Day 3 Tutova

View from Kim & Shannon's window.. Plus is the grocery store across the street

The house of the gypsy leader.. love the bright red!


The following are views from the side balcony at the hotel:

It is 8:30ish pm on December 31st here in Barlad, Romania. We had a wonderful day at the clinic. The babies in the non-mobile room were tired this morning and many napped after bottles and playtime. We joked that they were preparing for the New Year's Eve party! We decided to have a small private party in Elizabeth's hotel room. The cost for the party downstairs was close to $40 American dollars. The party downstairs should start at 9pm... Mihaela told us that they bring out food all night long and the way of the night is eat a meal -- dance -- eat another meal -- dance, etc etc until 5am... we decided that it just wasn't worth it for us. Most of us wouldn't have been able to stay up until 5am anyway! Our party starts around 9pm in Elizabeth's room with lots of munchies and champagne at midnight! Evan is bringing her ipod speakers and everyone is supposed to bring their ipod to sing along with their favorite song LOL yeah, right... not happenin' for this chick!
I will be taking pictures though! ;-)

I have tons of pictures from today.. 374 to be exact! :-) Since I was having so much trouble getting good shots of the babies I put the camera on the sports setting... it is so fun to scroll through the pictures quickly on my picasa web album (user name: emsmomme) because it looks like a video. I will pick some of the best pictures to place on here and try to include a small story when appropriate.

Happy New Year! I love you all and miss you especially tonight!

More pictures of Tutova - Day 2

During our lunch break on Day 2 we walked a short way down the road which passes the clinic. On the corner of the clinic road and the main European "highway" there is a shrine of some sort... haven't determined the meaning of this shrine but it is enclosed in a glass shack/hut.
Just behind the shrine is an odd shaped piece of land that contains another cross and tons of chickens!
Then a little closer to the clinic there is this shrine located outside the gate of a local home!
Three shrines within a quarter mile (if that far!)... Given the way people drive in Romania I am not really surprised! :-)

A horse and cart on the road in front of the clinic--driven by a woman!

This is the kitchen entrance to the hospital... not sure what is on the 2nd level since we weren't given an upstairs tour but this is where we entered to eat lunch on Day 1 & Day 3. On Day 2 we ate in the pediatric ward (which is in a separate building from both the hospital and the clinic). Isn't this a lovely brick?

Dogs in Romania

For some reason there are tons of stray dogs in Romania... I took these pictures just for Emily! If I could smuggle this guy home in my bags I would! LOL Laura is our animal lover.. she is constantly bringing scraps out to the puppies and dogs that hang out/live on the hospital campus.

Day 2 Tutova Clinic

I'm not even sure where to begin writing about the babies... there is so much going on and so many different thoughts running through my head all day long... I think I am going to just show pictures of each and give a mini-update each day, maybe?!? Who knows.. I may change my mind again tomorrow LOL

Cristi-DanielCristi-Daniel (who is a boy regardless of his clothing color) and Maria chatting together

Cristi-Daniel is a sweet boy who has Down Syndrome. He loves to watch himself in the mirror. He had horrible tummyache after nap time! So he missed out on lots of picture taking! This picture of Cristi and Maria was taken before nap. Cristi was babbling and talking to Maria like crazy! I actually have a video of it also which I will post soon! More about Cristi tomorrow!

Marius the Man

Marius and Cristi are the only boys in our room so they get attention from all the girls! Marius is a content baby. He enjoys just lying on his back and playing with any toy that makes noise! We are working with him on holding his head up while on his tummy and encouraging him to crawl. He has a March birthdate I believe and also has heart problems. He will eventually need surgery for his heart.

Andreea, the rocking chair queen

Andreea getting poop from Evan... poop means kiss in Romanian ;-)

Andreea is one of the long time residents of the clinic. She is a precious girl who lights up whenever you speak to her! She and Evan are long time friends and she truly responds to her like no other! We were so pleased with her progress today! During tummy time she was pushing herself up on her arms and knees AND holding her head up! Bravo Andreea!!

Maria Maria... our May 3 baby!

Maria is such a sweetheart!! She came to the clinic due to being malnourished. She has gained weight obviously and seems to be a healthy, content baby. She just hangs out.. unless one of her friends begins to cry and then she jumps in to make the crying louder! :-) Such a sweet baby!

Laura and Maria looking out the playroom window




Alina, otherwise known as Thumbalina

Alina with Terri

Alina with Shannon

Trying to show how tiny this baby truly is

Alina is 13 months old and weighed 8 pounds according to the last volunteer. We are planning to ask someone to weigh her for us soon! She is truly a teeny, tiny doll. She has a wonderful personality and will smile at anyone who speaks to her. Alina was diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. She is crawling like a mad woman and likes to escape with Mihaela. She is cruising and constantly wants to be on her feet walking! Amazing to watch such a tiny thing cruising around the room holding on to toys!

