"Kwaheri" (goodbye)

On Friday the nurses who have been attending the Course in Neonatal Nursing for the last 6 months received their certificates! Those that attended the course from the Community Health Project and from the School of Nursing received a certificate in theory. The nurses that worked with us in the nursery received a certificate in both theory and practical. It was a big accomplishment for them. From the evaluations of the course they expressed how much confidence and skills they have gained in taking care of babies as a result of this experience.

Please continue to pray that they will be able to maintain the new level of care they are giving the babies and put into practice the knowledge they have learned. They will be one neonatologist/pedatrician short when Dr. Meissner returns to his home in Germany in September. Pray that God will send another physician that has a heart for babies in the Special Care Baby Uinit at Kijabe.

We were here at God's perfect timing. We want to thank Dr. Meissner for his championship of education and training nurses in advanced skills. He wanted to accomplish this before his time of serving here at Kijabe was done. We praise God for putting all the people in the right place at the right time to allow this course to be a success.

One of our first prayer requests was for good relationships with the nurses. God has answered and we developed wonderful friendships with them - more than we expected. There were many hugs and tears as we said goodbye.

Thanks again for all your prayers for us!

Silvester home with Jesus

Silvester is now in the loving arms of Jesus. He fought hard through his surgeries but was unable to heal due to his nutritional status and unable to eat due to his vomiting.

Silvester had a sweet spirit and touched many people during his short time on earth.

It has been hard for the nursery staff to see Silvester getting worse over the weeks and it hurts to loose him. They had become attached to him and his family and had worked hard in caring for him over the last 3 1/2 months. Please pray for them as they deal with this loss.

Catherine holding her twins - Sylvia & Silvester

Please also pray for Catherine and her husband as they grieve the loss of their baby boy. It has not been an easy journey with him. They are dealing with questions of why. We have prayed and cried together in the last couple of days and affirmed God's sovereignty and goodness in everything.

Catherine was able to go home today with Sylvia and be

reunited with her family.

James home with mom & dad!

James finally got to go home with his mom and dad on Monday! Hannah was so excited ... she couldn't stop smiling. It was a long time in coming. Thank you for praying for him ... he stayed off oxygen over the weekend and was doing great. James' stay was a little over 3 months in the hospital. James is truly a miracle baby. It was frequently said in the nursery that "JameO" frequently knocked on heaven's door but God was not ready for him yet....James has quite a temper at times! Hannah would like to thank everyone for their support. Normally the hospital doesn't allow patients to go home until their hospital bill is payed. Because there was no way they could pay their bill, the hospital is trusting that God will provide the money through friends giving to the Needy Children's Fund. If you are still interested in giving, it is not too late.

Fun time with the nurses

Lake Nakuru safari day trip

(back row) Truphena, Betty, Seraphine, Elizabeth, Rachel, Mary,
(front row) Mary & Joyce

Mary, Celline, Martha, Catherine, Mariam

We have been remiss in telling you about the wonderful nurses that we have had the privilege to teach/mentor and work alongside. There are 12 nurses that work in the nursery and are also in the neonatal course that we are helping to teach. It has been a joy to see them grow in their knowledge and skills during this course. We have encouraged them to not be afraid to ask questions (even of the doctor) when they don't know and they are gaining the reputation of knowing their "stuff." We enjoyed taking the nurses to Lake Nakuru Game Park on two consecutive Saturdays. For many of them, this was the first time to go on safari and see the beauty of their country "live." Although the park is only a two hour drive north of Kijabe, one of the nurses called it a "no go zone" because of the cost involved. It was our privilege to "treat" them for the trip. It was a great time to relax away from work. It was such fun to watch their smiles and hear their laughter as they saw the animals. We all thoroughly enjoyed the creativity, imagination & beauty of God in His creation.

Lake Nakuru Park is known for it's flamingos and for it's rhino sanctuary.

In need of prayer

Slyvester & Sylvia

They are still with us in the nursery and are almost 3 months old. This has been a long road for mom as she also has been in the hospital this whole time caring for her babies. She has two other boys at home and misses them. Her husband has had to manage the house without her which has been stressful.





