This morning we met all of our families at the hospital at 6:30. The kids were all fasting as directed. Babies who aren't allowed to eat when they want to make a lot of noise. Heidi and I made a note of this.
The team is running two operating rooms at a time and we aren't the only people here, so it took a little while, but all of the kids got called back before noon. Only one of the moms was visibly shaken to have to hand over her baby and wait outside, but this particular mom only has one living child (they lost one previously) and is a bit protective.
At 2:00pm (visiting hours) we got to go back to recovery and check on all five kids (they were all done with their surgeries by then). They look great and the parents are very excited to see at least the start of a brand new face! The palate surgeries have less visible marks, but the lip surgeries all result in a few dissolvable sutures and some tape across their lips. The kids are pretty groggy but starting to wake up.
The team that did these surgeries is from Boston. We got to meet a couple of them in the recovery room and they are so nice! It turns out that the guys who organize this spend a week every month in a different country around the world doing exactly this. Read that again, it's not a typo. One week a month. Africa, India, South America, Guatemala, etc. We'll get more info on them tomorrow and share that with you. What amazing people!
Thanks to what we're sure was some very extensive prayer coverage, Regina showed up at the hospital at 3:00pm today with both Carolina and Otto, along with her 14 year-old daughter (who will help her care for them when they have to be separated). She was beaming, as usual, and seemed very happy to see the other families. They also seemed quite relieved to see her. One of the other dads very quietly slipped her a cell phone and some cash (we had to take her back to the hostel they're staying at while the families spent more time with their kids). It's so wonderful to see folks from different communities pulling together like this.
Anyway, tomorrow morning, we meet Regina and Otto at the hospital at 6:30 for Otto's surgery, then we'll meet the team at 7:00 when they round on the kids. Then we'll try to figure out how we get our truck back and make some decisions about how long we stay here in Antigua...
We're staying at a different hotel now (nicer AND cheaper - who could resist that?) and we have wireless internet, so here are some pics.
The first is of the Hospital Hermano Pedro in front of the volcano Agua. The hospital is almost 500 years old but has had a few upgrades in that time, so all is well.
The second is of the waiting room on Sunday. Matt and Sharon are visible in the foreground. Be sure to check out ASELSI's new blog (linked to on the right side of this page).
The third and fourth pictures are of two of the babies post-op. We have lots more pics, but only four per post....
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