it was one of those things that i wanted to do before i die... my mom was convinced that by climbing the Dome that i would die so it was a little ironic...maybe the dome should have been the last thing i did...but luckily i made it and still in one piece mostly... it kicked my butt that’s for sure....

The End...kinda

My time in Singapore is wrapping up and it has been such a great time of relaxing, recouping and a little Operah to get myself in the coming home mode. In the mean time, I have been fighting off a nasty little cold that has followed me around for a month and I think that I have finally kicked it...woo hoo!!!! I know I started to give some of you a scare with the combination of a 102 temp. And a fungus type outbreak on my leg that appeared shortly after I hit my shin on the stairs at the clinic, but happy to report there is no sign of Gang Green.... no temp and no Green well I wont finish that sentence for Kayla’s sake. We will have five days to finish saying goodbyes and turning in last minute homework assignments in Manila before we make the big move home. I am so excited to be coming home I cant even believe that its here already...it hasn’t really hit me yet, so if your reading this and thinking she doesn’t sound all that pumped.... it could be one: I’m writing this after a week of insomnia due to the excitement.... two: like I said it hasn’t hit me yet...or three...I’m experiencing somewhat of a bitter sweetness; here people...women respect me as their medical professional.... they let me care for them through their pregnancy, they come to me with real problems and concerns, they let me deliver their babies and stitch them up after words...and home, it will be very different...people still think that midwives are just are granola bars who just sing and dance and wait for the baby to just plop out..(Not quite the reality). I loved my time here; there is nothing else i can say about it. There were a lot of times where i felt like....”What the he..ck was i thinking" but all in all God has changed me in ways that i hope i can exhibit when i get home. Thank you all for your love, your generosity, your prayers.... your emails:)..they meant the world to me while i have been here. This time was worth every tear, every mystery meat, and every baby. Thank you.

Back on the Blogging Horse

I am picturing what it will be like when I walk into Zanders at home right now, and in my mind it will resemble somewhat of an AA meeting...

Hi my name is Alex (Alex)
Hi Alex (coffee junkies greet me in unison)
And I have been blogging for almost one year now. (Alex)
Wow, that’s great Alex (Coffee junkies)
But this month I slipped up (Alex)
Tell us Alex how that makes you feel.
Well you know all the sudden I just stopped blogging.... life seemed so busy.... I lost motivation.... I just sigh (Alex)
Its okay...we still love you.... (Coffee junkies) secretly whispering slacker behind my back

So I decided to hop back on the wagon and blog today, let you in on what the month of August has been like. So I started off the month with going to Olongapo, which is another city up north and out of Manila. There I met up with Leslie Perish for a Childbirth Education course that she was teaching to us Midwives. She runs a great ministry there at the YWAM base. They go into the bars at night and talk to the Bar girls. And if they are interested in getting help and turning there lives around they can join a team of women that used to be in the prostitution industry and join a two-year program that trains and educates them to work and be successful women in their communities. The last night we were there, Leslie took us bar hopping and we played pool and had some amazing conversations with a couple of girls. We were talking with this one girl her name was Joy, it was her 19 day in the business that night, Leslie was able to tell her about the base.... and Joys eyes started flooding with tears as she quickly excused herself to the restroom. It was an amazing opportunity. That week in Olongapo was absolutely incredible.... we saw monkeys as well!!!!!

The next two weeks were so incredibly busy with births and goodbye parties...that I don’t remember having breaks in the days at all. We threw the midwives daughters a princess party, that was so much fun. And anyone that has known me for a little while knows that I love dress up. We bought the girls little princess gowns and bought a princess cake at Goldilocks and they were royalty for the day. So fun! My last week we finished with 10 births, which made for an extremely busy week. Kayla and I also went back to Pinkian to visit some of my very first patients...Magnolia being one of them...it is always so great to see her, I will miss her so much. And of course she never fails to mention how she loves my brother and how she just thought he was so handsome.... she says if he comes back to the Philippines that she will not have a husband then.

