We have a surgery date!!!

WE HAVE A SURGERY DATE!!!

Actually, a new surgery date.

It was heartbreaking to get so close to D’s original admittal for surgery (May 7) and have him get sick—very sick—only 3 days before. Instead of surgery, he was re-admitted to the private pediatric hospital with a respiratory infection and coronary heart disease.

We bailed him out one week later with a nasty cough and more meds, but he’s been doing very well under Elizabeth (and now Katrina Culmer’s) diligent care.

In fact, many different people have taken turns caring for baby D around the clock the past several months, often in total isolation from the other babies.

Kaley

Linnea

Lindsey

Elizabeth

Katrina

(If I’m forgetting anyone, let me know!)

Tia Maria has also given her all these past months.

Thanks to some great teamwork from Elizabeth, Katrina, and our favorite pediatrician, our new surgery date is May 22, with hospital admittance on May 19.

WE NEED YOUR HELP! 

·        Prayer Support! We’re going to be nervous until he’s admitted. The city is full of viruses right now and it’s hard to stay free of them.

·        Financial Support! We have all the money we need for the surgery deposit (praise the Lord!), but need a cushion for medications, post-op tests, consultations, etc. Our current health funds are depleted after 3 months of constant illness. If 10 more people gave $100 each, we would be in a much better position as we move forward.

·        Local friends: take a turn! We have never had an inpatient at Clinica Belga (the heart hospital) and have learned that someone must be with our little patient around the clock. Our current volunteers have busy days (and nights) and our staff is fully occupied with all of our other babies. I will be creating a schedule soon - please write or comment here if you can help!! 

For those of you who have been waiting for information on donating blood, we think that’s taken care of for now! The doctors have changed their minds and say we only need 1 or 2 donors. We can easily reach that goal amongst our staff. More helpful at this point would be volunteers to stay at Daniel’s bedside before and after the surgery.

Thank you for your prayers and support! We are nearing the goal of a healthy baby! :)

Baby D is Sick.

As we count down the days to admission (2) and heart surgery (4), baby D has gotten sick again.

Yesterday he woke up with discharge clouding his eyes, and as the volunteer and I talked about him, he coughing hoarsely.

Oh, the disappointment! This morning I sensed defeat in the voice of Maria, our over-worked health coordinator. The doctor gave him three medications and ordered lab work.

Maria has been unable to reach the heart surgeon to learn what happens now.

Please pray for God's perfect timing in all of this!!!


In other news, I just did a fresh tally of the finances that have come in specifically for this surgery.

Some interesting stats about the donations:

• ELEVEN separate donors (some have given multiple times)
• SIX different countries: US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, and United Kingdom
• EIGHT donors are former volunteers, and ONE donor will volunteer later this year
• Average donation amount per donor: $400! 

Our current total (minus paypal fees) is approximately $4350. Our original goal was $4000, readjusted to $6000 to allow for more heart exams, lab work, post-op medication and consultations, and any other complications needing immediate funds.

Thank you to everyone who has given so sacrificially! I hope to report back with good news SOON.

Baby D's Heart Surgery!

 

For the first posts on Baby D and his condition, see here and here.

WE HAVE A SURGERY DATE!!!

Baby D will be admitted to the heart clinic on Wednesday, May 7, for heart surgery on May 9! He is still about a pound shy of where he should be, but is currently healthy and progressing developmentally. Due to the chronic ear infections he has suffered through, he has been scheduled for auditory testing. 

PRAY THAT HE STAYS HEALTHY!!

We are so grateful for the dedication of volunteer Linnea to care for D around the clock and get him healthy and strong. She leaves Bolivia tomorrow morning to return to Canada, but return volunteer Lindsey is stepping in to fill the gap.

 Baby D with Volunteer Coordinator Elena
April 28, 2014

Last week when I sat down with our health coordinator, I realized how many details are involved. Maria had just spent the morning on 3 tests for the baby costing over $100. If that doesn’t sound like much, it’s a lot here in Bolivia. One of the things she found out is that we will need MANY blood donors. (An estimated 16?!)

Friends and volunteers in Cochabamba who are willing to donate blood: stay tuned for more details!

On the legal front, since baby D is a relatively new arrival for Casa de Amor, his official papers for his “shelter” in Casa de Amor had not yet been issued from the minors court. That’s normal but in this case we needed everything in line before the surgery. (By law, we have 72 hours to request legal shelter for each and every new arrival, but social services and the court can take months to process the papers.) Our social workers (Rosa and our new staff member Evelin) worked hard to get this loose end tied up so that we could present a report to the court with all the details of the surgery requesting permission to proceed. We expect a positive reply—this is more of a formality before embarking on major medical treatment.

We are very blessed to have two medical-minded volunteers arriving soon, our repeat volunteer "Canadian Katrina" and a repeat visitor to Bolivia, Elizabeth from Texas. They will be a huge help with all the special care baby D will need, and also our medical staff as they keep up with all of the other babies.

