I love that I get excited about coming home. It reminds me how quickly I’ve become enmeshed in this place. Still it was somewhat bittersweet leaving. Our trip to Texas was such a wonderful experience. I’m still in awe as I look at how much we managed to pack into each day of our adventure. Tuesday evening I saw a birth. To say I “saw” it is a little bit of an understatement. In reality, I experienced it with much more than just my visual sense, as the mother’s right arm was wrapped around my own, pulling me strongly with each contraction. Between I wiped her brow, and offered encouragement. It was as miraculous as the first birth I experienced back at Jefferson, but this time I didn’t find myself with tears streaming down…probably because I was too busy counteracting the force of her strength pulling my body forward! It was the 5th baby of the mother delivering and she was great about letting us be involved. She spoke only Spanish, so I found myself translating some for Liz, which proved pretty easy since pretty much the only things being said were, “Ya no mas! (Enough already!)” “No puedo! (I can’t)” and “Si puedes (Yes you can)” throughout the majority of the laboring process. The “si puedes” proved right and she had an adorable 8lb 14oz baby boy. The family was asking if anyone had a camera becuase they really wanted some pictures, which worked out fantastically for me, since that’s kind of an awkward time to ask if it would be ok to take a couple pictures! I have them posted in a private album to protect their privacy somewhat (they gave me permission, but to post them publicly seems a little disrespectful), so if you want to see them, let me know. After the delivery we were able to help with postpartum care of the mother and child. The setting was so mellow and relaxed compared to the hospital, with the lights low and the baby and mother remaining together. Since our delivery occurred at night, we slipped back home for a few hours sleep before having to get up again and do our discharge teaching. Most women here go home within 6-8hrs after their birth, which pretty much blows my mind. They have the option to stay up to 24, but most want to get back to homes and families. After sending home mom and baby, we came back for a showers and lunch then headed to an afternoon postpartum clinic. Most of the patients were 6weeks out, with very cute babies! We took care of some adorable twins and gave a mess of 2 month shots to another patient. Doing assessments on the little guys got me excited for working in peds!
Thursday included some more prenatal clinic hours and then a trip to South Padre Island. It was just over an hour’s drive and my first experience in the Gulf of Mexico. It was gorgeous and warm, with rolling waves and a cool breeze. The weather felt perfect. But evidently the sun was MUCH stronger than it felt because I am totally toasted. Aloe, fans, and loose fitting clothing have become my new best friends. We ended out last day with a night out doing karaoke, then left at 3:30 am for the airport. The singing was a blast, especially picking trashy country songs to sing in our cowboy hats with our literally rednecks. Well worth the fact we barely slept at all 
The trip home proved a little long with some unexpected layovers, but we made it! I’m excited to sleep in my own bed tonight. Less excited about the final I have to take tomorrow (yeah, on a Saturday, what the heck!?). I should probably go study for that. Or sleep sounds good. Either way, g’night!