And now I’m in Singapore where Kayla and I joined Mia for 10 days of relaxing and recouping and tying up all those loose ends that need to be tied in order to come home. Well I will blog again sooner this time than the last; I swear it. Until next time, thanks for listening.
Oh and one more thing, Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller, changed my life! Great book read it; I know you will love it.

Snale Blogging..my specialty

Well just got back from Puerto Galera, where the girls and i got some sun time in finished up a ton of paperwork in preperation for coming home...yay about the coming home part!!!! its coming so soon i cant believe it. We just moved into the Gundersons where we will live until we come home, Jeri Gunderson and her daughter Debs run the clinic and baby home next door. we wont have internet at her house so as if my blogging efforts werent slow far and few they will be even a little more snale like now. okay well just i just wanted to quickly fill you in...talk to you soon.:)

Little Orphan Annies

The Baby home is one door down from our clinic, and I would love to say that I spend all my free time hanging with the adorable orphan babies that are there, but the sad truth is that the girls and I have only made it over there once, I think that I just needed a little bit of a push to go over there, this week I got a big push. The Gunderson Family runs both the clinic and the baby home, so most babies that are born and are going to be given up for adoption go right next door. This last week one of my continuity moms delivered, she is only 17 and lives at Bethesda Women’s Shelter. She is the sweetest girl ever and I was her midwife. Her baby will be going up for adoption and staying at the baby home starting Thursday. I can’t wait to go and visit her next door, how lucky am i that she is so close to the clinic. The baby home is so precious, you walk in and are greeted by about 15 crying, screaming, laughing little toddlers... then just past the living room area, downstairs is the nursery where five little ones sleep, eat and poop, and then sleep again. And come Thursday there will be a new addition to the family. It really is so cool having the baby home so close. sometimes we arrive at the clinic and all the little toddlers are at our clinic visiting...they are so amazing!!! Here are a few pics from our visit next door.

A Little Visit

So Mia and i went back to Gerlenes this weekend to visit a couple patience and visit Ger and the Kiddo's...For those of you who are just tuning in Gerelene is the midwife that i worked with in a little viliage, Pinkian, when i first arrived in the Philippines. i have been missing that little community so it was so nice to go and see them. while we were there i stopped by to see one of my old patent. Nacy gave birth about a month ago to the cutest little girl..Monica... it was so good to be there.

Who Will Be The One?

"You will be the one", that is the most commonly used phrase at the clinic...a labor comes in and we patiently wait for the Midwives queue to invite us to handle the birth. Now you may think that we work at the clinic so it is obvious that we get to handle births every time a mom comes in but the truth is we cant assume anything...if i have learned one thing it is that you cant just assume that it is okay that we handle a birth with every midwife, we cant assume that every mom is okay with a Midwife student handling her birth. so we wait....we wait for one of the Filipina midwifes to meekly approach us and say..."you will be the one"...and so it is just that....we will be the one...
This week i was the one for two births...the first birth was quite the gong show, the mom was the sweetest thing on the planet...and at 9cm she was walking around having full conversations and so was her two aunts, mother, husband, myself, mia, Kayla, and lets throw in a few more just for fun....all crammed in this tiny little room...finally Mary Joy reached pushing stage and her mother phones her dad on there cell phone and puts the phone up to her in distressed daughter's ear...at that point i knew that this would be a crowded birth. now the mom at this point is fully dilated and ready to deliver but her contractions were just not strong enough to push out the babe...so another midwife comes into the birth room that was already busting from the seems with people, with a baby from a mother who had just given birth hours prior in the room next-door, she comes in and has Mary Joy breastfeed this new baby to help her contractions get stronger....like i said Gong Show...typically breastfeeding will induce stronger contractions, but this mom was a first time mother, and had obviously never breastfed before. so instead of inducing stronger contractions the mother became very enthralled with this little baby girl and in result stalled contractions altogether. after some position changing and some patience the baby was born and welcomed into the world by everyone and there mother...overall the birth was a little crowded but good.

Mary Joy and new little M.J.

