We finally made it home last night after a LONG day of traveling and canceled flights!
Heard from Jane this morning that Lea Celine had a visit from her mother and grandfather today, and that Andreea's birthday is tomorrow, so they will be having another fun birthday party!
Monday, November 23, 2009
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Day #13 + #14
Unfortunately, I woke up at 2 a.m. on Friday (our last day in Tutova) with some sort of stomach bug/food poisoning. I was not able to go to the clinic that morning, but was able to summon the strength to walk over for an hour and a half after lunch to say goodbye. In the morning the new baby Alina had been sent back to Barlad to the hospital because she was still not eating well and her stomach was hard. Ionut's port wasn't working, so after searching for a place to put another, the nurses ended up putting one in his forehead. No big excitement in the afternoon, I couldn't too much active playing, but was able to cuddle a couple babies and say good bye to the children and the aides. That night Mihaela came to the hotel for dinner (we all had chicken fingers and fries haha).
Saturday morning we got up early for breakfast, but not as early as Tanya who had left at 6 a.m. for Brasov. Jane got up to see us off, and Gideon came to the train station with us as he was headed off for Iasi. We spent five lovely hours in the cramped hot train to Bucarest; complete with dirty looks from old ladies for our large bags. We finally got here, and took a taxi to our hotel (we got ripped off even with an official taxi AND a meter!). Since then we have been resting at the hotel and will go to bed early since we will be leaving for the airport at 5:15 a.m. tomorrow!
Saturday morning we got up early for breakfast, but not as early as Tanya who had left at 6 a.m. for Brasov. Jane got up to see us off, and Gideon came to the train station with us as he was headed off for Iasi. We spent five lovely hours in the cramped hot train to Bucarest; complete with dirty looks from old ladies for our large bags. We finally got here, and took a taxi to our hotel (we got ripped off even with an official taxi AND a meter!). Since then we have been resting at the hotel and will go to bed early since we will be leaving for the airport at 5:15 a.m. tomorrow!
Friday, November 20, 2009
Day #12
With all the excitement of parents visiting, I forgot about one other event from Wednesday. Before we got there Wednesday morning Mihaela and Gabriela left for their annual testing at Barlad hospital. We won't get to see them before we leave, but hopefully the rest of the team will see them back at the clinic next week.
Thursday was an eventful day in the isolation room (where I spend most of my time). My "little man" Ionut has a bad UTI that they had been unable to control with augmentin. Because of this, he had been having high fevers and not feeling well, so they decided that they needed to do injections of another antibiotic. Because of his medical problems, and the fact that he was dehydrated, the nurse had a very hard time finding a vein to put a port in. They ended up having to shave his head and put port in his left temple. They aren't running an IV, but instead doing injections of his antibiotics every so often. He was unhappy when they put it in, but seemed to recover pretty quickly. Because they were so busy putting in the IV, the staff were unable to serve the kids all their meals at the usual times, so the kids were a bit more fussy. The afternoon was quiet because all slightly mobile kids were in pre-school with Malika, so we had less children to watch.
We went back at night, and that shift was pretty crazy. We took all the non-mobiles and the sometimes quarantined group into the little playroom (as well as big Andreea), so it was a full house. I spent the first part of the shift in the mobile room with Celine, Ionela, and Alex, who were not getting along well. Ionela and Celine are very competitive, and after bottle time, the aides locked me in! (they normally lock the room if the kids are in there alone, because Ionela can open the door). Once I got another aide to open the door I went to work with the non-mobiles, but felt bad because the mobiles continued to fight. It was hard to keep the somewhat mobile kids away from the babies, and after Cristi made Roxana cry, we tried to keep the babies off the floor!
Thursday was an eventful day in the isolation room (where I spend most of my time). My "little man" Ionut has a bad UTI that they had been unable to control with augmentin. Because of this, he had been having high fevers and not feeling well, so they decided that they needed to do injections of another antibiotic. Because of his medical problems, and the fact that he was dehydrated, the nurse had a very hard time finding a vein to put a port in. They ended up having to shave his head and put port in his left temple. They aren't running an IV, but instead doing injections of his antibiotics every so often. He was unhappy when they put it in, but seemed to recover pretty quickly. Because they were so busy putting in the IV, the staff were unable to serve the kids all their meals at the usual times, so the kids were a bit more fussy. The afternoon was quiet because all slightly mobile kids were in pre-school with Malika, so we had less children to watch.