Slyvia is doing well and has consistently put on weight and is breastfeeding every feeding. She is almost 2 kg now (4 1/2 lbs) and is able to spend the day with her mom out in the ward. She is almost ready to go home but will have to stay until her brother catches up with her. She loves to be held and keeps her mom up all night as she has her days and nights mixed up!





Slyvester has struggled. He has not tolerated his feeds and has consistently vomited. Therefore he has not been able to put on weight and has not gained over the last month remaining at 1200 gms (2 lbs 11 oz). The surgeons placed a tube below his stomach to get the food lower down into his intestine to hopefully get the nutrition into him and prevent him from vomiting so much. He seemed to be tolerating the food being fed into his intestine but continued to vomit bile from his stomach. Yesterday, he started to vomit blood and his feedings were stopped. He again lost a lot of weight and is looking thinner and weaker. Please pray that once he is started back on feeding that his stomach and intestines will be able to tolerate the breastmilk and he will stop vomiting. Also pray for his body to grow and gain weight. He will still need to be in the hospital for many weeks as he puts on weight. This means his mom will also need to stay even though Slyvia is ready to go home. Please pray for strength and patience for Catherine (mom) - it has not been easy for her and her husband. She is trusting in the Lord through all of this and has a wonderful attitude. She encouraged us yesterday with her statement "we have to leave it in the Lord's hands, God will do His will."

We need your help

Story of James Wangui
James was born on April 15th, 2009 at Kijabe Hospital. He was born 10 weeks early and weighed 1340 gms (3 lbs).
His mom, Hannah is 35 yrs old and this is her third boy. She comes from a poor farming community. She and her husband work on a farm and sell what they grow as income.
For the first week and half James was doing well in the nursery, not requiring oxygen and beginning to eat with a little amount of breastmilk. At 10 days old, he became sick with an infection and was transferred to the ICU where he was put on a ventilator to help him breathe. He spent 5 days on the ventilator and 8 days in the ICU. He also had an infection in his intestines that kept him from eating for 15 days. James is truely a miracle baby as only one in three infants live that have been on the ventilator.
He was transferred back to the nursery and needed several blood transfusions. He slowly started feeding again at 25 days old and did well with digesting his food. James is a fighter. He has a will to live despite several times where he “forgot” (due to his prematurity) to breathe and needed resuscitation. Mom was finally able to breastfeed him for the first time when he was 60 days old! She was so happy. He is now 2 ½ months old and is still in the nursery. He is breastfeeding well but still requires oxygen and is not at the weight where he can go home.
We would like to raise some money to help Hannah pay her hospital bill which is around $2,500.00. Considering she makes around $1–2/day, that is a very large amount. Without some outside help there is no way she will be able to pay her bill. We know that God has a special purpose for James as it is only by His hand that James is the adorable little boy that he is. James loves to be held and demands it often keeping Hannah and his "aunties" (us) busy. The mothers that have infants in the nursery stay at the hospital to care for and feed their babies every two hours, day and night. Hannah has not been home for over two months and has not had more than one hour sleep at any one time. Despite all of this she remains devoted to James and comes running any time he is crying and wanting to be held or fed. The family is struggling financially as Hannah has been in the hospital and unable to help work on the farm. There is a Needy Children’s Fund at Kijabe Hospital to help with this kind of situation. Would you consider helping her and James?
If you are interested in helping you can send a check to:
Africa Inland Mission
PO Box 178
Pearl River, NY 10965
Please attach a note on the check for “Kijabe Hospital, Needy Children’s Fund Account # 70351.” It is important to designate Kijabe Hospital so that AIM knows where to send the money. If you could also let us know if you sent money and how much, via email, then we can let the finance office here at Kijabe know that there is money coming for the account and it can be credited to Hannah’s bill.