Rowean and I trying out the new sling

Some Random Nonsence

Well, i must say that i met some of the cutest babies this week...This morning Mia and i woke a couple little baby boys up to come out and meet the world...sometimes i wonder if they had a choice to come out or stay i think that they would choose to stay inside there nice warm fully stocked dwelling place...they get automatically fed, no searching the fridge and cupboards for something to snack on out of boredom, they have an automatic heater and cooling system, they dont have to worry about modesty because no one can see them, and they get plenty of company..and anyone im sure can agree if they have been pregnant that the belly is free range once it protrudes out further than...well you get the point. so they have plenty of people paying attention to them. I mean for nine months out of our lives we were livin it up pretty easy. Now look at us...we have to feed ourselves, clothe ourselves, differentiate temperatures that will determine what we where..Jacket, tang top, pants, shorts...i mean there is so much to think about. okay okay welcome back to reality alex...here i am 20 years later, and i am blogging about my time in the womb...can you tell i have not been home for almost 6 months. well anyways how cute are these little ones?

Macgyver Midwives

couple Middies in training

Here's to you Lindz....
Have you ever thought of those "never gonna happen" situations but you want to be prepared for just in case??...Well my roomies and i were sitting in a Taxi the other night getting ready to send Lindz off to Canada and we were thinking..if someone were to go into labor on the plane we could totally deliver the baby!!!! we could be the one that when everyone freaked out on the plane and were like " is there Doctor on the plane?" we cold answer back..."no, but there is a midwife!" ha ha ....Maguiver status. so we all made up a list of the things we could find on the plane to substitute for medical supplies. Luckily working in a third world country it has prepared us a bit for this kind of resourceful delivery...here is what we came up with..
1. Straw: from the mini bar to use instead of a bulb syringe for suctioning
2. Plastic Prep Gloves: that the stewardesses use to prep the food, we can use these to catch the baby with, obviously not sterile but we are being remorseful remember
3. Pads: ask a female for a pad to use after birth...
4. Newspaper: ask the guy sitting next to the mom if we could barrow his newspaper to put under the mom so we can measure blood loss, and also so she has something besides airplane seats to give birth on
5. cup of Ice: ask the mini bar for a cup of ice and water for moms hydration and thirst appetite, and lets go ahead and order some peanuts while were there, and perhaps a glass of wine for relaxation.
6. Towel: heat towel in Microwave for baby after delivery to keep warm
7. Plastic Bag: to wrap placenta in after delivery, we would keep it attached to baby until we landed and could cut cord with a sterile blade
8. Kick out people from First class and set up camp there.
9. Airplane Blanket and Pillow
10. Flashlight
11. Watch with a second hand
PS: All this is depending on the very unlikely scenario that there is no first aid kit on the plane...that the airport let a 38 week women on the flight, and also that as a midwife you had to check in your Midwife kit because the security guards thought you were a terrorist...but if all the did happen this would be my protocol.

And Five hours Later...

just a couple different estates.


So I wanted to blog about birth or about some amazing adventurouse story…really I do, but I’m not. Instead I shall write about Jane Austin’s 1997 film, Pride And Prejudice because it rocked my world this week. This week Kayla and I have only had one birth, this is record breaking for the Antipolo clinic, this gave us a little more time to something productive like taking five hours of my life and devoting It to Mr. Darcy and Mss Bennits’ Love affair. Now I know what you are thinking…#1: why was I not getting some of my piles and piles of homework done that I have been putting off, #2 your maybe a little surprised that I actually watched a 5 hour movie, and didn’t sleep through it…or #3 it reminds you that you have been meaning to watch it…in which I highly recommend it. I feel like Jane Austin just gets people, I found that I could relate with just about every character and sadly reminded me how life would be so much more uncomplicated if marriages were just stinkin arranged, actually hold that thought…dad don’t get anymore ideas…well all I can say is what if all the pride and all the prejudice were taking out of our generation....what would the complection be? Would there be peace and balance in both houses as it was in the film? Will it take a rather harsh yet honest profession of the truth in order to get the attention of those who need to hear as Mr. Darcy did? All i know is that it worked in this case and maybe that is what it will take in order for the cloud of pride and prejudice to be lifted off our heads and justice to reside. just a thought.

