My little girl thought that all of this struggling to try and get a visa was giving her parents a little too much stress, so she decided to come a little early.
A rough three weeks
On Friday, the first of August, I was in Jubilee with my wife. I was getting ready to install new batteries in the solar power system for the medical clinic...and then my wife started making some noise. So, we are at the clinic...there are nurses around...they told me that she is going into labor and I should go to the hospital right away. We went to the hospital in Raboto, they confirmed that labor had started but she was nowhere near ready. She should go home and come back in the afternoon.
We did all of our prenatal visits at the hospital in Marchand Dessaline, so we headed up there (an hour away.) The labor pains stopped that evening, they were premature. We stayed until Sunday for observation, then we came home. Everything was normal for about a week...but on Thursday night...actually early Friday morning, her water broke. She was not having any labor pains yet, but it was definitely time now. We went back up to the hospital in Marchand Dessaline and waited. The labor started Saturday afternoon and we welcomed a beautiful little girl into the world at 7 o'clock on my sister Renee's birthday - August 9th.
We went home on Sunday. Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, Victoria had a pretty high fever. We went to a doctor in Gonaives and he said that we had to go back to the hospital as soon as we possibly could. After looking at the results of some blood tests, he concluded that she had an infection. So back up to Dessalines we went! We spent Wednesday through Monday at the hospital with Victoria hooked up to an IV and getting antibiotics every few hours.
We are all back home now. She is eating, sleeping and pooping just like a baby should. Thanks for all of your prayers, we are happy that we did not have to do all of this on our own.
Hospital
It is nothing like an American hospital, but they did have oxygen and an incubator. The rooms were all shared with many other people and their family members. Doctors came and went as needed, but most of the care was administered by nurses. They did have an operating room there. During the times that we were there, they performed three c sections and probably 9 regular births.
If you get an IV, you have to walk over to the pharmacy and purchase it. If you get a shot or other medication, same story. If you don't buy it, you don't get it. If you get stitches, you have to buy a suture kit. The medications are not extremely expensive, pretty much like the generic prices in the states. The hospital stay itself was quite a good deal...250 goudes a day for the bed and the care....that is five and a half bucks. So, thankfully, with all of the coming and going to and from the hospital, I did not go completely bankrupt! I can't imagine what it would have cost me back home...the false alarm, the delivery, the follow up care.
Culture
Haitian culture dictates many things that must be done before, during and after the pregnancy. Some of those things are just a little strange and some of those things are dangerous. Wrapping my baby in three layers of clothes and a towel when she has a 103 degree fever is an example of dangerous. Not allowing my wife to drink any cold beverages is an example of strange. My wife is submitting to the elders in her family and she is going along with many of these cultural practices. If you are interested in what some of these things entail, here is a link to an interesting book about Haitian culture regarding medical care. I have had to do a lot of praying to stay sane lately.
What's Next?
Well, we are still working on getting the Visa for Ruth-Cher. I went to Port au Prince on Tuesday and delivered more requested documents to the messenger service that works with the consulate. I have an appointment with them to pick up results of the last document drop on September 2nd. They could give me a letter requesting more documents, or they could finally give me the letter for our interview appointment with the Consulate. We are getting close.
Victoria will be able to get a US Passport and will not need a Visa. She will have dual citizenship. I have a lot of forms to fill out and fees to pay, but it should not be a big problem to get her the passport. I have started on that process already. Today I picked up her birth certificate from the government office here in Gonaives. I need to send it to Port to get it authenticated, then include that with all of the forms that the US government wants me to fill out.
In the Meantime...
I wanted to make a present for a little girl that is my wife's neighbor. This little girl was the flower girl in our wedding...so for her 4th birthday, I built her a little chair / desk that she can use for homework and eating. It turned out really nice, so I took down all of the dimensions and I put together a plan to make them easy to duplicate...and I built three more. I am going to give one to Youvendji (Laura Lynn's little boy) and the other two will be models for perspective customers.
I think I have another contract for carpentry also. The orphanage up on Route Basin - the CoreLuv Orphanage, has just finished building a school and they need benches, tables and chalk boards. It looks like I have the contract, so here I go again, messing up the yard.
Still Looking
We are still looking for a place to call home. The one place I found is a little out of reach for us financially, our goal is to rent something that will work for now that is not too expensive and buy some land at the same time. I will begin construction on the property as soon as it is in my name. I will start with a small house for us, then a workshop area, then some classrooms...then...who knows!
Support
Thanks to those who have answered my request for monthly support. Every little bit helps. Even if you could spare ten dollars a month, that would help. Please consider using the links at the top of this page to become a monthly supporter for my work down here. I can't do this on my own, I appreciate your help.
Thanks again for reading about my life!
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