2/15/10 – Madrina = Godmother

And I am officially one now!  First time Proud Auntie in December and first time proud Godmother in Feb.

Thought I was headed for a Sunday of rest after a long night of shaking my booty this way and that way when I received an early morning call from Janneth (Anita’s sister who shook her booty with me all night).  “Get dressed and get your worn out self over to Anita’s house to attend a birth in Monte de Los Olivos!”   I got dressed and rushed over to Anita’s house to find Mercith, a term pregnant lovely resident of Los Olivos who had come to Pucallpa with her husband in their family’s run-down taxicab because…  Well, I realize now that I have no idea why they came down to the city.  There could be lots of reasons…  Anyway, I assessed her with another Midwife friend and we diagnosed her with pregnancy induced hypertension (at the least) and late term, and accompanied her to Yarinacocha hospital.   There, she was induced and I returned to the hospital later that evening to labor support her and deliver her sweet little baby girl, Francis, on Saint Valentines Day.  

Francis was diagnosed with Down’s Syndrome the following day and the day after that the diagnosis was revoked, but they spent a few days in the hospital observing baby Francis.  Moms that have recovered but stay with their babes in the hospital after 24 hours sleep on the hard floor in a room together.  So, Mercith was recovering from Pre-eclampsia, pregnancy and delivery and sleeping on the floor with only a sheet under her for 2 days before she got to take the very bumpy ride home to Los Olivos.  Imagine!  I can’t.

See pictures of Mercith, baby Francis and I in the hospital on a bed before her 24 hours was up (that’s a thermometer in Mercith’s mouth not a cigarette).  Baby Francis with the dress her Godmother brought her and then 2 weeks later at a party in Monte de Los Olivos.  You can see the whole family from left to right, big sister of baby Franicis (Brisset), dad to Francis and Brisset (Manuel), Mercith and babe, and Mercith’s mom.  They are looking healthy and happy after a stressful few days in the hospital!

My name in Monte de Los Olivos is Elicha.  That’s the native way of making a name cute and lovey.  Take off the end of the name and add –cha to women and –uco to men.  “yooooco’ is the man pronunciation, like yucca only with an o at the end.