The First Days At Tutova

Today was our second day working with the kids. We are with the mobile group which consists of three girls and five boys between the agres of one and six. To be in the moblie group the kids must be able to crawl, or move around reasonably well, and some are working on walking. There are also non-mobile and toddler groups, as well as a very new baby that is in isolation. We will be getting a one month old baby later this week who has what sounds like hip dysplasyia and has casts on his legs, who will also go into isolation. But we are allowed to go into the isolation room as long as we don't let any of the kids in. I went in to see the baby today and it is tiny, so tiny its legs don't even reach the leg part of it's onesie.

The kids in our group are really sweet. There are a couple that have special needs, or assumed special needs kids. Sammy has down syndrome and loves making funny faces in the mirrors. Alexandra has dwarfism and brittle bone disease and is six but still in the mobile infant room. We have been trying to find ways to stimulate her because she often seems bored and upset. Maiastra and Florin (who we originally thought was Andrew) have not been diagnosed with anything but both have neurological problems. Maiastra is very high maintenance and is assumed to have some sort of autism. Florin is very calm and enjoys bouncing in the jumper-roo but often is in his own world and has trouble holding up his head and focusing.

The other kids are: Adrian who used to have a cleft palatte and has had his first surgery already; he still needs the one to correct the bones of his palatte. He is very sweet, very small, and loves to be held, but takes a long time to feed because of his mouth. Stephan and Michaela are both very close to walking on their own. They both love to walk holding on to your hands and we have been trying to get them to walk on their own. They are both sweethearts and love to smile and giggle. The last boy is Alexandru (Marion), who is adorable. He is the smallest of the bunch and seems like more of a baby than the others. When he gets upset in his crib he slams his head against the bars which is sad.

We get to the clinic at around 9 and take the kids out of their cribs to get their first bottles in their playrooms (each development group has their own area). Then we have free time with them until their next bottle at 11:30. In the room we have a jumper-roo and a bucket of toys, and in the hallway there are walkers. At 12:00 they take the kids to get changed and have naps until 2. They don't have to sleep but they are all in their cribs/beds until at least 1:30.

During this time we go over to the main hospital to have a big lunch and rest for a little while. Today we met the main doctor of the hospital, Dr. Dehlia, during lunch. She talked a little about the kids, and apologized profusely for us no tbeing able to work as much in the morning yesterday due to an inspection. After lunch we have to bring the leftovers to the clinic for the toddlers to eat and to get these back we have to distract the dogs by having one person go throw them the scraps and then having everyone else run the other direction.

We go back to the clinic and start getting the kids who are awake out of their cribs and into their playrooms. Today I got to walk around with a non-mobile baby for a while who was alone in the playroom when we got back, she fell asleep as we were walking which was cute. Once all the kids are out of bed they get another bottle and then play time until 4. At four they are basically in their cribs for the night, but they give them bottles every few hours. At this point we leave and head back to the hotel for free time until dinner at 6:30 which usually lasts pretty long.