Financially, a HUGE THANK YOU to the TEN different sponsors of baby D’s life-saving surgery!! Every bit of what has been donated for baby D is going to baby D. Yesterday I transferred the first $3,500 to Bolivia so that our accountant can access it on time. All of the staff is marveling at how quickly we are able to move forward with this surgery!

We do need more to be able to pay for his post-op medications, tests, consultations, and anything else that might come up. Click HERE for information on making donations to Casa de Amor/GOAL. 

In summary:

~ Pray for baby D’s continual health and consistent weight gain

~ Pray for a sufficient number of blood donors (enough donors will reduce the total surgery cost)

~ Pray that the proper legal backing comes through in time

~ Pray that enough money comes in to be able to cover any extra expenses

A few more pictures of our volunteer get-together a couple of nights ago, thanking Linnea for her service to Casa de Amor:

My house looked like a second baby home, with quite the room full of babies - four babies ages 6 1/2 to almost 8 months!

 So fun! All of these babies can sit to some degree now.

And finally, we would be very grateful for any special donations towards health expenses in general right now. One of our newest babies, little boy E, was hospitalized twice at two different hospitals in the month of April with various illnesses that he has probably had since his arrival.

We have spent MORE THAN $2,000 on medical bills alone the month of April.  

Much of that was due to hospitalizations, but also because of the continual sicknesses we’ve battled at the Baby Home. Obviously, this went way over budget, and follows behind another high medical expense month in March. The babies are finally doing better thanks to a united effort on the part of the staff and volunteers, but it’s made it hard to meet other expenses like staff salaries and utility bills, now due.

Click HERE to see how to give via check or paypal.

Thank you to all of our supporters! 

  

Baby Girl!

 

Our newest arrival is an overlapping of my two “jobs”—Casa de Amor and the street population. I’ve known the baby’s family and even extended family for two years now, so I could go that far back in explaining why she is now with us. The story would read a bit like a soap opera, including multiple lovers, another abandoned baby, jail escape, cold-blooded murder….and still, my continual friendship to this whole struggling family, those on the street and those off.

To start at more recent events, my friend M. (20 years old and mother of three) had her newest baby on August 30 in Santa Cruz (another large city in Bolivia). Ever since I took her for testing while she was in jail earlier this year, she has said she would give me this baby. I would only reply that we would talk about that further down the line. Well, once the baby was born she told me to pick a name, that she still planned to give her to me.

Fast forward a few weeks to Sunday, September 23. At 9:51pm, I was talking to my family, a regular Sunday night event for us, when I took another call on my cell phone. M. was sobbing hysterically and I could only imagine that someone had died. That someone was her father, and her mother had killed him. They had fought in their one room home in Santa Cruz and M.'s mother had stabbed the father of her nine children to death. Both were drunk and had even overdosed on sleeping pills. M. said they were waiting for police to come arrest her mother, also essentially mother to her own children, and could I get her in touch with her little brother, leader of my group of street kids. That was a difficult couple of hours, watching the news sink in for I., and going around town to let his sisters and their young families and his aunt know what had just happened.    

Four days later, after burying her father and watching her mother go to jail, M. and her partner bused in to Cochabamba. She called me and I asked “So what do you plan to do in Cochabamba? Are you just visiting?” and in a different, more somber tone of voice she replied “Senorita, I came to leave my baby with you. That’s the reasion I came.” I asked where she was and told her I could meet up with her in an hour. I met the baby at the base of the hill where my street group lives. M. thrust her into my arms saying “Here’s your daughter!” Then she saw my face and nodded as if to say “Yes, it’s true”. I was adjusting to the fact that the baby looked just like someone else we know, currently in jail, and not the father of M.’s other two children…. We sat down on a curb to talk about M.’s thoughts and plans, the implications of this new revelation taking hold.

We went to government offices to talk, and the sweet baby came home with me. Surprise, tias! I kept her with me till the middle of the next morning, getting to know her. As M. has told me by phone since baby N. was born, she has quite a bit of reflux (read: entire bottle can reappear without warning!). I’ve taken her to the pediatrician, who fell in love with our new little 4 kilo “doll”, and we’ll see if the medication and different formula help.

 

Pray for the mother, M., and her partner as they make decisions. There is still time for them to change their mind in the next couple of days, before traveling back to Santa Cruz, and before we notify the court of the situation.

Pray also for baby N.’s health and life… Multiple relatives tried to force M. to either abort the baby, even buying pills to do so, or drown or suffocate the baby after she was born. Here at the Baby Home, she’s the little princess after seven boys in a row and just one toddler girl!

 Baby N loves all the attention!

 

Mother's Day Seminar & Lunch

This year we "did" Mother's Day at Casa de Amor on May 30 with a half day of training and then a big lunch.

First, our blind little girl J's two teachers from FAPIZ shared with us about visual impairment, how they interact with J at school, and how we can support their work here at home.

