Day #40

Nico and Ana Maria were at the hospital in Iasi today for genetic and hormonal testing, so we were much less busy. Raul is on a separate floor, but he is not really wanting to be held or anything right now, so I don't spend as much time down there as I had planned. That means upstairs we only had three kids today: Cristi, Paula, and Cleo. We also get a steady stream of other patients coming into our room since we have all the toys! Especially two boys who are in CPS care, Ionut x2, who need a little extra love. One is probably 10-12, and the other is 8. They also have a friend who is there with his mom who is 9. Occasionally little ones wander in, but their parents usually take them back. We saw them all in the lunchroom today, which was cute.

Paula has been doing great in the hospital! One meltdown yesterday, and NONE today! She loves the older boys, no matter how wild they are, and will tolerate almost anything from them. The kids all know her name, and the staff seem to like her too. The staff are very caring in general, and visit our kids even when we are there. Cristi had a good morning, including some time with a physical therapist even! Then he slept all afternoon, so unfortunately he missed the toys (they stay in the nurses room when we aren't there, as do our diapers and wipes). Cleo slept all morning, and we were a bit worried about her, but then this afternoon she was more active than ever! She was moving her face, arms, legs, and even her torso, all the while smiling. The staff are great with repositioning her, and we hope they will continue to spend time with her once we leave.

The floor's head doctor, and the head nurse both speak English, and are very nice and helpful. Dr. Eva explains to us the types of patients they get, the cultural role in their care, prevention, and many other things. She is a wonderful doctor, and our kids are lucky to have her looking out for them! This afternoon she introduced us to a Romanian volunteer who is in school for a further degree in psychology. He spoke English as well, and talked to us about some of the kids. He helps them out with the children, and also with the families.

As were leaving after lunch, we saw Maria Alexandra with her mother. Actually, her mother spotted me and ran over smiling and handed me the baby before I could place who she was! At first I thought she was one of the mothers from Raul's floor. Later I made a quick visit down to them on the second floor, and the mom was very happy to see me again. She also liked showing off her American friend to their roommates haha. Sounds like she is here with a cold. While we were sorry to see that she was at the hospital so soon after leaving the clinic, at least her mother knew she needed care.

After lunch we made a short visit to the Center for Children with Disabilities, which is more of a center for PEOPLE with disabilities, as most are not young children, and two houses have adults over 18. It is north of the Children's Hospital at the edge of town. They have amazing rooms for physical therapy, play therapy, "learning" therapy, hydrotherapy, art therapy, and group therapy. The rooms seemed very well equipped. In the morning they work with residents, and in the afternoons they work with Barlad families who have special needs children. We actually saw Ioanna (who left the clinic right before I arrived in 2008) receiving some speech therapy, and she looked great!

In addition to having children who come for services during the day, they have a respite program for parents of children with disabilities. Parents can bring their children for 3 hours a week and staff care for them while the parents get a break. The manager of the clinic, Mirella, used a space that was supposed to have two bathrooms for a play room so she could provide this program.

They have separate houses for groups of up to twelve children, separated by age and ability. Each house has multiple bedrooms, a living room/playroom, a kitched, and a dining room. They seemed pretty clean, and had tons of toys. Sammy looked the same, just bigger, and had the same joking personality. I bent over his crib, not thinking, and he immediately pulled my hair and wouldn't let go. Evan and Cathy saw Ana Maria in another house and said she looked great, and that the staff said she is "spoiled" there. Maiastra was wonderful! She ran into the room we were in with her wild hair flowing behind her (shoulder length but not brushed) and immediately jumped into my arms. She got carried and thrown around by all of us, which is a feat now that she is a big girl of almost seven. She still has her same great giggle!

Our babies were very happy to see us. Ionut wash happy to gt some tickles, Ion sat next to Mihaela just beaming, Alina screamed in excitement and switched right into English when she saw me, and Marius was quite happy when Evav and Cathy picked him up. Unfortunately we didn't take any pictures, so look forward to some in the future!

The other kids in that house were also very sweet, and enjoyed some cuddles with us. Each kid actually has their own clothes in their closets, and Alina's was FILLED with girly clothes her size. My guess is they get a lot of donations, but very rarely have a child that small. Sadly they did all have some bug bites on their faces, but they didn't seem too bothered by them. We had always heard they don't take babies but there was a little boy who will be 1 year old in July in that house. He appeared to have a clubbed foot, a repaired cleft lip, cleft palate, and I'm not sure what else.

We returned to the clinic after that, and since our other children had still not returned, I spent some time talking to the other children and families. A couple families actually requested that I take their pictures, and I happily obliged! One mom told me that she had seen us on TV, and started talking to the other mom about Tutova. Even the younger Ionut knew somehow that the children who's pictures I was showing him were from Tutova. Who knows! I wish I could get the families their pictures, as one asked, but unfortunately some are leaving as soon as tomorrow.