Today was my last day at the clinic. I already miss the babies so much and it's only been a few hours since I left them. I still don't have the right tools to upload my photos yet but when I get home I will be adding many photos to this blog so check back in a few days to see pictures of my sweet babies. I've got some good ones and I did manage to get at least one photo of each child, except for Andrei who went home before I got a chance.
When I arrived this morning all the mobiles were in the non-mobile playroom so I spent some time with them before sending them on there way and gathering up the non-mobiles. Little Marian (who used to be known as Dumitru) screamed almost the entire time until I put him out in the hall in a walker. Mirella took apart all the mobiles and kept hitting the other babies with the poles. Everyone wanted to sit in my lap and nobody wanted me to pay any attention to the others. They all quited down after their bottles and I then sent them off to their playroom and went to fetch my non-mobiles.
I had 9 of them out this morning and 7 out this afternoon. It was a fairly quiet day after the mobiles left us and Anna Maria and Her aid Christina spent much of the day with us. In the afternoon before everyone else woke up i brought Alex into the playroom and let her look out the window (which the aids had opened to air out the room while the babies slept). She just loved looking outside at the trees and the fields and hearing the birds and the wind. She just wanted to sit on the window sill all afternoon, but eventually we did have to close the window as it was still a bit chilly outside. Alex was in a good mood today. She has become much more interactive this week. She always smiles when she sees me now, and giggles for me much more often. I think she has finally gotten comfortable with me which makes me said as I now have to leave and she's just going to have to start the process all over again with someone else. Hopefully someone on the next team will give her lots of love and attention.
It was hard saying goodbye to everyone. The non-mobiles were in unusually good spirits this afternoon and no one cried upon being put in there crib. Crina even smiled and giggled in her crib as I said goodbye to her. The toddlers on the other hand were not so happy to see me go. unlike the little ones they understand when you leave -probably not the difference between when you leave for the evening and when you leave for good but they know that your leaving and they don't like it. Some of them waved happily. But Maia and Mihaela (who was in with the toddlers instead of the mobiles today) just fell apart. I have become very close with both of them and it was so hard to leave them especially when they were sobbing like that. I held Mihaela for a little while and cried with her a little before handing her over to the preschool teacher. I wish I didn't have to leave them there. I worry about Mihaela as she sometimes throws such big tantrums (over not getting enough attention) that she often gets put back in her bed. This just makes her even more clingy the next time you see her. I hope someone on the next team will give her some extra attention, she needs to know that she is loved.
I grew to love all of the babies at the clinic but some you just connect with more than others. There were five in particular that I wanted to bring home with me: Alex, Mihaela, Maia, Maiastra, and Beatrice. Three of these five were not even in my original group but they are still the ones I feel the closest to and the ones I know I will think about the most. I am praying that they all find good families and that they will be well looked after until they do. It's comforting to know that the very day I am leaving a new team is arriving to look after our babies. It won't be long before a new group of volunteers falls madly in love with these children. many things could be said about the unfortunate circumstances these babies have found themselves in but no one could rightfully say that these babies do not have enough people who love them. These babies are all loved by more people than you can count.
Friday, April 6, 2007
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Thursday
This morning 5 students who were from either the local college or the high school ( was first told one and than the other so I'm not sure which it was -hard to tell by looking) came to volunteer at the clinic. They worked mostly with the mobiles and the toddlers who were very happy to receive the extra attention. I worked with a rotating group of 7-10 babies and was joined frequently by Christina (Anna Maria's aid). She is especially fond of Crina and often comes in to see her.
I spent some extra time with Alexandra this afternoon. I have brought her out every day and usually she plays by herself most of the time and will often ignore me when I try to talk or play with her. But not today. Today she was in a good mood and she was very interactive. I tickled her and tossed her about (in a gentle way of course as she has brittle bone disease) and she just giggled and giggled. She's warmed up to me a lot over the few weeks that I've been here. Although she is entirely non verbal she has her own way of communicating (sometimes subtle sometimes blunt) and knows how to express herself. She is so serious most of the time but she has such a great smile and a great laugh if she feels like sharing them. I wish I could take her home with me. I love how stubborn she is in her quiet way. She is a very strong girl and very smart. She doesn't talk but it's clear that she has a bright little mind. And she is quite beautiful as well. The funny hair cut and old clothes don't really show it off but she is very pretty. I wonder what will happen to her. They say they will try to find a foster family for her but it will be difficult because of her medical issues. She's small, I could sneak her onto the plane with me, right? :) I wish.
