LIfe at a Fever Pitch

Every day I promise myself that I will sit down and write a proper blog post but something gets in the way. every. single. day.

For now let me share what has been going on. 

I arrived home from New York to find two new babies. Jessie has been keeping me up at night. It's been interesting how when I want to do nothing but indulge my grief or exhaustion, something comes up to keep me busy. I guess God knows what is best for me and that it is better that I am busy.

By the way, I want to thank you all for your kind words over the last several weeks. It has meant so much to me to have you out there praying for me and holding me up in your thoughts.

Jessie has been having a rough time of it. On Wednesday we took her to the clinic to put an NG tube in since she was not eating nearly enough milk. Later that afternoon she had some time of seizure or stomach spasm and the tube came right out. 

Friday the clinic midwife came up and put in an IV but somehow in the process the vein blew and the IV had to be pulled out.

This whole experience has been so frustrating because Jessie is such a fighter but the odds are not good. Our regular clinic officer has not been present because he has been attending action meetings in the district capital. As much as we want to see action being taken in our area, it's hard when the people who can make that action happen are stuck in meetings and babies are suffering in the meantime.

We've been giving Jessie sips of milk all day and night hoping to help her keep something down. After each 'feeding' she has to be held upright so that her stomach can digest the milk properly. So often though, the milk would still come right up and Jessie would cry in hunger and the process would begin again.

This morning her color was not good and she was much more lethargic. The midwife refused to put in her feeding tube again and the clinic officer was nowhere to be found. With a prayer in our hearts, Meg and I inserted the tube again. It was a success! Jessie has now had four feedings and hasn't even so much as spit up. Hooray! We are by no means out of the woods but we are hopeful.

In other news: A team of six ladies from Houston, Texas arrived Friday morning full of enthusiasm. Already so much work has gotten done and Meg and I have been able to get some time off from the round-the-clock care of Jessie. Hooray for extra hands!

The morning they arrived on the bus was our regular shopping trip day so I went alone with our hired driver and had probably one of the most frustrating 'Africa' days of my life but I was safe and came home to a house full of laughter and fun. It's so good to have company in the bush.

This has been my life recently. What have all of you been up to? I have been slowly making my way through my reader and visiting each of you. I apologize for not commenting more and hope to do better as life settles down. It will, won't it?

(Almost) Exactly One Year Ago: It's Their Party