(laundry basket babies)
Today has been an insane and crazy day! Last night I stayed up with the babies, they wake up about every hour or so to drink a bottle, so i'm pretty tired.
I worked at the hospital from 7 to 4 today, and it was CRAZY! I learned so much in one day it's overwhelming. I now know all different forms of skin infections and how to treat them. Soon, I am going on some mobile clinics and that will be awesome. I also worked in the "pharmacy" today and learned a ton about prescriptions and medicine.
Now, I'm sitting on Rachelle's floor with a baby on my stomach, watching the lighting. It doesn't get much better than this. I will be posting more pictures of these little ones soon to actually show you how tiny they are compared to other things! There fingers are like q-tips.
Here is part two of their story, once again written by Rachelle Montgomery!
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I couldn’t sleep Wednesday night because I was so worried about the babies. My main concern being their health, Patris said they were quite small and had not been eating much.
A little while later I was on my way to Simonette to pick up the babies. I couldn’t believe how tiny they were. I had never seen a baby so small in all my life. So fragile and vulnerable, my heart broke for them. How could their mother have left them without looking back? I just couldn’t wrap my mind around it.
Vanessa met us at the clinic and we brought the babies in. Doctor Jennifer examined them both and said they were in pretty good shape, small and a little weak but doing well. She wanted them to get some blood work to make sure they were ok.
When we were finished at the clinic we brought the babies up to my house and got them some formula. I made two bassinettes for them out of laundry baskets and pillows. We had only one bottle between the two of them and they took turns feeding. The babies were so weak they didn’t have the energy to suck for more than a few seconds at a time before they fell asleep, so we ended up pouring small amounts of milk into a baby spoon and just pouring the milk in their mouths. They responded really well to this and were able to drink so much more, since the only effort they had to make was swallowing.
Vanessa and I both knew we couldn’t let these babies leave. She called Mr. Marc, the Haitian Director of Mission of Hope, to see what we could do. He said they could stay the night, but only if we filed a report at the court so Patris went to Cabaret with his cousin, Christine, to file the report. He called us a few hours later saying the judge refused to write the report; since the babies were abandoned in Port au Prince the report needed to be filed in Port au Prince in case their mother came looking for them. It was already 3:30 at this point, which meant he wouldn’t be able to get to the police station on time.
We called Marc to let him know and to our surprise he said the babies could stay the night, but a report would have to be filed first thing in the morning.
The babies stayed at my house until the evening and then Vanessa took them back to her house for the night.
And so ‘baby girl’ and ‘baby boy’ spent their first night at Mission of Hope.
A little while later I was on my way to Simonette to pick up the babies. I couldn’t believe how tiny they were. I had never seen a baby so small in all my life. So fragile and vulnerable, my heart broke for them. How could their mother have left them without looking back? I just couldn’t wrap my mind around it.
Vanessa met us at the clinic and we brought the babies in. Doctor Jennifer examined them both and said they were in pretty good shape, small and a little weak but doing well. She wanted them to get some blood work to make sure they were ok.
When we were finished at the clinic we brought the babies up to my house and got them some formula. I made two bassinettes for them out of laundry baskets and pillows. We had only one bottle between the two of them and they took turns feeding. The babies were so weak they didn’t have the energy to suck for more than a few seconds at a time before they fell asleep, so we ended up pouring small amounts of milk into a baby spoon and just pouring the milk in their mouths. They responded really well to this and were able to drink so much more, since the only effort they had to make was swallowing.
Vanessa and I both knew we couldn’t let these babies leave. She called Mr. Marc, the Haitian Director of Mission of Hope, to see what we could do. He said they could stay the night, but only if we filed a report at the court so Patris went to Cabaret with his cousin, Christine, to file the report. He called us a few hours later saying the judge refused to write the report; since the babies were abandoned in Port au Prince the report needed to be filed in Port au Prince in case their mother came looking for them. It was already 3:30 at this point, which meant he wouldn’t be able to get to the police station on time.
We called Marc to let him know and to our surprise he said the babies could stay the night, but a report would have to be filed first thing in the morning.
The babies stayed at my house until the evening and then Vanessa took them back to her house for the night.
And so ‘baby girl’ and ‘baby boy’ spent their first night at Mission of Hope.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Overall, these babies are my new loves and are growing a tiny bit each day. Part 3 to come soon!
Things I am thankful for today...
1. Bug spray for the million mosquitos
2. Lightning storms to watch
3. The babies getting strong enough to squeeze my finger.
peace, love, and sitting on porches,
alex
Do the babies have names yet? Please bring them home! :). Love ya and be safe! Can't wait to see all your pics! Love, heather
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to be tired, but oh so worth it. I can't get Toby to look at the pictures of these little ones, because I think he might want them.
ReplyDeletePick some good names for them.
Shannon