While I still haven't figured out how to get pictures sent home, I know you all want to hear some stories about our babies, and although I can't share the details of all of their stories or their names, I know you would all like to hear something about the little ones that I'm taking care of. So here goes, some stories about our babies.
In my last entry, I mentioned that Keagan and Eric found their forever families last week. Within days of their departure for their new homes, we got three new babies, and the following week brought us four more, which brings us to a total of 41 babies at the moment! The first was a newborn, baby boy "Z." I think I've already mentioned this, but at the beginning of the year, Thea, the woman who started TLC, begins naming the babies who come in with the letter "A," both for boys and girls. The second boy and girls of the year would have a name beginning with the letter "B" and so on. Well, this newborn is our 26th baby boy of the year, and thus has a name beginning with the letter "Z." Baby "Z" was born to a young mother who was unable to care for him, and thus signed custody over to TLC so that we can find him a family. When Thea went to the hospital to get him, his mother cried and cried about giving him up, and so the name that Thea gave to him means "tears." He has settled into the Nest, and although he is a small newborn (around 6 1/2 lbs), he looks HUGE compared to some of our prem babies. He's a beautiful baby, and it's such a pleasure to care for this precious little guy. It's so amazing to know that I'll still be here when this guy is finally united with his family.
The next two babies, baby girls "Q" and "R," came together. (We were so excited to get girls-as you can tell, we've been overtaken by boys lately!) We got a call from a social worker who said that they had two babies who had been abandoned at the hospital. We were expecting a pair of newborns, but when Thea arrived she found that both girls were three months old. They had been kept in the hospital since birth, while the police investigated their abandonment. I find their story hard to imagine, but I want to share with you the little bit that we know about their time at the hospital. The hospital that they came from is the largest in the Southern Hemisphere and, like most public hospitals around here, is appallingly understaffed and under-resourced. Every day, over one hundred babies are born there, and there are only six nurses at any time. There are only beds for a fraction of the babies and their mommies, so most are kept for only four hours after birth. These girls were kept in the maternity ward for three months, and it's clear that no one had the time to properly look after them. For some reason, Baby Girl Q appears to have come through that experience fairly unscathed. It took only a few days for her to begin smiling at us, and she appears to be delighted to have someone to talk to her and interact with her. Baby Girl R was not so fortunate. When we got her back to the nursery and undressed her, we were honestly sickened by what we saw. She was covered head to toe with a rash that we later found out was a fungal infection. It would appear that she was rarely, if ever, bathed in the entire three months that she had been there. Even worse, around her ankle was the same hospital band that had been put on her at birth. She had obviously grown in three months, and it was so tight that when we cut it off, it tore the skin away too. When she came she would stare blankly into space with these huge, wide eyes and absolutely no expression on her face. It broke my heart, and I absolutely fell in love with this tiny little baby who has already experienced such a hard life. We have spent a lot of time holding this little girl and talking to her and snuggling with her, and she is finally starting to wake up. Her smiles are rare, but they absolutely brighten my day. I cannot wait to see what a whole lot of love and attention will do for this little one.
The four babies came in rapid succession. First was baby boy "Aa" (you can all guess what his name is, right?). He's a tiny preemie, and we don't know much about him yet, but we're delighted to have him. Our second baby of last week was actually a toddler, who will keep the name he had before he came to us. He is around two years old, although we don't know his exact age, as it appears that he was abandoned by his mother. He came to us incredibly malnourished and speaking no English. (We think that he speaks Zulu, as he talks a lot in a language we don't understand!) He's beginning to feel comfortable here at TLC, although it's understandably hard for him at times. We will do our best to get his health problems under control, and then we will hopefully find him a forever family sometime soon. In the meantime, he's getting lots of food and snuggles, which seem to be doing him a world of good. The final two babies that came last week also came together. Baby girls "S" and "T" were both extremely premature babies from the same hospital that baby girls "Q" and "R" came from. They are 5 and 3 months old respectively, although each weighs no more than 4.5 lbs (the conversions from Metric to English are killing me!) Although baby girl "S" has faced and is facing some serious health problems, both appear to be doing well here, and have brought us to a nice even dozen in the Nest. We have as many babies right now as TLC has ever had, and we're told that the numbers tend to climb around the holidays. I can't even imagine! Pictures will be added soon, so check back again for some incredibly adorable babies! Love and miss you all,
Amanda
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