After their presentation, I showed a youtube video of Christopher Duffley, a 10 year old blind and autistic boy with a singing ministry. Although it was in English, the song "Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord" is popular here in Spanish and the staff caught the significance.

Next, our speech therapist Mercy gave an overview of speech development for ages 0-2 and answered questions. We are so grateful for her loving dedication towards our children with speech delays!

Then a physical therapist shared developmental milestones and took questions. She is in charge of all the physical therapy students who visit our house most days of the week to work (and learn from) our babies!

To finish out the training, I showed another longer youtube video, this time of the testimony of abortion survivor Gianna Jessen. What a moving story!! I love it when she passionately declares the worth of those rejected and put down by society for being different, growing up without a family, or having a disability.

Meanwhile, Tio David had been slaving away in the kitchen....

As his gift to all the women he works with on a daily basis, he insisted on making the Mother's Day lunch while we were in the meetings, a very sweet gesture for a guy, and a Bolivian at that!

The lunch was paid for by a visitor to one of our houses a couple weeks prior. I don't even know the young man's name, but he pressed $50 into my hand as he said goodbye!

Volunteer "Kiwi Katrina" was asked to make a dessert for everyone and made THREE: brownies, lemon meringue pie, and fruit salad! Although Bolivians aren't nearly into desserts as we Westerners are, they sure lined up for Katrina's specialties and it was all gone in a flash!!

And there is no picture, but the entire day would not have been possible without the team of volunteers who cared for all 30+ children in three houses while the tias had this time away.

Our desire that it would be a refreshing, encouraging, educational time for all who participated seems to have been accomplished from the smiles on the faces and the positive comments on May's staff reports.

Thanks to all who participated! :)

It's a Boy!

Our seventh boy in a row has just arrived!

We have said no to any new babies since baby S last month, but as I mentioned in the very last post, baby A was suddenly whisked off to Casa de Amor III on Friday and they don't plan to give him back! :) I had already had the secret thought that this meant we could probably take in another baby, and we didn't have to wait long - just till Monday!

First picture, mere seconds after landing in my arms. :) He was born on March 7.

Baby P (another Bible name) came from the countryside several hours away. We don't have much information about him yet, but what we do know is he was living in very poor surroundings with his 75 year old grandfather and deaf/mute mother. On Friday, child protection authorities took him to the hospital and he was diagnosed with severe hypothermia.

He arrived quite dirty and as Tia Tomaza and I bathed him, we discovered a bad diaper rash and other rashes on his tiny body.

CUTE!!! He's already stolen all of our hearts...

I weighed him and he's only gained 100 grams from his birth weight (2.8 kilos to 2.9 kilos - a little over 6 pounds), according to the immunization card we have.

Sweet baby... Think I need to go check on him! :)

(Today is my sister Sarah's birthday! It will be easy to remember this baby's arrival date.)

Casa de Amor Christmas Catalog, Edition 2011

Presenting Casa de Amor's

2011 Holiday Giving Catalog!

This year, share the gift that makes a difference in the life of a child.

A beautiful card describing your gift choice will be sent to the gift recipient to let them know of your gift in their honor.

Click on the images below to see the Holiday Giving Catalog!

Make an online donation here or send your check made out to GOAL to the following address:

Global Orphan Assistance League (GOAL)
PO Box 357
Collierville, TN, 38027
USA

Casa de Amor Baby Home Christmas 2010

For more information, write us at gifts@casadeamor.org!

sick babies.

We've had a rough few weeks as the babies get sick with a cough, then get sick AGAIN with the cough, and now the dreaded rotavirus is here....oh will we ever be all healthy again?? In times like these we become excruciatingly aware of how susceptible our babies are. Many were born prematurely and obviously without many of the physical and emotional benefits of other babies.



Baby girl F and baby boy S were admitted on the same day, 13 days back. Little girl S (CDA II) and one year old F (Baby Home) just spent a few days before they were on the mend. Doctors wanted to admit baby A (youngest at the Baby Home at 4 months) but there were no available beds in the two main pediatric hospitals! This epidemic has hit Cochabamba hard.



We thought it would be cool to just take over this hospital room with our three. As it is, we run back and forth between the two wings of the hospital. More than once another mother has said "Is that one ALSO yours?!" Oh yes, and there are many more where this one came from. :)



Monday was scary as baby boy S took a downturn and doctors said I needed to go in to "make decisions". They were throwing around the possibility of a type of chemotherapy. WHAT??? He is now in testing for TB, but if he came straight to us from the hospital, how could he have TB? If a staff member has it... I don't even want to think of the possibilities!! Finally he was taken off penicilin and put on two other antibiotics and is slowly improving.

Pray that he and baby F are out SOON!! We are so ready to have everyone back home and healthy. One of the triplets, A, has had a very hard time improving. Baby MN has been absolutely miserable with the rotavirus.

*Photos shamelessly swiped from volunteer Savannah's blog :)

First Aid

I get all excited about stuff like....

first aid donations!

