Baby Catherine

Baby Catherine (6 November - 19 November 2013)

 Thoughts from Ricky:

I’ve been at New Day for about two and a half months now.  In two days I will start my journey back to the states. I cannot wait to see my family.  This last week has been one I will probably never forget for the rest of my life.  It started last Friday (15 November) with us getting the first newborn baby New Day has ever had.  I was very involved in the process as it was a shock that they just showed up.  We knew they wanted us to take the baby, but we had not yet given them permission.  Sadly, the baby's mother did not survive her birth.  She has a father and siblings, but Social Welfare in Zambia stepped in to remove her, stating that the father could not care for her (or her siblings) properly.  We decide to take her in after much thought.  They had a letter from a clinic that day that stated she was a healthy baby.  We took her and just started loving on her.  By Saturday night and Sunday we started to question whether she was a healthy baby.  I decided she needed to go to the doctor Monday morning.  We took her in and the doctor told us she was dehydrated and sent us home with a few instructions.  I had to ask the doctor to weigh her.  I did not hear what the weight was until we got back to the orphanage.  When I converted it to pounds from kilograms I was shocked. She weighed less than four pounds.  I could not stop thinking about how if this situation was happening back in the States, this baby would be in NICU.  The more I looked at her I knew I had to get her to a hospital.  So we decided to transport her even though it was already nightfall on Monday.  It’s very dangerous to drive after dark here.  We took her to a hospital about an hour away and she was admitted.  They started fluids in her then.  She made it through the night, but about midday the next day (Tuesday, November 19) we got a call that she had passed away.  We later found out that she had had very little food after being born and was in very bad shape when we got her.  Why would the clinic give us a letter saying she was healthy?  We don’t know, but it is part of being in a third world country.  The next day I preformed my first funeral.  This was not something I would have ever thought I would do, but God got me through it.  I was the Hearse driver, funeral director, and preacher in one day.  I better get used to it; death is such a large part of everyday life around here. Baby Catherine was only with us a few days, but believe me I will never forget her.  Please pray for us as we make many decisions that can be life or death, but also as we try to get people to make eternal decisions also.