Professional Baby Holder

Wednesday was my last day at Sotomayor- the maternity hospital I’ve lovingly nicknamed the “Baby Factory.” I spent the morning providing labor support (kinda like a doula) for one woman. She wasn’t cooperating very much with the doctors because of her pain. Finally when she let the doctors check her, the baby was crowning! (the head was about to come out). So that was a quick delivery…

After she got settled in postpartum, I moseyed up to the well baby nursery. This is one of my favorite parts of a hospital. 

I spent a few hours simply holding babies and talking to the doctor and nurses. Needless to say, it was wonderful. When I was little, I used to tell my parents I was going to be a professional baby holder when I grew up. Well, my dreams are coming true! :) Here are some of the sweet little ones I got to love up. 

The staff was so sweet asking me all about America and what I was doing here. I, in turn, asked them about working at Sotomayor and the culture in Guayaquil. At this subsidized hospital, most of the patients are “campesinos” or rural people who come in to deliver their babies. They are young-even thirteen to fourteen-years old- and destitute. It was interesting to hear the staff members' views and feelings. Many expressed frustration with this population they serve and the lack of education. I think it is difficult for them to do any kind of "Sex Ed." down here with such a strong Catholic presence. They also have the machismo issue. They told me some men will straight up leave their "enamorada" (literally means lover, their word for an unmarried spouse) if they do not produce children, especially boys. For this reason, many women feel pressure to become pregnant and have many babies. It's just hard to see these loving moms in the maternity hospital but also know the reality they face raising their families in the communities where we are doing the schoolchildren assessments. I loved getting to know the sweet doctor and nurses and getting perspective on all this.

That night we got to go to the Guayaquil Temple for the last time! It was wonderful, as always. Oh, in the locker room I met an awesome Ecuadorian girl. We just started talking while we were getting dressed and all of a sudden she goes off in English! I was pretty impressed. She had lived in Florida for five years and joined the Church there. She worked as an esthetician at a spa (cool huh?). We stood there and talked for about fifteen minutes and I just thought the world of her.  All of a sudden it dawned on me. Set her up with the Church's PR representative, Gunther! If you don't remember he's the guy that took us to the YSA dance. Anyway, I got her number and the next night I gave it to Gunther. He seemed pretty excited about it! They're both in their thirties and wonderful people. I'll keep you guys posted on what happens! Gosh I love playing matchmaker.