Hospital

The last few days have been focused mostly on the hospital. I arrive there at around 10:30am and I leave at about 3:30pm. Once I reach the hospital, I climb the the stairs to the ninth floor (elevators are only for official hospital staff). First thing we clean the floors and tidy anything that needs tidying. Then I sit and read while Vera sews and the babies sleep. Then at noon, it's bottle time. After eating (which, for some, is quite a process due to various medical problems) there comes the burping and then, if they're old enough, its time for some fun. The oldest is only about 4 months, so fun consists mostly of talking and singing or walking around the room with them. At about 1:45pm, the nurse comes in to give them their shots... which leaves us with a some very upset little babies. 3:00pm is another bottle/burping and then everyone is ready to sleep. I change out of my scrubs and walk back down the stairs and make my way home.

One little girl, Melinda, is only two months old but she's already responding to music. Whenever I hum or sing something to her, she will smile if she likes it, or frown if she doesn't. She loves music from LOTR and old Irish songs... but gospel music gets a furrow between the eyebrows and a wrinkling of her little nose. A cynical person may say that it's just coincidence, but she consistently smiles or frowns for the same songs. Another little boy, Istvan, is really having a rough go. He's in the hospital due to a nasty cough. (Keep in mind that all the babies in Vera's room are abandoned.) When I first met Istvan, he would smile and look around.... he really loved it when we walked up to the glass and he could look into the next room. But today, his cough was much worse and he's struggling more to breath. After he has a bought of coughing he just lays there and pants, absolutely exhausted from trying to get enough oxygen, with his poor little face all red. His skin is very pale and I noticed today that he has a odd, unhealthy smell. He absolutely loves to be held though. He seems happiest when I hold him and he can look up at my face when I'm talking. Eating is very hard for him because he can hardly get enough air in without a bottle in his mouth, let alone with one. Please keep him (and all the babies) in your prayers.

Today I met with Vera's daughter-in-law, who is an American. She gave me some help in starting to learn Romanian and we chatted for quite some time. She walked me to the tram station and I got on what I thought was my tram. So I'm thinking over everything she had said and the tram is clacking along... then it turns off onto a different track and heads down a street I've never seen before. I was on the wrong tram! I got to ride through a strange part of the city, just praying we would pass something I recognized. Finally we did, and I hopped off and walked home. I gotta say, trams and I just don't see eye to eye. But, since I can't walk everywhere and the thought of driving here terrifies me, I shall just have to endure.