September 16, 2006
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Seventh Day in Ust
It seems like I have been here longer than 1 week. My sleep schedule is all out of whack and I can’t sleep longer than 3 consecutive hours. The bed in my hotel room is so hard it feels like I’m sleeping on the floor! My translator as well as my coordinator has asked the hotel twice to switch out the mattress, but instead they just added about 2 inches of padding down the middle of the bed, which helps only a little. I am resigned to sleeping on it for the next two weeks. I’m reminded of the saying that the “devil you know is sometimes better than the one you don’t”. Since I can tolerate the mattress I have, I think I’ll stop trying to get another one, which could be worse than this one. Who knows, I may even get use to a hard mattress!
The care givers at the orphanage are more casual on Saturdays because the head doctor isn’t there. The care giver who brought Alma to the Orphanage Director’s office on Monday was working today. Her name is Alla and she is of Russian heritage. Come to think about it, all of the care givers I have seen so far are of Russian heritage and not Kazak. I’m not sure why that is the case. Anyway, Alla seems to be able to get Alma to laugh more than the others. She makes some type of sound that is like a trigger for Alma start giggling and laughing.
Alla also let me feed Alma twice today. I have to say the experience was both nice and a little upsetting. Her meal this morning was some type of porridge which she liked and she ate all of it. When I tried feeding her the formula they give her called Kefir from a cup, she screamed. Alla then held her head and tried forcing the stuff down her. She later spit some of it back up and did not finish all of it. Her afternoon meal looked like a mix of mashed potatoes and some type of ground meat. While the stuff didn’t look to appealing to me, she seemed to like it and ate all of it! When I tried getting her to drink the Kefir this time, she did a better job, but she didn’t drink all of it and she spit some of it up again. She also screamed again when Alla held her head to try and get her to drink more. I know Alla’s intent was good and her main concern was getting the Kefir into Alma, but all the same, it was upsetting to watch.
Alla told the interpreter that Alma is not given any fruit other than green apples because the doctors think fruit or sweet things cause her to get a rash on her cheeks. The Kefir is sour and I really don’t think Alma likes it, nor do I think her stomach tolerates it very well. If what I observed today is how Alma normally eats, then I’m sure she is not eating and keeping enough of the Kefir down as she needs to grow and thrive.
During the time I fed her, Alla fed two or three other babies. They have this table that has three baby seats built into it. The seats pull out and the babies are placed in the seat which then slides into the table. They push the seats as close to the table as possible. The care givers sometimes wrap a towel around the baby’s arms and tuck it in between the table and the baby so the baby can not move his/her arms while he/she is being fed. They usually feed the babies while standing behind the baby, holding the baby’s head so it can’t move and then shoveling the food into the baby’s mouth as quickly as they can. While this method works fine on the heartier babies and those that tolerate the Kefir better, it doesn’t seem to work well on Alma and one or two other little babies who spit up their food as well. As I mentioned previously, everything is done in an assembly line fashion to ensure that every baby is fed. While the process looks a little barbaric to me, the reality is they don’t have the staff to spend 15 minutes feeding each baby slowly while interacting with the baby.
Alma’s baby group is supposed to move back to their original rooms in the next day or two. Her group has been in temporary quarters with temporary care givers while their rooms are being renovated by their permanent care givers. Once the babies move back to their permanent quarters, Galina is going to approach the person in charge of her permanent care givers about feeding Alma formula. You may be wondering why it is such a big deal or so difficult to get them to start feeding Alma formula that I will provide, but this is an institution with a system and they really think the Kefir is adequate for all babies. I think the orphanage diet may also be dictated and controlled by a government ministry. While I can appreciate they don’t have the resources to provide a customized diet for every child, it will not stop me from trying to find a way to get them to make an exception for Alma.
Once Alma is back with her permanent care givers, I will also have an opportunity to see if she has formed an attachment with one of them. If she has, it will be easier for her to eventually form one with me.
I also think I’ve been stressing myself (and maybe Alma) a little by thinking every minute I spend with her I must do something that either stimulates her mind and muscles or helps her build an attachment to me. I decided after I left her this afternoon that going forward I’m going to just enjoy being with her and we don’t have to accomplish anything right now. I’ll just play with her some and let her play with some of the toys I brought. I’ll try and get her to sit up on her own for a few minutes as well as let her try standing, but not a lot of time. She is much more comfortable lying on her stomach than any other position. As to the attachment, I think she is beginning to recognize me, but I’m really not spending enough time with her for her to form a strong attachment now. I need to remember she will build an attachment to me once we get home and keep everything in perspective. I also don’t think I can expect too much from her physically (sitting, standing, crawling) because I just don’t think she has lots of extra energy.
I am also going to continue giving her a jar of fruit each time I visit until she starts receiving formula. She really likes the fruit and is eating more each time I visit.
The orphanage does not allow visitors on Sundays and Ahz has agreed to pick the other family and me up tomorrow morning and take us sight seeing for a couple of hours. It will be nice to see some different areas of Ust.
Well I’m going to sign off. I’ll try and upload another post in a day or two with some more pictures