I spent some extra time with Alexandra this afternoon. I have brought her out every day and usually she plays by herself most of the time and will often ignore me when I try to talk or play with her. But not today. Today she was in a good mood and she was very interactive. I tickled her and tossed her about (in a gentle way of course as she has brittle bone disease) and she just giggled and giggled. She's warmed up to me a lot over the few weeks that I've been here. Although she is entirely non verbal she has her own way of communicating (sometimes subtle sometimes blunt) and knows how to express herself. She is so serious most of the time but she has such a great smile and a great laugh if she feels like sharing them. I wish I could take her home with me. I love how stubborn she is in her quiet way. She is a very strong girl and very smart. She doesn't talk but it's clear that she has a bright little mind. And she is quite beautiful as well. The funny hair cut and old clothes don't really show it off but she is very pretty. I wonder what will happen to her. They say they will try to find a foster family for her but it will be difficult because of her medical issues. She's small, I could sneak her onto the plane with me, right? :) I wish.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Wednesday
It's Wednesday evening and I have only two more days left with my babies. With 37 babies it's hard to choose each day which babies to bring out to play with. Mostly I've been grabbing the ones who are crying and trying to make sure that I bring each kid out at some point over the week. It's hard to keep track though. I am bringing the three little ones who were in the isolation room the last few weeks out every day because I think they need some extra attention.
This Morning I started out with Abel, Ramona, and both the Mihaelas planing to go fetch a few more after little Mihaela finished her bottle. Well, that took much longer than I expected. First of all she kept falling asleep every few minutes so I had to keep rousing her to suck on the bottle. After a while it became apparent that nothing was coming out of the nipple anymore even though she was sucking away. I switched nipples with Abel who had already finished and this one was working better at first, but after a few minutes it stopped working too. This was a clear nipple so I could see that it was clogged with some kind of lump. I'm pretty sure Mihaela's bottle contained formula (not the vegetable smoothie substance the bigger babies get) so I'm not sure what these lumps were but sure enough every few minutes another one would come along and clog up the nipple. So we carried on with me checking the nipple every few minutes and squeezing out any lumps that clogged it up and in this way she finally finished her bottle. It was about 9:40 when she started her bottle and by the time we finished -between the faulty nipple, lumps and her falling asleep- it was 11:00. I'm not kidding. This is the longest any of them has ever taken to finish a bottle. Normally I would have given up long before that and assumed that she wasn't hungry, but she was so little and I knew they were only feeding her every four hours so I didn't want her to miss her only chance at eating until afternoon.
So nearly the entire morning was spent with both Mihaela's on my lap. The little one eating and the big one playing with my knee and getting fussy if I didn't bounce her about and tickle her every so often. She's an egocentric little thing and doesn't want to get the idea that she is not at all times the center of your focus. Anyway, by 11:00 when we were finally done with feeding, I went to bring some more kids into the playroom but most of them were asleep. I brought in Alex and Daniella but didn't want to wake the others.
In the afternoon, while the other babies slept, I spent some time with little Ana Maria who is just back from the hospital in Birlad and must stay in the isolation room for two weeks. After that I went into one of the toddler bedrooms as they were the only ones awake. In this room were Mihaela, Abel, Andreea, Lillianna, and Maia. We played in there for a while and had a delightful time. I wished I had brought my video camera in with me becasue they were all so funny. We played a game where I would tickle them and they'd run away and they all laughed so hard. We also made silly faces and Lillianna was quite good at imitating me and would wiggle her mouth around in the funniest way. I'll have to see if I can get her to do it again for the video camera. After a while we moved out to the front room and were joined by Dumi, Octavian, Iona and Denisa. 8 babies is not to hard but 8 toddlers is a different story. They all went crazy. They all wanted to see out the window and everyone wanted to be held at once. I was constantly telling someone "NU! NU!" Octavian and Dumi are the worst -always climbing on things and getting into to things. They are going to be quite a handful for their new mama. At one point Octavian pushed Denisa off a chair and she hit her face pretty hard on the floor. she calmed down eventually but was pretty upset. I have even greater respect for their preschool teacher. They are certainly not your average preschoolers -they are like preschoolers on steroids. I my god, they have so much energy. They definitely wore me out by the end of the afternoon. I think I do better with them in small groups. I could spend every afternoon with the 5 in their bedroom but not all of them in that front room (which could really be set up better, it's a small space and it just invites trouble). What I'd really love to do is take them outside but I think it's still just a bit too cold for the aides to let them outside since we do not have all the necessary layers to keep them overheated. Soon though it will warm up. Hopefully the next team will be able to take them outside to play.
