Heartbeats

Every Friday at the New Amsterdam Family Health Center is Antenatal day, when pregnant moms come in for their monthly check-up. My first antenatal day I was so shocked to see how many mothers showed up, we average between 60-80, for the first hour I sat in and watched as I charted measurements and listened to the head nurse giving the exam. The second hour she taught me to palpate the belly and feel for the baby’s head and measure the fetal height. Then I was on my own, not really because the nurse was still there directing me, but for the rest of the morning I was palpating bellies and playing the heartbeat out loud for the expecting mom to hear. It was beautiful. The first time I heard it, I leaned in and listened as the nurse found the heartbeat and the mother heard it for the first time. All three of us teared up and the mother called her husband in to listen, it was amazing. So now every Friday I have the wonderful opportunity to show expecting mothers their child’s heartbeat, I love my job.


I’m definitely learning to take the bad with the good and have had several experiences that have been serious reality checks that shock me beyond belief and remind me that I’m living and working in a third world country. I’ve been called a communist spy, had a man throw a “big foot” (foot shaped cheeto) at me while I was running, and seen a man fill and drink seven bottles of trench water. These daily reminders really keep things in perspective and always seem to have the best timing, just when I’m feeling jealous of my friends at home going out for drinks, a child asks for a glass of clean water to drink.
This last weekend was amazing, I watched stupid scary movies in honor of Friday the 13th, spent Saturday in Georgetown with Beth and was on complete sensory overload! We went on the only escalator in Guyana in a strange black market shopping mall with stores like O’ Navy and Victoria Secret. I spent some quality air-conditioned time with friends from training, talked on Skype and watched Lady Gaga and American Idol videos. We came back to New Amsterdam and had our weekly movie night and made smoothies while we watched Ponyo, “HAM!”

Cross my heart and kiss my elbow,
Love and Peace