Gabriella, aka Sleepy Head or Sleeping Beauty, twin to Mihaela

All this sweet girl does is sleep!! She actually is quite cranky while awake.. we think she is teething! She has the sweetest smile and soft coo! I promise to try to get a picture of her awake tomorrow!




Mihaela, sweet twin to Gabriella

Mihaela is the bouncy, laughing girl! She is a huge hit in the room because she is always so happy! I haven't re-read her jouranl and therefore don't know a lot of her background. I do know that she is crawling like a wild woman! We have to scream out "ESCAPE ATTEMPT" frequently as she tries to exit the non-mobile room! She is smaller than her sister and it seems much more advanced.

Evan and Mihaela snuggling

Shannon with Mihaela

Ema-Elena

Ema-Elena the sweet, sweet Valentine baby (dob Feb. 14, 2008)... Ema is so precious. On our first day at the clinic she cried uncontrollably. We took turns walking her and bouncing her... We finally determined that she is EXTREMELY gassy and unfortunately wasn't being burped after bottles & feedings... She arches her back and her whole body stiffens... it is painful to watch :-( She seems to feel better after a big burp! However Ema-Elena was diagnosed as having cataracts, being malnourished, and having "Spastic Cerebral Paralysis" at birth. Apparently she spent the first 3 months of her life with a feeding tube and came to Tutova Clinic at 3 1/2 months. The good news however is that her parents have visited at least a couple of times so she should have a place to go home to when she is ready. Too bad - because I would fight to bring this sweetheart home! :-) On Day 2 we made sure to burp her immediately upon removal from her crib and FREQUENTLY during feedings.. I think it took me over an hour to give her the last bottle of the day because I couldn't bear to think of her lying in bed suffering with a tummyache all night long! Day 2 was a much better day for Ema-Elena, everyone fell a little bit in love with her!

The Babies I Would Bring Home if I Could

Ah, content after our last bottle... little Maria on the left and Ema-Elena on the right... This was right before we left the clinic today... I had just fed these 2 their bottles and burped Ema-Elena about 50 times... the poor baby has so much gas and it hurts her so badly...
Maria was trying to steal Ema's bib... finally i took it off and let her play with it.. she just chewed and chewed! LOL I think we have lots of teething babies this week! notice how stiff Ema is.. the poor thing almost constantly keeps her body stiff... Today was such a better day for her though! Rosie got her from her crib and burped her immediately! I have yet to see an aide burping a baby and it would be so much better for the babies!! Especially little Ema-Elena, I would feed her about an ounce and then burp her...then another ounce and burp... I hope that helps her get through the evening easier. It kills me to think she is spending her nights bawling in the crib from tummy troubles! I told Mihaela today that I was just going to bring her back and forth to the hotel with me every day.. she said that was fine with her but that the nurses and doctor might not agree :-) If only I could.. I seriously would!

Thoughts on Day 1 at Tutova Clinic

When I got up at 6am Romanian time the sky was still dark. At 8 am when we left our room for breakfast the sky was a tad bit lighter but no sun peeking though… light snow but nothing really sticking to the ground. After a breakfast of cereal and an egg with cheese on top, we left for the clinic. (Trish asked in an email how the food was and it is really good. Some things have been delicious and others have been filling if not very flavorful. Last night was the first night that we had truly Romanian food and it was unbelievably good...although it was also extremely salty. More about that in a moment... I am trying to go in chronological order LOL)

Upon arrival at the clinic the front drive-through gate was lock and frozen shut. LOL It is a large gate similar to something you would see at a large estate. Apparently an inspector came to visit the director of the hospital and drove through the open gate and wandered around the campus for quite some time before locating the director’s office. The inspector “advised” the hospital to put a lock on the gate. Although Romania is no longer a Communist state apparently you still don’t mess with government officials...and you follow through on their advice.

We exited the van and walked through the small front guard house. Apparently Tutova Clinic used to be a private home and was donated by the family and converted into a hospital. That being said get images of American hospitals out of your head and imagine a small, very small mansion being turned into a small, small 2 room hospital. We walked along a tiled pathway to the failure to thrive clinic.

ASIDE: I wasn’t aware that the hospital is actually a small campus of buildings. There is the main hospital building which houses an emergency room (literally one room), a laboratory (again literally one room with several pieces of equipment), a female ward (which is actually 1 room with several beds for women only), a male ward (which is a room next door to the female ward again with several beds.. think of the Forrest Gump hospital scene when he was shot in the “buttocks”), another room for males with about 4 beds, a small lounge area, and a kitchen.