Anyway, it's getting late and I've got to go. I'll write more soon.
La Revedere.
This Morning I started out with Abel, Ramona, and both the Mihaelas planing to go fetch a few more after little Mihaela finished her bottle. Well, that took much longer than I expected. First of all she kept falling asleep every few minutes so I had to keep rousing her to suck on the bottle. After a while it became apparent that nothing was coming out of the nipple anymore even though she was sucking away. I switched nipples with Abel who had already finished and this one was working better at first, but after a few minutes it stopped working too. This was a clear nipple so I could see that it was clogged with some kind of lump. I'm pretty sure Mihaela's bottle contained formula (not the vegetable smoothie substance the bigger babies get) so I'm not sure what these lumps were but sure enough every few minutes another one would come along and clog up the nipple. So we carried on with me checking the nipple every few minutes and squeezing out any lumps that clogged it up and in this way she finally finished her bottle. It was about 9:40 when she started her bottle and by the time we finished -between the faulty nipple, lumps and her falling asleep- it was 11:00. I'm not kidding. This is the longest any of them has ever taken to finish a bottle. Normally I would have given up long before that and assumed that she wasn't hungry, but she was so little and I knew they were only feeding her every four hours so I didn't want her to miss her only chance at eating until afternoon.
So nearly the entire morning was spent with both Mihaela's on my lap. The little one eating and the big one playing with my knee and getting fussy if I didn't bounce her about and tickle her every so often. She's an egocentric little thing and doesn't want to get the idea that she is not at all times the center of your focus. Anyway, by 11:00 when we were finally done with feeding, I went to bring some more kids into the playroom but most of them were asleep. I brought in Alex and Daniella but didn't want to wake the others.
In the afternoon, while the other babies slept, I spent some time with little Ana Maria who is just back from the hospital in Birlad and must stay in the isolation room for two weeks. After that I went into one of the toddler bedrooms as they were the only ones awake. In this room were Mihaela, Abel, Andreea, Lillianna, and Maia. We played in there for a while and had a delightful time. I wished I had brought my video camera in with me becasue they were all so funny. We played a game where I would tickle them and they'd run away and they all laughed so hard. We also made silly faces and Lillianna was quite good at imitating me and would wiggle her mouth around in the funniest way. I'll have to see if I can get her to do it again for the video camera. After a while we moved out to the front room and were joined by Dumi, Octavian, Iona and Denisa. 8 babies is not to hard but 8 toddlers is a different story. They all went crazy. They all wanted to see out the window and everyone wanted to be held at once. I was constantly telling someone "NU! NU!" Octavian and Dumi are the worst -always climbing on things and getting into to things. They are going to be quite a handful for their new mama. At one point Octavian pushed Denisa off a chair and she hit her face pretty hard on the floor. she calmed down eventually but was pretty upset. I have even greater respect for their preschool teacher. They are certainly not your average preschoolers -they are like preschoolers on steroids. I my god, they have so much energy. They definitely wore me out by the end of the afternoon. I think I do better with them in small groups. I could spend every afternoon with the 5 in their bedroom but not all of them in that front room (which could really be set up better, it's a small space and it just invites trouble). What I'd really love to do is take them outside but I think it's still just a bit too cold for the aides to let them outside since we do not have all the necessary layers to keep them overheated. Soon though it will warm up. Hopefully the next team will be able to take them outside to play.
Anyway, it's getting late and I've got to go. I'll write more soon.
