Just a very quick update as there is much to be done around our house.
Mom and I stayed up for the "first shift" last night. We had the twin girls and Jude (12 pound 3 year old) in our bedroom. We fed all three of them, two using feeding tubes, every 2 hours. At 4:00 AM, we moved them to Dorothy's bedroom and she took over. It was a long night, but the children did well.
The twins are getting stronger with every passing hour it seems. It is amazing what good nutrition will do for a baby. They were only getting fed three times a day before they came to us. We are now feeding them every 2 hours. The tiniest one, Francesca, has been taking her milk from a bottle. So, we hope to remove the feeding tube tomorrow.
In the morning two women came for the day to help us with the new babies. They basically took over with the twins for us. That in itself was a miracle because this house was once again crazy. Dorothy had her hands full with all the kids at the house. So, I went with our driver and Tamara and Jude to Medlab. We got a whole bunch of tests run on both of them, and will be able to get the results back Sunday. Jude seemed to have improved in the morning, but as the day went on he went downhill fast. His fever was high most of the day and we could not get it to go down. Kez stopped by for a short time and said that his lungs had fluid in them. She said he was not doing well at all and he needed an IV. Because of the hospital conditions here, we really wanted to avoid that at all costs. We felt that we could do a better job treating him here at our house. Our Haitian pediatrician came by in the afternoon. He told us that he though Jude had a very slim chance of surviving. In fact, when he left he said "cross your fingers" for him. Talk about a heavy burden on our shoulders!
We contacted the team that brought him to us yesterday and asked them to come back and help with Jude. So, the pediatrician and nurses came back for several hours tonight. Unfortunately, Dorothy had to go check on our boy in the hospital and pick up our nanny that was with him. So, that meant that I was in charge at the house. Sometimes I wonder why God trusts me so much. I will admit, it was very stressful for me. I have a degree in elementary education. I have very little medical knowledge, although I'm learning fast. So, each time that they would ask me for more supplies or medicines, I would pray to God to lead me to it in our "pharmacy". Sure enough, I was able to find everything that they needed quickly. They were pretty insistent that we put him in ICU, but they are from the U.S. and have no idea what hospitals are really like here. Luckily, with the help of Tim, a missionary here, we were able to convince them that our house would be best. Christina, the nurse practitioner, volunteered to stay at our house tonight and take care of Jude for us. Because she is flying back to the states first thing in the morning, she is packing her bags right now and will be coming back to the house soon.
When Dorothy finally got home, they were already gone. I filled her in on what they said and everything that happened. Then, we had a good long hug and a little cry together to let some of the stress and fear out. Everyday here is stressful, but today was especially hard. Knowing that we could potentially lose Jude at anytime is really scary. But, it has been truly incredible to watch how God provides all the right people at exactly the right time.
I know that I am constantly asking for prayer, but please please please pray for this little boy. He is in really rough shape. He already is a little miracle boy for surviving this long! I honestly cannot thank you all enough for your prayers. God hears you and he is answering your prayers for us! I really truly hate to ask for prayer for myself when there are so many other needs. But, please also pray for rest for Dorothy, mom, and I as we are up all night feeding babies and then on the go all day handling whatever life throws at us and the kids.
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