Please pray for Hannah and James and how the Lord is leading you to help with finances and prayer.

mdpremiern@aol.com

LouAMitch@msn.com

Blessings in Christ,

Mary & Louise

Ruwaidha's story

Ruwaidha

We have a update on Ruwaidha's continuing story. A couple of days after we posted our last blog entry about how mommy took Rudwaidha home to die, Ruwaidha was back in the nursery. She had lost a lot of weight, her stoma had enlarged but her fighting spirit was still there. The surgeon was amazed and said "if she wants to live who am I to tell her she can't." They talked with mommy and mommy wanted everything done that was possible. We gave her IV nutrition and a couple of blood transfusions. She was still wanting to eat, to be held and loved. After a couple of days to boost her up, they took her back for a fourth bowel surgery. When they brought her back to the nursery, the surgeon was very sad. She only had 15 cm of small bowel left which is not compatible with life. Ruwaidha also did not tolerate the surgery very well and arrested on the surgical table. Even after going through all of this, little Ruwaidha still could speak to us with her beautiful eyes. This picture was taken the night before she passed away in her mommy's arms. Our God is great and has a purpose for every precious life. We trust in Him to grow the seeds of His love that were planted here at Kijabe. We pray that mommy will feel His presence in this difficult time. Mommy lives in a refugee camp in Northern Kenya near her home country of Somalia.

God continues to work

Sorry it has been awhile since we updated the blog ... no good excuse except life is busy. We are over half-way through our time and can't believe we have only a little over 2 months left. Six months seemed like a long time at the beginning but now seems short with everything that still needs to get done. God continues to bless us with good friendships with the nurses and the mums. It has been one of the highlights of our time.

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An update on Daniel. We asked you to pray for him in an earlier blog entry. Daniel was a very sick little boy. He had an overwhelming infection and was on CPAP. God is the great physician and Daniel got better and went home with his mommy. She was so grateful for your prayers. She brought him back for a check up and he is doing great! Mommy and Daddy are so proud of him.

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Slyvester & Sylvia

The premature twins, each born at under 2 lbs about 5 weeks ago continue to grow and put on weight very slowly. They continue to struggle with feeding problems and oxygen requirements. Mommy Catherine speaks good English and loves to talk about everything from politics to baby care. She trusts God to take care of her babies and daily asks us to pray for them. Please join us in praying for all the babies in the nursery.

James

Since our last posting, James has gotten off the respirator and transferred back to the nursery. Only about one in three babies survive being on the respirator here and James was very small weighing in at 2 pounds. He had a battle with Necrotizing Enterocolitis which is dangerous even in the States. He is now tolerating his feeding very well ... he has made great progress. Thanks for all your prayers for him. He will be starting to learn syringe feeding this next week and then move to breastfeeding soon. His parents work on someone else's farm, so make very little money. Mom is very anxious about the hospital bill, which will be significant due to his lengthy stay. Please pray for provision of finances for them.

Ruwaida

It is with great sadness that we had to say goodbye to Ruwaida. Ruwaida has been with us in the nursery for two months. She had three bowel surgeries and fought very hard. She was not expected to live after the first surgery but her spirit and will to live was strong. Mommy spoke only Somali but we grew close. We were greeted every day with a smile. Ruwaida had her mommy's beautiful eyes. When we thought that Ruwaida was getting better, her bowels strictured again. There was nothing more that the physicians at Kijabe could do. Mommy took Ruwaida home to enjoy her last few days with her and her family. We pray that they will know the love of God and His peace.

The Lord gives and takes away....blessed be His name

Jerusha had called us to let us know that 'big" Esther was back in a hospital in Nakuru with a fever and needing oxygen. The oxygen machine had stopped working and after several hours without oxygen Esther passed away. We felt we needed to support Jerusha and to say goodbye to our special little girl. We hired a car and drove the 2 hours to Nakuru Hospital where we met the family. We drove daddy, mommy & Esther back to their home village which was another hour away. They are a Christian family and had a service in their yard where the whole village turned out to celebrate Esther's life. Jerusha asked if we understood any thing that was being said in the service and we said yes....."Hallelujah and Amen." After lunch, we took Esther up the road and down the cow path to the family field where she was buried. While this was a very sad time for all, we know that Esther is home with Jesus where we will see her again. We were honored and privileged to be apart of her life. Please pray for Jerusha and her other children as they are missing Esther.