La Revedere.
Monday, April 2, 2007
My Last Monday
Well, today was the first day of my last week here at Tutova and I am now the only volunteer. It was a rather quiet day. I took just 7 kids into the playroom in the morning but ended up with 10 in the afternoon. Everyone has changed cribs over the weekend which is a bit confusing as I finally knew exactly where each child went. But as one of the Cribs broke last week, and some of the toddlers have left the clinic it was time for a move about. Also all three of the babies who were in the isolation room are now out in the regular bedrooms with the other babies. This is so exciting. I felt awful having to leave them in the isolation room all day. Now they get to come out and play.
But this did confuse things with the cribs this morning. Abel and Mihaela have moved out of the room across from the play room and Silvia has moved in. Abel and Mihaela are now in the toddler beds (which I think they are still adjusting to as neither of them would go to sleep at nap time today. Sammy is in Silvia's old crib and Florin is in Sammy's old crib. Little Stefan now occupies Florin's old crib and Little Mihaela and Paula occupy the two formerly empty cribs in that back bedroom.
So I guess that gives you a picture of how confusing it was this morning trying to find my babies. On top of that Alex, Ramona, and Maiastra were simply not in their beds at all. I wondered what had happened to them but was unable to ask as Dan had an errand to run (his daughter Delia was sick and he needed to go drop off a throat swab for testing at a different hospital) and no one else at the clinic speaks English. A little before noon they all showed up again and when Dan returned I asked where they had been. He informed me that they had been with two ladies who are now going to be coming once a week to work with the special needs kids (Sorin was with them as well). They had been in the front room the whole time, I just never thought to look there as usually that room is used only by the toddlers and sometimes not at all in the morning. Dan wasn't sure if these ladies were from a private organization or the state dept. or what, but supposedly they will be back next Monday to work with the kids some more.
I spent much of my afternoon holding little Mihaela who will be one month old on Wednesday. She is the sweetest thing, I'm so glad she can join us now in the playroom. She is really no trouble at all and will happily lay in your lap while you play with the other children. She does have a terrible diaper rash, not as bad as some of our kids last time (by which I mean it is not bleeding) but probably the worst I've seen this trip. Needless to say I am now making sure she gets changed at least twice as often as the other kids; and I let go diaper free for the majority of the afternoon to air out the area. I just held her on my lap with a diaper underneath her. Hopefully her rash will be looking better soon.
But this did confuse things with the cribs this morning. Abel and Mihaela have moved out of the room across from the play room and Silvia has moved in. Abel and Mihaela are now in the toddler beds (which I think they are still adjusting to as neither of them would go to sleep at nap time today. Sammy is in Silvia's old crib and Florin is in Sammy's old crib. Little Stefan now occupies Florin's old crib and Little Mihaela and Paula occupy the two formerly empty cribs in that back bedroom.
So I guess that gives you a picture of how confusing it was this morning trying to find my babies. On top of that Alex, Ramona, and Maiastra were simply not in their beds at all. I wondered what had happened to them but was unable to ask as Dan had an errand to run (his daughter Delia was sick and he needed to go drop off a throat swab for testing at a different hospital) and no one else at the clinic speaks English. A little before noon they all showed up again and when Dan returned I asked where they had been. He informed me that they had been with two ladies who are now going to be coming once a week to work with the special needs kids (Sorin was with them as well). They had been in the front room the whole time, I just never thought to look there as usually that room is used only by the toddlers and sometimes not at all in the morning. Dan wasn't sure if these ladies were from a private organization or the state dept. or what, but supposedly they will be back next Monday to work with the kids some more.
I spent much of my afternoon holding little Mihaela who will be one month old on Wednesday. She is the sweetest thing, I'm so glad she can join us now in the playroom. She is really no trouble at all and will happily lay in your lap while you play with the other children. She does have a terrible diaper rash, not as bad as some of our kids last time (by which I mean it is not bleeding) but probably the worst I've seen this trip. Needless to say I am now making sure she gets changed at least twice as often as the other kids; and I let go diaper free for the majority of the afternoon to air out the area. I just held her on my lap with a diaper underneath her. Hopefully her rash will be looking better soon.
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