Much of the goodies in the pictures are thanks to donations from the young people's group at Cochabamba International Church.

And this was the floor of my room yesterday during a common task: restocking and cleaning out all my first aid kits and bags.

My car is practically a clinic on wheels by this point!

That's helpful when you have issues like a fight at 2am and no one wants to go to the hospital because they were just there the week before because of another fight... Sigh. And the endless other daily needs, both large and small, that they trust me to tend to now. I love learning more every day!

6 month check up

This week we took the triplets in for their six month check up with the city's best pediatrician. I can't even describe the full feeling...the joy...knowing that ALL of the hard work has been worth it...to watch him thoroughly examine each one and be continually amazed at how well they are doing and how huge they are (7 kilos and up!), and how many of their measurements continue to be exactly the same ("trillizas de verdad" he always says). And the whole time, the triplets didn't make a peep other than a sweet giggle or sound, just being perfectly charming. It was like the perfect doctor visit.

(Our little Alison does need to use eye patches though for her strabismus. Will make it easier to tell them apart, ha!)

Maybe some of my gratitude stemmed from the news I was processing and grieving. When we walked in, Dr. Monroy just sat at his desk with his arms crossed and very seriously said "I had a VERY BIG scare with you guys recently". We said what did we do?! He arrived to the hospital to the news that a trilliza (triplet, feminine) had died, and he wondered what had happened since ours were doing so well. Turns out it was one of the triplets that was born just a few weeks after ours. They filled the same bassinet at the hospital the day after we took ours home - two boys and a girl, from far out in the countryside, born to an already large (and poor) family. I well remember how twice the newspaper published an update on ours, adding a note to please donate to the other set of triplets. People were not responding as well as with ours, probably since there were parents in the picture, but I couldn't help but feeling that everyone able to give had already given to our triplets. [And we haven't even seen all of those donations because child social services figured out excuses to get those things into THEIR storage closets rather than ours.]

Since we have already walked through the experience of losing a multiple, it was sobering news, and it's not like we didn't have scares at the beginning when we nearly lost Alison (Victoria). Thank you Lord, for mercifully sparing our babies!!!

Nicole, Nataly, Alison - sacked out after the doctor's appointment

Nataly charming her godmother Nataly on a recent visit (the babies' mother currently lives with Nataly & family)

And since it had somehow escaped me to ever make a picture of F with her babies, here she is! I love how she immediately knew how she wanted to do it, plopping the baby she was holding into the swing and taking the two I had and going behind the swing to stand. She is coming around to motherhood (times three!) slowly but surely.

By the way, in the course of conversations this week with the triplet's mother, godmother's family, government officials, and amongst our team, we have decided how much longer we will help. In January next year, F needs to contract a lawyer to start the paperwork to regain custody. On February 16 the babies turn 1! Within the next few months after that, the papers will be done and they can go back to F. So we will see a lot of fun milestones {minus teeth cutting...ugh} through the trip's first year!

good news!

So happy to report that Nataly turned the corner very quickly and is already back with us! My favorite phrase this week, heard three times: tu bebe esta de alta (discharged). Music to my ears!

Even though it's a Saturday, I was very busy with meetings and errands and hospital visits all day (got to carry Tia Sarin's new baby Josue to their car as they left the hospital!), so just a quick note. I need to prepare Nataly's IV med right now, plus she's going to be hungry because the hospital put her on a slightly different schedule...THAT will be fun to change around!

I wish this were an April Fool's Joke

(But it wouldn't be a very nice one!)

I had to take Nataly (Triplet #3 and the next to smallest) into the hospital tonight and now she's admitted. Yeah.......the three are separated again. :(

Here's what happened: I got back to the Baby Home at 7:20pm and went right to work learning from Savannah everything to do with Victoria's 2 IV meds, since Savannah and Elena are hiking/camping out tonight with two Baby Home tias, something they have been planning to do for weeks now (tomorrow is a holiday, Viernes Santo). I first thought something was up when at 7:50, triplets 1 & 2 couldn't hold off anymore and I went ahead and gave them their milk, but triplet 3 wouldn't wake up for hers. As she often "wins" and gulps her milk down in just a few minutes flat, I found it odd. Then I nearly gasped to compare her coloring to the other two! She was white as a ghost compared to their rosy, almost red, cheeks. Those were the first two signs last Friday that something was wrong with Victoria: she went off milk and became very pale. I was really upset but was glad to see that she had no fever, was not vomiting, and I did finally get half the bottle down her after 50 minutes of work. I called their doctor and HE is sick, and another one is traveling, so after a few more minutes of agonizing and realizing that she was "complaining" a lot and her breathing wasn't quite right, I hurriedly told the night tias to keep an eye on the other two and ran her to the hospital.

