Day 3 with the 3 little......clingers

Again, to put it nicely. =)

Since the 3 new ones scream unless they are being held (and often even when being held), which might mean they get just a bit more attention than the other 16 babies/toddlers, I have noticed and appreciated that they hang on (cling) better than most. They are like little monkeys, or octopuses!

This is CRAZY: we were already struggling a bit with who is who since when we picked them up, it was supposed to be 1 boy and 2 girls and it was 2 girls...which meant that I lacked a girl name. I liked the name Katrina chose (Esther) and so we had the 3 names. Then the interesting part was guessing who was supposed to be who. We didn't know if some of the names were real or all made up, so anyway we divvied them up as we wanted to on Monday night.

So today a lady from SEDEGES came and tried to match names to babies according to the clothes they arrived in. It was cool to see that I guessed right on one baby, on who her (street) mother is. That means I know her birthdate, and that she has a brother a few years older (currently in another baby home) that we'll need to bring here now, if he's not already been adopted.

Now the names are switched around as well as new names given, so I am perpetually confused on who is who!! I've never ever had this problem, as even when 3 or 4 siblings arrive at once, they arrive with certain names and that's that. This time it keeps changing around and since we were already using one set of names but now another, and 2 of the girls look a lot alike and one has the name of a tia....trust me, it's just confusing!!

My parents say they aren't even going to try. =) I say just wait till the dust settles and we know what we're supposed to call them!! They even had last names at one point but now those are going to change. I don't know what names to give for the bloodwork tomorrow and it has to be right as it's for the court eventually.

Also doesn't help that these current names are mouthfuls, with 3, 4, or 5 syllables each!

There are no pictures of the 3 today. Just too busy to even get one (that means BUSY, folks!).

One could've been 3 gringas (me from the US, Katrina from Canada, and Annette from Germany) with our 3 little clingers at the hospital. As we walked past people they would coo "ohhh, que precioso!!" and I had to smile to myself that "coronilla" and street people were probably FURTHEST things from their minds in that moment. Nearly everyone thinks the babies are ours and we have Bolivian husbands--not that we just care for them in an "institution". Suits me!

Another good picture--one smiled at me more than once after the doctor finished with her, and I caught a glimpse of another halfhearted smile. They will be so cute when they start to act themselves again and smile and laugh! There was definitely none of that when the doctor tried to touch them today. Yikes. They were like little clawing, fighting cats.

Another picture--me working at my desk with two in my lap. Our arms stay worn out--seems like we're always carrying around two babies at once these days.

Anyway, that's just a quick update. Please pray for their continual adaptation and our patience as they scream and scream....and scream.

Tomorrow I'll look into getting them tested for TB. Although a large percentage of Cochabamba's population has coughs and colds currently, I just feel like checking further for these girls since the street population would have a higher incidence of TB. They also get labwork in the morning to be checked out for about 7 different things. I always breathe better after getting back results...

Okay, writing about the 3 was just for a quick break and "debriefer" before tending to more work. I've got to prepare myself for an important meeting tomorrow morning, email some "business" notes to my parents (we were too busy the entire day to ever properly meet), and begin on a big chart that divides up all the sick child/well child responsibilities. It will be a marvel!! Will also keep me more focused on my strengths in the whole (overwhelming) medical realm of the homes so that I can devote better time to my responsibilities as director....although I love the medical part.