Meet Luz!

Last week I received a phone call to receive a little girl abandoned in a hospital. They had to guess at a birthdate, and gave her a new name, as the mother asked someone to watch her while she went for a snack, and didn't come back.

The social worker that spoke with me said they weren't sure how they would get her out to us as their was no money for the ambulance to bring her. I quickly offered to pick her up. I had never been to this part of Guatemala, and the drive was beautiful. I was told the trip would take anywhere from 6-8 hours one way, and I wasn't sure I could go there and back all in one day! Thankfully it only took a little under 5 hours each way and we were home that night.

 We left at 4:30 in the morning, but after only 20 minutes we had to stop because part of the road had washed out and there were too many rocks. We waited for over an hour for the sun to come up, then gave all those guys a chance to move the biggest of the rocks.

 There was a very big landslide 2 years ago, and this part of the road keeps washing out, and they keep putting more dirt on top of it. 

How we felt about crossing it. Kimy had told me a story of crossing it before, and the bus got stuck, and started to slip and the driver was crying because he thought his bus would slide off the road into the abyss. Nice timing on the story!!! I was actually pretty scared, but we made it just fine. :) And Kimy said some of the men were saying, "Oooh look, a woman driving!" Oh ya!

 She slept most of the way home.

 Judging by the rotten stumps of teeth she has, teeth brushing hasn't happened much in her life.

We are happy to have Luz as part of our family! As she was abandoned over 2 months ago, and her mom has not showed up, I believe she will be a forever part of our family!! She is blind (she squints when a bright light is right in her eyes), has epilepsy, is mentally delayed, doesn't speak, and possibly is deaf, so we all have some work to do to figure out an effective communication system.

Please pray for Luz as she begins to adapt to our home and schedule, and feel safe with us. She has had a lot of transition recently, and that is difficult for anyone. 

 Welcome to the family, little Luz!

Quick update.

Well, we only have three girls, but they seem to keep us busy!

The new staff are stepping into their roles here at the home, and I have seen some very positive things. Please continue to pray for all of us in this time of transition. Pray for the new nannies, as I am asking them to do things they are not used to doing, or are not familiar with. Pray for wisdom for me in deciding who are the best nannies to work with the girls.

Jackelyn and Yasmin have seen a neurologist and have started a medicine that has calmed them down. Jackie is much more calm and manageable, but still has a propensity to hit and pinch and tends to be unpredictable. Please be praying for that situation. Right now Marcy is our only other little one, but we have three more little ones on the way (I just don't know when, because of their different circumstances), and two of them don't walk, and therefore can't defend themselves. We can't ever have all the girls together, as Jackie tends to hit and kick and pinch those who are near her. Not always, but her unpredictability makes it very difficult to trust her around other children. Please pray for our court date on Monday when a decision will be made as to whether Jackie stays with us or goes.

 Jackelyn

Yasmin

Marcy and I took a trip to Guatemala City last week to see some of her specialists. I'll admit it, I loved having one on one time with her for those three days. She is such a joy to be around, and it was fun to be just her and I. :)

Her cardiologist told me a different diagnosis than last time. But the good news is she is stable, and for now, will only need to be seen once a year. Praise God!!! We spoke with the nutritionist and talked about her poor weight gain. Hopefully some of her ideas will cause a quicker increase in her weight gain. Please be praying for that. We missed her nephrology appointment due to a 7 hour and 10 minute wait at the cardiologist office! So we will have to make up that appointment another day. Marcy had a small seizure with me about a month ago. Praise God, it has only been the one, but I wanted her to see a neurologist anyway. He is happy with her, and her EEG turned out normal. So we just keep an eye on her for any more.

Marcy has once again been on the receiving end of a miracle. While visiting with her cardiologist, he expressed displeasure at seeing her feeding tube in still. I told him that because of her history of malnutrition, and her current poor weight gain, I didn't want to take it out and basically see if she would just start eating on her own. He said to go for it for a few days. If she doesn't eat, we put the tube back in.

The day after we got home (last Thursday), I went to pick her up in the morning when she woke up, and she had already pulled her tube out. I will admit, I was sad as I wanted the privilege of getting rid of that nasty thing. But I guess she was telling me she had had enough of it as well!

We had four days before I had to leave her to go back to the City with the older girls. I decided if she wasn't eating well by Sunday night, I would put it back in. The first three days didn't go well. She took barely enough to survive. But Sunday morning she woke up hungry! She ate so much better that day, and all this week she has done so much better. I can't even believe it myself. We fought so hard to get her eating, but she knew that we would always just put it in her tube, so she wasn't motivated.

There are still some food texture issues that we are working on. She doesn't much like vegetables (she might get that from me!), but we mix them with jar baby food, and she eats them. Please be praying that she starts to accept different food. For example, she won't eat food that isn't put in the blender. She can't eat just mashed food. But she now drinks her 7 ounces of milk at one time! She won't drink out of a bottle, but she drinks it from a little cup, or from a spoon.

Please pray for weight gain!

Marcy's occupational therapist wanted to weigh her, so she picked up the nurse from the local health centre, and we weighed her in a tree. Yes, in a tree. Not sure how accurate the scale is, but hey! Fun experience. ;)

We have a lot of prayer needs right now. Please be praying for all of us. And thank you for all your prayer and support in the past.