Behind the Belly
Hello Family and friends and supporters,
My, it has been a while since I have posted about clinic! {Foster}mom life has overtaken me to say the least. Now that we {Maydelie} have gotten in the groove of school and we have gotten clinic back into a manageable groove, I am able to take time to reflect on the days and their individual happenings. One of the most recent musings I had was about yesterday. As I was reflecting on the {long} clinic day that I had just had (it was already 7pm and dark and I was not yet home) I was realizing how much of a blessing clinic has been for me and its not always about us being a blessing for those we serve.
Due to the sheer girth our pregnant mom program has grown to, it has become the one part of our clinic day that tends to take up a lot of our time some days, but I have grown to realize what a treasure it is. I get to see older veteran moms sit alongside the young first time moms and chat all day. I get to see women who are not sure if they are pregnant and/or didnt realize they were pregnant. I get to see moms proudly parade their little bundles into clinic after they have given birth. There is something so heartwarming about each and every story. Sometimes there is sadness, sometimes there is joy, and if I do not keep my eyes open for it, I will miss the beauty of what the Lord wants me to see. I have been learning to not only see the swollen bellies in front of me, but rather to focus on the story Behind the Belly. So today I give to you your first installment.
For example, yesterday, like any other thursday clinic day, it came time to gather our pregnant ladies and begin seeing them one by one. Once we separated all of them there was one older woman in the back of the room who was alone, didn't look pregnant, and did not have a kid with her. We asked her why she was here. She said she wasnt feeling well. We informed her that we had a clinic for children and pregnant women only and that if she needed an adult consultation she would need to find a different clinic. She just kept saying that she didnt feel well. I tried to glean some more info by asking her what made her feel that she wasnt feeling well. She just kept saying that she was not feeling well. She eventually shared that she had some dizziness and that sometimes her body hurts. I told her that unfortunately due to the amount of children we still had left to see, we would not be able to help her today. She then shared with me that it had been about 3 months since she had seen her last period and she didnt know if maybe she was pregnant. NOW THAT I COULD DO SOMETHING ABOUT!! I gladly offered her a nice little cup in which she could go pee in and I got my pregnancy test ready. When she returned with the "specimen" I conducted the test. Not 4 seconds after the dipstick touched the pee, 2 faint lines immediately appeared. Now I got excited for her. We would be able to put her in our pregnant mom program and provide her with crucial tests and vitamins for her new pregnancy.
As I began to fill out a file for her I realized the weight of what just happened. She shared with me that she has no children. But this is not her first pregnancy. No, she had previously given birth 4 times. She shared with me that all of them had died. One of them at the age of 2, died but she never knew there was anything wrong with it. One of them at the age of one month, but again she never knew anything was wrong with it. And two more separate pregnancies, she lost both babies on the day they were born due to unknown circumstances. The last baby that she had given birth to was 3 yers ago. It hit me that the news I had just flippantly shared with her probably welled up a great deal of emotions for this lady. Im sure there was some fear, excitement, joy, nervousness, sadness, and a great deal of caution.
As I contiued to fill out her dossier I began to do some of our routine tests on her (i.e. blood pressure, weight check, etc) I found that at just 3 months pregnant her blood pressure was extremely high. We were able to give her some medication to help manage her blood pressure, and start her on some vitamins. I was able to share with her that there is hope and that she is not alone and we will come alongside her during this pregnancy to help ensure that this new baby, this promise of new life, has the best possible chance at survival. She looked at me with the slightest bit of mist in her eyes and said thank you. And thank you for giving her hope for this new life inside of her. I think she will be one of my very favorite upcoming births!!
This is not even the only one. There are tons of other stories just like it. I get to play a small part in this on.the.regular. I am totally the lucky one. And it is an honor that God has saw fit to use me in this way for this season of my life. Stay tuned as I try to start sharing more of these stories "behind the belly."