So to bring everyone up to speed, Victoria (Triplet #2) was in the NICU from Friday evening until Tuesday morning, no clear diagnosis. Gabriel was in the pediatric hospital from Monday afternoon till Wednesday morning with viral bronchopneumonia. At least neither was in for extended amounts of time, but still, this is REALLY nuts. And that many of the staff and kids would be struggling with illness...it's tough. I'm grateful for several good nights of sleep in a row (besides the daily calls at daybreak) so that I'm not exhausted, but tomorrow might be a different story since I'm "on" tonight. Then tomorrow is packed from early on as I give Victoria IV meds at 6am and 7am, then begin the rounds of hospital visits* and street kid appointments I already had set, plus a church activity...although who knows what will actually get done now.

Staff member David asked the pediatrician a good question tonight as Nataly was admitted: if there's some way to head off this happening with Valentina. Although she definitely seems the strongest, they are falling one by one. The doctor said we could do some tests, but the problem is tomorrow is a holiday, then it's Saturday, then Sunday is voting day which means no transportation (although we have authorization for David's car). By the way, Tio David, our accountant but total jack-of-all-trades, stepped in and saved me when I was drowning - trying to be with Nataly in the ER and yet needing to get back for an IV med for Victoria, and then a feeding, and I was just really hungry because normally I finally have time to eat late but today things just intensified. He brought another tia to the hospital, ran back and forth as they asked for things, used a lot of phone credit in calling me to ask me questions from the doctors and nurses, and then parked my car while I finished up a feeding. I almost felt like my Dad was back! :)

David's birthday is on Saturday and we really wanted to do something big for him today, thinking that our only male staff member deserves it, but I'm sad to say it was just too hectic. We will try again on Saturday, because he will be here before going with me to a meeting (prep work for a huge team coming in July).

Thanks for ALL of your prayers!!

*We are in all sorts of clinics and hospitals frequently here, but this week has been an exaggeration, seriously! I've been to Los Olivos (triplets), Albina Patino Pediatric Hospital (Gabriel), German Urquidi Pediatric (Ana Maria), Clinica ProSalud (street friends), Caja Nacional de Salud (pregnant Tia Silvia, and tomorrow to visit Tia Sarin and her new baby, born today!), all but one of those multiple times, and now tomorrow will go to a new one for me, Clinica Cubano, to visit a street friend with other street friends. I love all the medical stuff, but would like it more if it didn't mean someone I know and love is sick or injured!

six weeks!

Okay so they turned six weeks yesterday and I only have one picture because the craziness around here continues (and at the bridge: a girl injured her arm by slipping on the muddy riverbank)...

Look at all that chubbiness!!! They have grown so much. I've wanted to compare pictures from a couple weeks ago....eventually I'll have time, right?! Theoretically, since we made the plunge yesterday afternoon to 3 hour feedings versus just 2 hours, we should have more time, but the medication schedule is nuts now so it just seems busier.



Master Triplet Schedule, Version 4!

Here's what they weighed a couple days ago:

Valentina: 5 pounds, 14 ounces
Victoria: 5 pounds, 4 1/2 ounces
Nataly: 5 pounds, 7 ounces

I don't know if their rapid weight gain is normal, but our other micro preemie took MONTHS to get up to 6 pounds, although she has FAS so that could definitely affect things.

Pray for our "nurse Savannah" who is really working hard to take care of Victoria's round-the-clock med needs, via IV.

And right NOW I need to go pick up Gabriel from the hospital, because he's been released, yeah!! I was supposed to pick up our HIV child and get her/the tia to the doctor because she coughed all night, and we need to decide who goes on stronger meds at the Baby Home (it's so hard when they are passing something around!!), but will just have to figure all that out as I go... Till later!

when it rains, it pours...

The past few days have been nuts. The last week of the month is my fullest as far as office work goes, but sometimes...seems like all the time now...life just doesn't cooperate with me and I have next to zero desk time. It's like, my cell phone is even dying I have so little time in my room to charge it and I use it constantly all day.

Yesterday at one point as I changed April schedules for the fourth time (I'm not kidding, and it's not even April yet!), a tia called from the doctor to say that Gabriel (1 1/2) needed to be admitted with bronchopneumonia, and I had Savannah out with another sick child, there was a visitor here helping with the other two triplets, I needed to go check on Victoria...and I got a call from the bridge asking me to come immediately and help with a couple crisis! And I also needed to find SOMEONE to donate blood ASAP, before Victoria is released and we are charged $100. Savannah wanted to but was getting sick, and the rest of us (office staff/volunteers) have given within the past three months so were not eligible. I actually fall into both categories... I, who never get sick, wore myself out so bad the end of last week that by Saturday night, I had the most acutely painful swollen lymph node under my chin EVER. This has never happened but it continued to get so huge and hard and painful, and I seemed to be running a fever, that I finally mentioned it to Savannah yesterday as she was making a doctor run. She brought us back antibiotics, only they were sulfa based so I had to search for an alternative (which of course had to be expensive, as far as meds here go), but I am sooo grateful for antibiotics right now and at least I feel human again today although I still have the painful easter eggs under my chin.