You've Got Mail....YES!!!!

You've Got Mail...NY152 and Shopgirl were totally right when they said that these are three powerful words. After a long 48 hour shift at the clinic I log on line and impatiently wait for my mailbox to deliver the much and anticipated mail from my friends and family. My eyes quickly scan over the junk mail then announce to the girls in the next room who are doing the same, that i have received some "Lovin" as we call a good outcome in Emails. I never thought that those three words would impact my day as much as it does, being here I have relied on my relationships to stay intact through the amazing world wide web...which still blows my mind when i think about it. I have mail...what a gratifying little simplicity that makes my day...so thank you for your lovin...The Philippines would be a little more lonely without you.

The Michel's Fam Vacation 07'

The Fam

My Dad and all the kiddo's in Pinkian

My Mom and Gerelene at the clinic

Halo Halo
The Broski and I in Coco Beach!

This last Tuesday I said goodbye to my family as they flew back home from an amazing Family Vay-k, here is a little look at our adventures…
DAY 1- Pinkian, we spent the whole day with Gerelene and her family. I made my brother and my dad partake in the famous Halo Halo. Which might I say this was not the best stand that I have been to, However my dad had a good time starting conversation with the “head Barista” at the stand. My dad made it a point to talk to everyone on this trip, there was not a Jeepnee ride or Taxi ride that my dad didn’t go into great lengths about something from “when I was in Venezuela” or “my daughter lives here”. Most of the times he received blank stares or like at the halo halo stand laugh with embarrassment. That day we were also was able to give Gerelene a huge duffle bag full of medical supplies and newborn care items. Thank you supporters for all your help! My Mom was able to meet a few different mothers and the babies that I delivered and that was so special to me and to the moms. Magnolia was amazed at how beautiful my mom was; she also hit on my brother…asking him how old he was then proceeding to ask if he was single then to saying that she was single which Obviously was not the case…
DAY 2- Antepolo and The Flood, Tuesday started off as a very chill day, we slept in a bit and then hit Greenhills, which is a huge indoor peddlers market where you are continually bombarded with Filipinos trying to sale stuff to you, as you pass a booth, you hear one long slur of… “Hello Mam-Sir…you buy….Mam-Sir...Rubber shoes…Mam-Sir…I give you discount…Mam-Sir…” After Greenhills we headed up to the Antepolo clinic where the Fam met the midwives there and then we took a long Jeep ride back to my house. However on the way we were informed that Rainy season started the next day…at that moment it started storming so badly…not like a little drizzle of rain or even a heavy shower…this was more rain and more pressure than what comes out of my shower head… As we neared our stop we all geared up for our exit out into the dark and what was turning into a FLASH FLOOD right down the main street, “ON THREE….1 2 3 GO!!!!!” My dad instructed…. First step off the Jeep there was water up to middle of our shins. My mom and I clutched our umbrellas that in seconds turned inside out. My brother and my dad worked on rushing us to a safe place to try and cross the 8-lane street. We started to cross when we realized that the water was getting too high and traffic was too crazy so we looked for shelter underneath a nearby awning, only to find a naked Filipino man enjoying his bath in the rain! At this point my brother and I were laughing uncontrollably, but what was even better was when the man started dancing and singing, that would be when my mom decided that we would cross the street immediately. My mom and I made it across first and noticed that my dad and brother were not with us; my dad had lost his flip-flop in the middle of the 8-lane street and my brother and he decided it was a good time to stop traffic and look for it. Lighting and thunder were getting louder and louder and rain was coming down more and more “ Were gonna die, were gonna die!” my mom repeatedly said in shock. After about 20 more minutes of swimming up the street that leads to my house we arrived home safely. My brother and I were laughing so hard the whole time and once we arrived to my house, we all were all laughing out of disbelief at what had just happened.
Days After The Flood- The last few days were spent in Coco beach accompanied by Kayla and Linds, we had such an amazing vacation. I would have to say it was one of the best. I love my Family so much and I was so excited that I was able to share with them what I have been doing on this side of the world.

What are ya gonna do???