I would love for you to share this story with friends that you know, and encourage them to also come alongside of me as a ministry partner. If you or someone you know would like to support myself and the small part I play in the scheme of Children's Health Ministries you can make a one time or recurring monthly donation at: https://
My, it has been a while since I have posted about clinic! {Foster}mom life has overtaken me to say the least. Now that we {Maydelie} have gotten in the groove of school and we have gotten clinic back into a manageable groove, I am able to take time to reflect on the days and their individual happenings. One of the most recent musings I had was about yesterday. As I was reflecting on the {long} clinic day that I had just had (it was already 7pm and dark and I was not yet home) I was realizing how much of a blessing clinic has been for me and its not always about us being a blessing for those we serve.
Due to the sheer girth our pregnant mom program has grown to, it has become the one part of our clinic day that tends to take up a lot of our time some days, but I have grown to realize what a treasure it is. I get to see older veteran moms sit alongside the young first time moms and chat all day. I get to see women who are not sure if they are pregnant and/or didnt realize they were pregnant. I get to see moms proudly parade their little bundles into clinic after they have given birth. There is something so heartwarming about each and every story. Sometimes there is sadness, sometimes there is joy, and if I do not keep my eyes open for it, I will miss the beauty of what the Lord wants me to see. I have been learning to not only see the swollen bellies in front of me, but rather to focus on the story Behind the Belly. So today I give to you your first installment.
For example, yesterday, like any other thursday clinic day, it came time to gather our pregnant ladies and begin seeing them one by one. Once we separated all of them there was one older woman in the back of the room who was alone, didn't look pregnant, and did not have a kid with her. We asked her why she was here. She said she wasnt feeling well. We informed her that we had a clinic for children and pregnant women only and that if she needed an adult consultation she would need to find a different clinic. She just kept saying that she didnt feel well. I tried to glean some more info by asking her what made her feel that she wasnt feeling well. She just kept saying that she was not feeling well. She eventually shared that she had some dizziness and that sometimes her body hurts. I told her that unfortunately due to the amount of children we still had left to see, we would not be able to help her today. She then shared with me that it had been about 3 months since she had seen her last period and she didnt know if maybe she was pregnant. NOW THAT I COULD DO SOMETHING ABOUT!! I gladly offered her a nice little cup in which she could go pee in and I got my pregnancy test ready. When she returned with the "specimen" I conducted the test. Not 4 seconds after the dipstick touched the pee, 2 faint lines immediately appeared. Now I got excited for her. We would be able to put her in our pregnant mom program and provide her with crucial tests and vitamins for her new pregnancy.
As I began to fill out a file for her I realized the weight of what just happened. She shared with me that she has no children. But this is not her first pregnancy. No, she had previously given birth 4 times. She shared with me that all of them had died. One of them at the age of 2, died but she never knew there was anything wrong with it. One of them at the age of one month, but again she never knew anything was wrong with it. And two more separate pregnancies, she lost both babies on the day they were born due to unknown circumstances. The last baby that she had given birth to was 3 yers ago. It hit me that the news I had just flippantly shared with her probably welled up a great deal of emotions for this lady. Im sure there was some fear, excitement, joy, nervousness, sadness, and a great deal of caution.
As I contiued to fill out her dossier I began to do some of our routine tests on her (i.e. blood pressure, weight check, etc) I found that at just 3 months pregnant her blood pressure was extremely high. We were able to give her some medication to help manage her blood pressure, and start her on some vitamins. I was able to share with her that there is hope and that she is not alone and we will come alongside her during this pregnancy to help ensure that this new baby, this promise of new life, has the best possible chance at survival. She looked at me with the slightest bit of mist in her eyes and said thank you. And thank you for giving her hope for this new life inside of her. I think she will be one of my very favorite upcoming births!!
This is not even the only one. There are tons of other stories just like it. I get to play a small part in this on.the.regular. I am totally the lucky one. And it is an honor that God has saw fit to use me in this way for this season of my life. Stay tuned as I try to start sharing more of these stories "behind the belly."
I would love for you to share this story with friends that you know, and encourage them to also come alongside of me as a ministry partner. If you or someone you know would like to support myself and the small part I play in the scheme of Children's Health Ministries you can make a one time or recurring monthly donation at: https://
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