Day One (3/1)

Today was our first day visiting the clinic. We had breakfast (which was much better than at the other hotel), then we headed out to the clinic. We had a little trouble getting in because the gate was locked, but we found another entrance. I was so happy to see all the children when we walked in. First though, I stopped in at the isolation room, which is only housing one baby at this point. The baby’s name is Maria Cleopatra, and she has hydrocephalus. Then I went down the hall to see the littler babies, and found Alina (little bug) right away. She was as cute as ever, and is standing now, which is adorable (she is 16 months and about 8 pounds). I fed her a bottle, then wandered around saying hi to all the other babies I knew. I couldn’t find Ema-Elena, and was worried, but I asked later and they told me that she is in the hospital right now for testing because she had a really high fever. There is a new non-mobile baby named Andreea who is three months old, and very cute. There is also a new isolation baby with bad hydrocephalus who I held for a while in the afternoon. The other isolation baby passed away last week, and the prognosis of this one is unknown.
We had kind of a crazy morning with the children, they were all over the place, but it was really fun. I spent a bunch of time with the new mobiles as well. They are all adorable, and love to have their pictures taken. It was a bit difficult though, because they all wanted to be held at the same time, and got very upset if they were put down. Maiastra was more active than I’ve ever seen her. She was up walking around the playroom, and would run to Mihaela and me when we came in the room. Alex too seemed to remember me a little bit, whenever I came in the room she would scoot over smiling and throw her arms up to be swung and picked up. There was a new mobile baby names Florentina (Pusa), she was very smart and cute, and even talked a bit.
Then we went back to the hotel to meet with our team leader and discuss goals, the characteristics of a good team, did introductions, and had lunch. After that we went back for a tour of the hospital and for some more time at the clinic. I spent a lot of time with Maria, but her fingers and lips were bluer than ever (she has a heart condition) and she had a cold and seemed to be feeling really sick, so they decided that she needed to be admitted to the hospital in Barlad. So sadly, Maria and Ema are both in the hospital.
After playing we went on a tour, by car, or Barlad and the surrounding area. It was interesting to see other parts of the city, and to hear more about the city. Then we were back to the hotel for more meetings; this time learning about the philosophy of GV, reading the children’s journals, and getting assignments of the groups we will work with; I will be working with the non-mobiles. The mobiles were really cute today, but I like spending time with the younger ones too, and I can play with the older ones during naptime if they are awake. This way, when Ema comes back, I will be able to spend extra time with her! We wrapped up the night with talking about the schedule for the next day, and reading more of the journals. We are all excited to get back to the clinic tomorrow and work with our babies.