Ah mia, you put words into exactly how i was feeling today as i left Sheing Mall, i felt so "blob" as your grandma would say.... thanks for the post, i feel like in a way it helped me verbally process the hard reality we face when we step outside of our "Mochaccino land" and into the city with a devistating amount of street children. But what sadens me the most is the fact that no matter how much i give or pay for a flower decoration from a deserving child, it wont take them out of the slavery that they are in, even if they have a really good sales day, tomorrow they will be out there again, joining the other millions of kids who are sold into the trade or forced to beg to bring home that "extra" amount. My family is here in the Phils for 10 days!!!! and we are having a great time, lots of stories already and it has only been three days. But today, for maybe the same reason the heavieness hit Mia, i felt that extra burden and responsibility for these little street angles. I am 20 years old and still have my family surrounding me showing me love and support, these kids were as young as 1 years old and had no family at all. How, in all the billions of people that live in the poorest of the poor in all the world, did i end up with my life? This is not a post instructing on how to apporach beggars, because honestly after living in this city for a few months have learned that you cant set rules on it, you cant make up your mind that you will only give to those that offer a service or who look really really poor, but you can hope that when you do say a little prayer or give some pocket change that it will be making a difference.

City of Angels

So, its taken me about a week to blog again, but not because I have had nothing to blog about, life is as busy if not more so lately as usual. Last week Kayla and I ventured out to Angeles City, the infamous Red Light District in the Philippines. Our experience was not necessarily a huge ministry out reach, the point in us going was to scout out the area to see if we could be of any use to these women or maybe even be able to talk with these women, who come from a variety of backgrounds and are of all ages. we saw children as young as twelve years of age standing alongside more mature ladies up to the ages of 55 ready to learn the trade of the underground industry that thrives at night. During the day these kids look like regular begger kids, and what you dont see is their boss that sends them out in the day and sells them out at night.
A University of the Philippines study in the late 1990s estimated there were about a half-million prostitutes in this country. The International Labor Organization, a United Nations human rights agency, estimates there are 75,000 child prostitutes in the country.
Orphaned children and sexually abused minors are more common in Angeles City than most places in the country. Filipinos claiming to have American fathers abound.
The trip was short but we did not fail to see the corruption that was right beneath us. ahhhhhhhhh, and what we didn’t realize was that by the time we arrived home, just right outside our house was a strip full of red lights and girlie bars. We really didn’t need to travel to Angeles City to get a glimps at what goes on at night in this big city. Here are a few pictures of the local district by our house.

8th Grade Sewing Comes in Handy...

A few pictures of birth number 1 out of 7 last shift.

Big sister taking a nap after her new little sister was born.



This last Tuesday i think, days are a little blurred after 7 births in 48 hours, was my first time suturing! On a real person...no pig’s feet or an 8th grade pillow, I made a huge-up grade to the real deal. And since most of you know by now that i am practicing to become a midwife you can guess were the stitching took place. Yikes. Ate Grace, an amazing Filipina Midwife, and Kayla, My suturing Queen, coached me as i made my first injections of lidocaine to numb some of the tissue, the rest was difficult but I had great teachers helping through it. It was so cool, maybe not so much for the mom, but she was handling it well. And i feel good about it, not so bad I think for a rookie. Sorry no pictures for this one....

Happy Mothers Day

Mothers are kinda a big deal round here, its fun getting to know the moms that come to our clinic; i get to see them starting a new chapter in their lives. i see them after delivery and i watch them adoring their babies and i see them just looking at them with this deep passionate love in there eyes, they talk to them and whisper little songs in their ears. And when i see the mothers like that it makes me so happy and i feel so loved by my mom. to think that when i was born my mother looked that intensely into my little eye's, well i think when i was born i had big bug eyes, but anyway, i know that my mom still loves me that way, but watching these mothers after birth is a good reminder to me that i am so cherished and loved by mom mom just like those babies. All around the world, in every culture, all ethnicities, women of all ages all have this one thing in common, motherhood, women will always be having/adopting babies into this world. and at some point we were all invovled in that cylce. cool