Day Nine: Our Babies Are Back (at least some of them)

This morning we were treated to leftovers from the women’s day party for breakfast. Whoever said you wouldn’t be served caviar on toast in Tutova was wrong! Mihaela met us at the hotel, then we went over to the clinic. We thought none of the babies had come back yet, but a little bit later when I was in the playroom, Mihaela came in to tell us that Ema was back! I felt bad leaving Cathy with all the non-mobiles, but I had to go visit Ema for a while. She was very lethargic, skinny, and warm, but she took her bottle well, which was a good sign. She still likes to be held in the same positions from before, and she really likes the rainforest swing (which they had actually already brought into the isolation room for her). I spent most of the morning in the isolation room with Ema and Maria, and even was allowed to feed Ema her soup bottle.
We went back to the hotel for lunch, but the power was out (again) so it was sparse. After lunch we talked to the mini-market for snacks, then headed back to the hotel for a rest. We went back to the clinic at two, and I was playing with the mobiles, when Cathy came to tell me Alina (mini-bug) was back. I assumed she’d be in isolation too, but all of a sudden an aide brought her into the mobile room and handed her to me. At first she seemed a little discombobulated, but she quickly got back to her happy energetic self. I even got her to say “mama” a bunch of times! It was so hot in the non-mobile room that we were allowed to take all their sleepers off for a while to let them cool off. The afternoon went by fast with Alina to entertain me, and then we were back to the hotel to rest before dinner and more volunteering at night.