The failure to thrive clinic is a pastel green color on the outside and very pleasant on the inside. As we walked inside we were greeted by several aides who had gathered to welcome us. The entry way is quite roomy but not hardly big enough for all of us to unbundle and switch from outdoor shoes to slippers. (They ask that anyone entering wear indoor slippers in order to prevent dirt from being tracked into the clinic.) There is a Christmas tree located in the entry way and Mihaela informed us that they do have a Christmas celebration with the children. To the left of the entry way there is a small preschool classroom. Each afternoon a teacher (paid for with funds taken from the volunteer fees)comes in to work with the older children on basic academic skills – identifying shapes, colors, etc. To the right of the entry way is a small nurse’s office and behind the nurse’s office is an even smaller Isolation Room. The Isolation Room is mainly used for new arrivals. They keep the children there for 2-3 weeks in order to evaluate them and make sure they are disease free.

As you pass through the entry way doors you enter a long hallway. If you walk to your right you will pass 4 bedrooms filled with cribs, a large sink/bathtub, and a hand washing sink, farther down the hallway is a guest toilet and a small janitorial closet. If you walk to the left you will encounter 2 playrooms (one for non-mobiles & one for mobiles), a storage closet, and at the end of the hall the wonderful kitchen. If you exit outside the kitchen you can enter another small room which houses the laundry facility. After lunch Mihaela took us there to show us some of the impact Global Volunteers has had on the clinic. First we were shown a beautiful industrial size washer, spinner, and dryer – beautiful seems a strange word for a washing machine UNTIL you think about the number of cloth diapers and outfits the clinic goes through daily! Then beautiful seems like it fits!! Next she showed us the monstrous old washing machine and spinner.. oh my gosh… I have NEVER seen anything like it before!!

So, first we took off our shoes and changed into our slippers and it was time to go get babies. We walked into their bedrooms and picked them up from their cribs. Oh my gosh…I cannot begin to describe how sweet it was to see these sweet babies smiling up at us waiting to be rescued! By the time we arrive each morning they have already had 2 bottles in their crib (a recent change in the feeding schedule) so they are ready to hop up and play. We take the babies down the hall to the designated playrooms.

ASIDE: The playrooms are fabulous! This summer the clinic underwent renovations (again using funds from volunteers) and the playrooms were updated with new walls (Mihaela called them paneling but it is more of a slick, tile looking paneling that goes half way up the wall so as not to cover the beautiful murals. In the mobile room they attached a large child safe mirror to the wall and 2 different tactile wall toys. I don’t have pictures of these yet but they are FABULOUS! The non-mobile playroom is a lot smaller than it seems from pictures – maybe 12x12 if that large.)

Then we spend the morning playing with them and exercising their bodies. Around 10am there is a yogurt snack, at 12 there is a bottle and then it is naptime. When the babies go down for nap we leave and walk to the main hospital kitchen for our lunch. After lunch on Day 1 we met with Dr. Delia, the director of the hospital. She took us on a tour of the hospital and let us know how grateful she was for Global Volunteers. She showed us several machines that Global Volunteers had purchased for the hospital using volunteer fees. She also let us know that they have wonderful thermometers that she cannot use because she is out of the disposable covers. (She is going to show us the exact type of cover she needs so we can send some.) They also have a fabulous.. oh, blood machine.. like you would use to check blood sugar BUT again they have no strips. She was a beautiful elegant lady who truly loves what she does! She was so excited to show us the new birthing table in the ER… she said the old one was from the Stone Ages! You can tell she loves her work. After leaving Dr. Delia and viewing the monster washing machine we went back to the clinic and met with the social worker Ramona (a new requirement for the clinic) and several aides for an English/Romanian lesson. I had to bring my cheat sheet (a paper on which I had written each phrase phonetically in order to help me with pronunciation). We introduced ourselves to them in Romanian and they introduced themselves to us in Romanian with Mihaela acting as interpreter. Lots of laughs all around.. Ramona actually speaks English fairly well and 2 of our volunteers speak some Romanian. After our lesson we checked to see which babies were awake and got them out of their cribs for more playtime. At 3pm we have another bottle feeding then it is diaper change time and off to bed.

The first day was wonderful! I know I didn’t give you much info about the individual kids but I will I promise. I am writing late and just wanted you to have a basic idea of the surroundings and routines before telling you my thoughts on the children! I love you guys -- bunches in case you haven't notice because it is 2am my time and I am updating my blog instead of sleeping! LOL

more day 1 at Tutova Clinic

Maria

Cristi