We went back at night, and that shift was pretty crazy. We took all the non-mobiles and the sometimes quarantined group into the little playroom (as well as big Andreea), so it was a full house. I spent the first part of the shift in the mobile room with Celine, Ionela, and Alex, who were not getting along well. Ionela and Celine are very competitive, and after bottle time, the aides locked me in! (they normally lock the room if the kids are in there alone, because Ionela can open the door). Once I got another aide to open the door I went to work with the non-mobiles, but felt bad because the mobiles continued to fight. It was hard to keep the somewhat mobile kids away from the babies, and after Cristi made Roxana cry, we tried to keep the babies off the floor!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Day #11 (lots of parents!)
Today was a very eventful day at the clinic. The sick kids were isolated again, but were allowed to use the preschool room together in the morning. Mid-morning Mario's parents showed up (we think without warning) to take him. They seemed very nice and you could tell that they would not be leaving without their son. We then found out that they were taking him to a specialist in Bucharest (he came from a children's hospital in Iasi) for a second opinion on his intestinal issues and to make sure he did not have any internal bleeding. I am guessing he won't be coming back after, but I'm not sure. While Mario's parents were still there, I looked out the window and saw Paula's mom and grandma walking up the path! I knew it wouldn't go too well with all the chaos in the entry-way. They woke Paula up for the visit, and she immediately started screaming, so they were with her less then five minutes. She was put back to bed when she was screaming, and the family was left standing in the lobby. We felt bad because they had traveled pretty far for the visit, but that's just how Paula is, so they're probably used to it. Then later in the day baby/big Andreea's (the one that came last winter) family arrived for a quick visist. The mom and dad were both very young (I had thought she had an older dad), and they also had a friend with them. It looked like they were traveling somewhere, and just decided to stop for a quick visit on the way; also probably less than five minutes. We were all tired after the excitement of the day, but went into Barlad later for shopping and dinner.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Days #10 and #11
The big news from yesterday was the arrival of another new baby. The clinic is over the number they normally take, there are now 22 kids, but they accepted "little Alina" anyway. She and her mom showed up by ambulance, and after a little debate over the capacity issue, they kept Alina and sent the mom home (it seemed that she came from Barlad hospital). She is a very cute little six month old (looks younger) who has malnutrition, rickets, bronchitis, and dyspepsia. She has been pretty sad since she arrived, and clenches her jaw anytime you try to feed her (we think she might have been breast-fed before). She does seem to like the jungle swing though! The isolation room is now completely full, and I'm not sure anyone is close to moving to a normal bedroom.
The kids were doing well today. We were able to spring all the runny-nose kids (Cristi, Alina, Ion, Andrei) from their isolation bedroom, so they had a fun day playing. Both Daniella and Ionutz had fevers today, but did not appear to have any sort of virus (teething probably for Daniella, and an infection for Ionutz). Like usual we spent time moving between rooms/kids, though the babies were fussy and needed some extra attention before their noon bottles. Mid-morning Sami's mom came to visit and to sign over her rights. It seems that there were not good conditions at home, and that he will end up going to the facility that Ana and Maiastra went to (as will some others most likely). The mom was able to play with Sami for a while, which he seemed to like.
In the afternoon Malika took all the mobile and semi-mobile kids, and we took the babies, who were much quieter than in the morning. Tonight before dinner we went back to the clinic and we had a room with the non-mobiles as well as Alina, Ion, Cristi, and Andrei. Andrei and Ion don't seem to get along; Cristi liked talking to/playing with the new twins; Gabriela has a new obsession with knees; Marius has started to bite; Petre flirts with the twins; Daniella has gotten VERY fussy (maybe teething); and we think Alina is French because she LOVED being sung to in French.
The kids were doing well today. We were able to spring all the runny-nose kids (Cristi, Alina, Ion, Andrei) from their isolation bedroom, so they had a fun day playing. Both Daniella and Ionutz had fevers today, but did not appear to have any sort of virus (teething probably for Daniella, and an infection for Ionutz). Like usual we spent time moving between rooms/kids, though the babies were fussy and needed some extra attention before their noon bottles. Mid-morning Sami's mom came to visit and to sign over her rights. It seems that there were not good conditions at home, and that he will end up going to the facility that Ana and Maiastra went to (as will some others most likely). The mom was able to play with Sami for a while, which he seemed to like.
In the afternoon Malika took all the mobile and semi-mobile kids, and we took the babies, who were much quieter than in the morning. Tonight before dinner we went back to the clinic and we had a room with the non-mobiles as well as Alina, Ion, Cristi, and Andrei. Andrei and Ion don't seem to get along; Cristi liked talking to/playing with the new twins; Gabriela has a new obsession with knees; Marius has started to bite; Petre flirts with the twins; Daniella has gotten VERY fussy (maybe teething); and we think Alina is French because she LOVED being sung to in French.
Monday, November 16, 2009
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