And then...we haven't even had a baby in the hospital in 1 1/2 years (and that was a jaundiced newborn who went straight from the hospital back to his mother) so it was a shock yesterday to all of a sudden have TWO admitted. I had hoped to keep Gabriel out and care for him at home, but I took one look at him, noticed the labored breathing, and immediately changed my mind. Right now Tia Luz is with him around the clock and Savannah and Elena have stepped in to fill her shoes. I hope to find out today if it's viral or bacterial (unfortunately I'm guessing the latter and that means 7 days in the hospital easy).

When I checked on Victoria last night, she looked wonderful! As we're not allowed to touch her, I started talking to her and she woke up and started crying, oops! I think she hears my voice and immediately thinks "MILK TIME!!!" haha. I took a picture with my cell phone, but alas, due to virus troubles we lost the program I used to download them and haven't had time to find it again. But her color is great, her abdomen is no longer distended, she's off the ventilator, oxygen, and feeding tube, and nothing is growing in the two cultures. Really odd. It seems like it "simply" might have been increasing her milk too quickly after the doctor visit last week and her little system couldn't handle it. I wondered that from the beginning but thought surely not, it must be a bacteria. Interestingly enough, the kids at the bridge (who are huge fans of the triplets by the way, always asking about them) told me they were sure it was too much milk too fast.

Then last night after traversing the city, visiting two hospitals three times, I dealt with the issue at the bridge till exactly midnight. He had run off with their baby and she was obviously upset, so I managed to track him and the baby down and get them together to talk. With this same couple, I had a wonderful meeting just the night before because they had been doing really well together for two whole weeks! Now I had to change my tune completely, which was sad, but I can't keep helping them get together when every Monday (minus the last) they greet me with new cuts, bruises, and gashes due to their Sunday night drinking fights. And they drag their 1 year old son along. Makes them sound like monsters, but this is the sweetest, most caring, likeable guy EVER when he is sane. And even though she is just 16, she is a quiet, calm, good mother (as far as it goes for street mothers)...until she decides she wants to drink the night away and no one can stand in her way. They are quite the pair, really!

It's a terribly complicated situation, as she's now kicked out from her family's house but doesn't want to be with him, because they have this vicious cycle of getting along well for a few days, drinking till the wee hours of the morning and fighting, being mad at each other for anywhere from a day to a week, then one goes looking for the other in the usual hang outs and they are back at it again.... And in the middle of all of this is an adorable 13 month old who cries during their fights and ends up with their blood staining his clothes - not to mention the irregular sleep/eating patterns due to this lifestyle. Last night I had to threaten them with everything so they understand that I will not continue to observe this without stepping in. They listened to me and promised everything, expressing their undying love, devotion, and gratitude for my help......but I'll believe it when I see it. :)

And just because I'm having withdrawal from taking triplet pictures, here are a couple I took for the Canada team with the teddies they brought:

Here's hoping for more triplet pictures soon...!!

PS - Just talked to the triplet's doctor (or one of them, shall I say), and he says we're good to go!! I'm leaving to pick her up right now. :) And now I'm hoping I don't faint at the sight of the bill....

great news!!

Sorry I haven't gotten to post this until now, but I've been out or with the other two triplets since last night and am EXHAUSTED with a capital E. I can't even remember the last time I've been this worn out, as everything has just caught up to me. So forgive the brief update but I wanted to let everyone know that VICTORIA IS BETTER!!!! She is more active today (so says the doctor, as I wasn't allowed to go back either time I visited) and they will try to take her off the ventilator tomorrow.

We are so, so relieved that she's okay now and that she's continuing to improve! Still, the doctor says she could be in the hospital up to a week longer. That's hard to imagine... It's sad to see her empty spot in the crib and not use her yellow/green clothing. Nights and feedings are just too easy - I mean, you have two hands! Oh and we're also SO GRATEFUL that Valentina and Nataly are showing absolutely no signs of having the same infection as Victoria. Our twins almost always share illnesses, especially when little and if they share the same crib, so this feels like a miracle. :)

Thank you so much for all of the support and prayers! We need all of it as we keep up with hectic full schedules and lots of other babies/children.

prayer for Victoria

Please pray for Triplet #2, Victoria!

Today her health deteriorated very rapidly between the first signs of something wrong at 11am (fever, wouldn't finish milk) and 3pm - very pale, skipped feedings, diarrhea, vomiting, troubled breathing. By 4pm she was being intubated at the best clinic in town as three of us agonized outside the doors of the ER. I could hardly believe it - this is the 3rd time in just 14 months one of my babies has been rushed in with labored breathing. Only, praise the Lord!, this time the story was different as they were able to stabilize her!

Now Victoria is in the NICU on a ventilator. I was finally able to go in and see her for just a few minutes at 9:30. By that point she was semi-conscious and stabilized, and pneumonia has been ruled out although they're running more tests. It appears to be some sort of gastro intestinal infection that threw her into such a tail spin so quickly today.

