Back In Action!

After almost 6 weeks of leave, I arrived back in Jo burg last Friday and have hit the ground running!

I got in around 10 am and headed to the baby house (which is also my house) to say hello to all my kids as well as the aunties. We then had a birthday lunch for our director before heading out to pick up my car. While I was gone they broke into my car and so it was at the shop getting the window fixed. 800 rand later I was off to fetch the kids from school before heading to hospital to see my sick babies. After some time in the hospital we made a quick stop at baby house two so I could meet the new kids and then around 7:30 pm we were finally on our way home.

Saturday was our 10Th Anniversary party which hosted about 400 guests that have been involved in various ways throughout the years. It was a great evening and so amazing to look back at all that god has done through us and the Door of Hope. We didn't get home till about 1:30 am and since I was still fighting jet lag I slept till lunchtime the next day.

My first week back at work has also been insanely busy! On Tuesday, one of our preemies stopped breathing and it took about 10 minutes before we got him back. After waiting nearly 40 minutes for an ambulance they sent us a fire truck! So I packed up the baby and one of our staff members and headed to the hospital myself. When we got him there his SATS were only 63 (the should be 100) so he was put on some oxygen and they started the admission process (which takes about 6 hours at Jo burg Gen). Once I knew he was OK, I headed off to Big Shoes (where I was suppose to be before baby boy stropped breathing) and when I got to Big Shoes I found out that another one of our babies wasn't well and also needed to be admitted to hospital. So I packed him up and headed back to JHB GEN where we sat with both babies for most of the day.

Around 3 pm I got a phone call from the hospice (that just a day earlier I had moved my HIV positive baby girl to) saying that baby girl was not doing well at all and needed to be admitted back to hospital so they dropped her off and I started the admission process on my third baby! Finally at 8 pm when everyone was sorted and night shift was there to stay with them, I headed home.

The next day was another full day in hospital. One of my starfish kids needed another CT brain scan and so we sat there from 7 am. They tried to put a drip in her eight different times before they finally got it in and then we still had to wait until 1:30 pm for the scan to be done. We got home around 3pm which left me just enough time to run and fetch the older kids from school.

I missed my babies while I was away but after a week like this one, I am ready for another holiday! :)
Other than the 4 babies currently in hospital, things are going well. We have reopened baby house two for 6 babies which is great but makes us extremely under staffed! We are busy trying to find more fantastic people who can join our team and love on these babies.

My starfish kids are so amazing!! They are so big but even after being gone for 6 weeks, they still came running to me when I walked in the door. My two oldest starfish are waiting patiently for their forever family. One of them has had a few possibilities but they have withdrawn after speaking to their doctors. It breaks my heart to hear that there is a possible family but then to hear that the family has said no. I know that if they were here and knew these kids they would take them without hesitation. Doctors are so quick to label them with a certain special needs but what I know is that I serve a God who heals! One of my starfish came to us and we had been told that she would not live for more than two months but nine months later we are talking about finding her a forever family. All the kids in the starfish program are there because doctors had given up on them and said that it was impossible to ever find a family for them but I love a challenge! Although It is so heartbreaking to hear a family say no to my children, I know that God is in control and that He will find them the perfect family! I will never give up on these kids, especially since everyone else has. I will find them a family. A family whose faith outshines the opinion of medical doctors. A family who believe in and prays daily for healing. A family who will look past the behaviour and development of these kids and look right into their beautiful hearts. Hearts that are still so young but so full of Jesus that every time they wrap their little arms around you, it feels like being hugged by God.

Anyway I could go on and on about my little blessings but they are at my door step calling me to come play and I can never say no! Be thankful for what you have. I guarantee its way more than you realize.