More prayer requests

Meet James and his mom. James is a premature baby, born at about 30 weeks gestation and weighs 1.3 kg, which is 2.9 lbs. He started out having a hard time digesting his food, so mom began Kangaroo Care to help, which he loved. This weekend he got sick, requiring oxygen and respiratory support and had to go to the adult ICU for ventilatory care. Please pray for his full recovery and for peace for mommy Hannah.



Daniel is a very sick boy and we are not sure of the reason. Mom is very worried about him and is asking for your prayers.





Slyvester and Slyvia - twins born 2 weeks ago at 28 wks gestation and weighing in at under 2 lbs. They have done remarkably well so far and are not even requiring oxygen. Mom asked when the babies would be ready to go home. We asked her "when was your due date?" She replied "July 4." We answered "yep, right around then!" to which her eyes got very big. She has two other children at home, so this will be a long time to be away from the rest of her family. Pray for patience for mom & dad.

Praise God for answered prayers!

Sandra:
After our last posting and your prayers, Sandra was soon off oxygen and able to go home with her mom. She will have to go for follow-up visits for her heart condition and may need surgery in the future.

Makubwa:
After 2 1/2 months in the nursery, he was finally able to go home. He was about 2 lbs at birth and now weighs just over 4 lbs. Mom had been waiting for this day for so long that she just up and left without saying goodbye to us! But she will be coming back this week for a follow-up weight check, so we will get to see them again.

Ihtisam:
She healed from her lung infection but will continue to need close monitoring and follow up for her heart defect. Please pray that she will stay healthy and grow as she will need heart surgery around one year of age. In addition, she also faces other surgeries for her medical problems. She was able to go home this past Friday but we also will see her again this week at her follow-up visit. It will take mom 4 hours by "matatu" (public transport) to come back to Kijabe. This long journey is typical for the patients seen here at Kijabe as many people come here from all over Kenya and other bordering countries. Kijabe Medical Center has a reputation for good medical care.

Saying hello and goodbye - continued

Meet Ihtisam, who has the most beautiful eyes; smiles and coos when you talk to her but has many physical hurdles to overcome. Please pray that God would give the physicans wisdom as to the the best course of treatment and that her lungs would heal quickly from an infection. Also pray for encourgement for mom and that she will see the love of Christ.

This is a mom from Somalia who doesn't speak any English or Swahili so communication is done through Ihtisam's mom. But mom is good at getting your attention and pointing to what she needs. Ruwaidha had abdominal surgery this past week and has a long road ahead of her.



Little Esther was discharged at a chunky weight of 4.5 pounds. She promised to come and see us when she comes back in May for a follow-up visit. We will miss our friends but we will never forget them as they have touched our hearts. These are miracle babies of God. All praise and glory to Him who loves the little children.

Saying goodbye and making new friends

It has been awhile since our last blog entry. We have been busy saying goodbye to our special little ones and making new friends. Big Esther and her mom Jerusha, came back to see us. They both look wonderful and are very happy. We were visiting in the mother's ward area and told them they could not all go home and leave us without any friends in the nursery. Jackie - Makubwa's mother -said that it was time we made new friends because she wanted to go home. We all had a good laugh! Now we tease Jackie as we spend time with the new babies that we are "making new friends." Makubwa is doing very well and will be home soon. He is trying to live up to his name which means "a big man." He is now 4 pounds! Here is Makubwa holding onto his syringe to help his feeding along.

We want you to meet a new little one....Ann. She is very sweet and her mother loves to hold her and do Kanagroo Care. She was born at 30 weeks gestation and is doing very well. Her mother Mary is a beautiful and quiet person. Mary does not speak alot of English so communication can be difficult but the love of God can always come through.

Baby Sandra is a big girl for us. She came to us from another hospital with difficulty breathing. We are not sure what is going on with her. She made a "big trip" into Nairobi for tests which were not very conclusive. She continues to need oxygen but that does not slow her down from eating!