Obviously, we're now very concerned for her sisters, so please pray for them!! We're watching them very closely and so far they have been perfectly fine which is a HUGE relief. I'm grateful that I'm already on duty with them tonight, because I'd be worrying more than sleeping anyway.

Here's a sweet picture of Victoria with our dear E yesterday:

first hours

Ohh there's so much to write about, but the trips are a full time job, besides the fact that I have two other full time jobs right now and it's my team's week to play at church.....

But in between feedings and work and phone calls, here's some of the highlights of yesterday!

These first 24 hours have been amazing! What a privilege to dress the three for the first time, to get to ask questions and learn all the details of the social story and medical history, and then carry them out of the hospital room! We were such an entourage - hospital staff, social services staff, my staff, and family memers - that people stopped whatever they were doing to watch us and wish the babies well.

First picture!! (by us anyway)

last hospital feeding before leaving

finishing via feeding tube (doesn't Tia Roxana look like a pro?)

Dressing "T2"

Gathering in the hall to leave, asking if there was an alternate route to escape the press

Maria snapped this picture - I felt so bonded with Baby #1, carrying her out of the hospital to my car in the big official procession. :)

Then there was the press! Even though no one announced the time we had settled on to pick up the babies, camera crews were already at the hospital covering the hunger strike going on in the entrance (yep, the hospital was actually closed), and I guess someone spilled the beans. We were filmed as we finished dressing the babies, as we walked to the elevator...and then they were waiting below when the elevator door opened! They followed us out to my car, which a volunteer had pulled up to the ER exit for us so that we could make a quick get away! We packed my car, as well as a taxi, and were off. We were barely home and staff started to call to say we were on the news.

After such a momentous arrival, the hard work began! Last night I had to run by the bridge kids, lead rehearsal at church, and buy a med for the triplets, but my mind is squarely in the pretty room we've set up (pictures to follow).

Getting their care all organized and set up has been a big project. I'm still getting the hang of it and figuring out the best way to clearly record everything. The babies are on several different supplements and medications, besides the feedings every two hours. Elena formatted a couple charts, and as I've added on we are currently recording: weight, temperature, feedings and how it went (each one receives a different amount), diaper changes, 3 medications, and night shifts! One day, once we're more into the routine and I can do it from memory (hopefully?!), I'll record a 24 hour schedule here so you can see what it's like: life with triplets!!

There was one moment yesterday when, uncharacteristically, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the myriad of details of their care. Just a few minutes after touching them for the first time as they lay in the hospital heating bed and it was still sinking in "there are THREE!" and "yikes, they still have feeding tubes!", I was handed 3 medical reports by my friend who just happens to be a neonatologist at the hospital. It's interesting how different this whole situation has been compared to the many other times when we've taken in preemies. Since the babies are famous in Bolivia and we were specifically chosen by authorities to care for them until the family is able to take over, it's just a whole lot of responsibility. I have a very dedicated team giving their all as well, apart from caring for the other 36 kids.

This is how I did the night feedings alone! The hand I was using for my camera was feeding the baby on the right via her feeding tube. (Elena, Katrina, Savannah, are you taking notes?! Just kidding...we'll learn from each other! But take it from me, by early morning and no sleep, I realized that organization is key, so as not to lose track of who and what and how much!)

So as it happened, I was the first person to care for them alone/all night straight out of the hospital (partially because I wanted to and partially because no other volunteer was available)...which means that I really feel like I'm in a dream now since I can count on one hand the hours of sleep I've had the past couple of nights. :)

I was busy making charts until 1:30am, and then was busy basically one hour out of every two preparing bottles/feeding tubes, feeding, then cleaning up, but the hot room and mosquitos made sure I didn't sleep in between. Of course I was listening to the babies too. Oh and there was the midnight run to the hospital for Baby #2's feeding tube to be reinserted!! At 2:45, I realized that Baby #1 had lost hers as well, but she is the best drinker so I insisted really hard all night and got her to take 90% via bottle, yeah!! The scariest was when Baby #3 developed a pretty high fever and had several crying jabs starting at 5:30am. I'm pleased to report that we finally got it down by mid-morning, and without meds. So each baby gave me a little bit of trouble last night, hehe.

It's nearly 1pm which means feeding time (surprise, surprise), so I'll just leave it at that for now!

Contrasts

Today I…

Picked up all remaining trash and cleaned at our former CDA II
Made decisions upon hearing test results from CDA III (parasite outbreak)

Chatted with friends under their bridge home
Had dealings with the relative of an ex-president of Bolivia

Practiced guitar for church on Saturday
Practiced piano for church on Sunday

Talked with a friend from the street about family problems
Talked with a middle class volunteer about family problems

Coordinated two babies going in for immunizations
Comforted one of them through a rough afternoon

Talked with a teenager from the street about her pregnancy
Consulted with a midwife-in-training about risks of the pregnancy

Barely ate all day
Had a deliciously filling dinner

Took note of the frigid weather in North America
Appreciated temperatures in the upper 70s here


I think variety keeps life interesting - don't you?

colds, be gone!

We buy it in bulk, and last year and this year, it truly seems to help our winters be less..........
snotty.

echinacea!

and what a season this is....

Florence Nightingale Jennifer here again…

The health concerns are still taking hours of my time every day. I really love studying this stuff, but I do actually have other “director” things to do. If you’ve sent me an email and are still awaiting an answer….feel free to pray that I have a few hours of solitude this week to begin catching up! I also REALLY need to begin the next newsletter, which also takes some concentrated quiet time, something just not attainable in the office these days (or really anywhere, thanks to the constantly ringing phones and knocks at my door!).

And then today I visited CDA’s psychologist, who has been in the hospital since yesterday morning because of a miscarriage scare. When I got there, her face was glowing as she had just found out the results of the sonogram—the baby is fine! I breathed a sigh of relief to not walk through the death of yet another baby.

But all the other health concerns in this city currently….. I’m trying not to be stressed out and worried wreck over everything, but it’s taking all my will power! I keep (almost) daily track of changes with the H1N1 virus and now the government is encouraging everyone to use masks. From what I’ve read from the west, masks are neither necessary nor very helpful (as far as daily life activities). So who to believe? What to implement in the homes? In times like these, when everyone is looking to me for guidance and decision making, I really feel the weight of my responsibility. …39 children, 20 staff members and their families, 3-5 volunteers...

I’ve spent many hours, day and night, thinking through the model of the Baby Home and how to best protect them, then through CDA II kids who go out more and yet are bigger and in contact with far fewer staff members, then CDA III kids, who go out constantly and have gotten some pretty strange viruses this year.

As I print out information for the staff and keep them as informed as possible, and aware of signs of scarlet fever, Hepatitis A, and influenza H1N1, I realize that really taking ALL precautions is more expensive. Sigh. Apparently, the best hygienic habits fly in the face of saving money. As part of the recent cutbacks in the homes, we’ve started to tackle a surprisingly large area of our budget: cleaning supplies. Lots of soap, paper towels to dry hands, and hot water (really only possible at CDA II, but it’s v-e-r-y expensive to keep the water heater on) all adds a lot of expense. And yet, if providing all of that led to less sickness, it's totally worth it...and I'd rather spend money on prevention than medicine. The thing is, deciding and sticking to my decision so that all is enforced in the homes. I've already implemented an "all taxi" policy (versus crowded buses) for outings with kids.

The cultural differences are a constant challenge as well. In five years here I’ve learned to pick my battles, but one that we still have confrontations on is bathing when sick. I’d prefer a sick, well-bathed and clean smelling baby. They will not bathe a child for days and days on end if they have a runny nose or cough or any other sign of illness. It's better now in the Baby Home, but there are still times when I wonder how a dirty baby will be healthier when we're not in the countryside of Bolivia on the side of a desolate, wind swept mountain…?

And then there’s the whole area of hand washing. There’s hardly a meeting in our existence of nearly 5 years where I haven’t brought up good hand washing practice and it's importance at some point. But now I’ve come to realize via volunteers that whereas I think, in my busy run throughs of the homes, that the staff is washing their hands, they are not using soap {gasp!}. And since the water is icy cold right now (winter), well….they’re kinda just wasting their time. And the kids sometimes wash their hands in the same plastic container, as if we didn’t have the modern convenience of running water.

And I could explain about how little water they drink in this country, although in the homes we have easy sources of pure water and I constantly say "give the kids water!!"

(And yet, get this, they don't think twice about going outside in the frigid morning air with wet hair!! I'm not sure, but I think that few people own hair dryers.)

These and so many more "battles" both great and small can be quite the load. I just have to turn it over to the Lord daily and "consider it joy" as the shirt I wore today said! (Post coming soon on my new Wild Olive tees.)

Thanks to each one that is upholding us in prayer and sending encouraging notes! You all help me gain perspective. I have to remind myself that "this too shall pass", that's it all just a season. You never know when a time of trial comes before a season of blessing, right? Or so I tell myself. I just love each of these kids so much, it hurts! Tonight I had the blessing of being with most of the staff and about 20 of our kids during our annual staff party, and I savored all being healthy! (Minus baby F. with his bad cough, but tomorrow he returns yet again to the "cough doctor".)

Good night! I'm completely worn out. I also need an 8 hour rest from my new constant mantra "tell me the first sign of fever"....

~Not so fast...! As I was trying to go to sleep, Katrina called from Canada shortly after midnight. She peppered me with questions about all the health concerns until we lost connection, just as I was saying "don't worry about us...just enjoy your time in Canada."

~I had an email from friends in England this morning asking if we can't vaccinate our kids for Hep A. We have started to look into that option even though we've heard it's expensive (and times 39?!), but since it doesn't start to take affect for 4 weeks, it's not the perfect solution.