16 months 8 days

This morning it was Sammy who vomited; he who was the only feeling fine yesterday. We gave him the supository against vomiting as well, and so it never happened again in the course of the day. He wasn't feeling the greatest though.

Tammy was feeling better, and played some, but she was still pretty tired. Some meals she didn't want to eat, but after she finally had a few bites, it was obvious that the food strengthened her and that's when she started playing. Thankfully she did eat a bit of food today.

The doctor had prescribed them another diarrhea medication that we started giving them Thursday night. Paul had to wait all day downton on Thursday (too much traffic to return) to get that box of medication, but we needed two boxes. This morning I driver went to some other pharmacies that had been recommended to us, but it was impossible to get. So they only had three doses each. However, the diarrhea was actually worse! That fact, plus not finding another box, and Sammy vomiting, made me call the doctor again.

Remember, she had said that as long as they didn't have a fever, she was not worried. Though they sometimes seemed a little warm, it was not a fever. After I gave her an update today, she finally prescribed an antibiotic to kill any parasites or bacteria. Our driver went to buy it immediately, and so they have already had two doses today. I'm praying this will make a difference. They also still take something for the diarrhea. However, the doctor said that the more effective stuff cannot be given to babies their age.

Emmy felt the best today, and he has not vomited (except for that one time when they all did). He didn't even ever fall asleep this morning, and was still not that cranky. In the afternoon, all three ended up in bed at the same time, with the girl next to me. I've noticed recently that she'd rather sleep on her back next to me, instead of on her belly on me, also when she is in bed. I wonder if her belly is aching and that's why, as she's always only slept on her belly. The advantage is that it allows me to get up, which I did just before 4 pm, which is the time we'd wake them up anyway, so they can fall asleep at night.

Our weekly service is at 3 pm on Saturday, and we were supposed to come in at the end of the service last week, which didn't happen because I was sick. As today is our last Saturday in Mali, we had to do it today. I got dressed, and then got up one baby after another, putting their Malian clothes on. Emmy always wants to be held after he wakes up, so he wasn't too happy that I couldn't do that.

Then we walked over to the other building, where Paul was preaching. He has to shut the gates after 50 people have come in (Corona regulation), but it sure seemed to be more than 50 people. He was nearly done preaching, but as soon as we arrived, the sermon was over. I got to say a few words, and then everyone prayed for us, for our health, and for our trip back to Austria. I told them we'd like to be back in summer, but that these days it's really not possible to make any plans.

Then the service was over, and everyone came forward to greet us and the babies. The babies were still pretty quiet and just took it all in. I was holding Tammy, and some people tried to shake her hand, and she soon started pulling her hand away. It was great seeing so many people, and so many smiling faces!

Then it was time for us to redo our family picture that we'll be using until our next time in Mali. Even though so many pictures were taken, there was still not one where everyone was looking forward and smiling, but I picked the best one. Then Randy, Barbara, and the little ones returned to our house, as I still had some work to do and talk to some people.

Paul and I sat down with two widows and their children, finding out details, as we're looking at taking their children into our sponsorship program so they can continue school. All of them had to quit because they didn't have the money. So we'll be presenting probably 8 children to you that you can sponsor if you'd like.

When I returned to our house, the little ones were already eating dinner. It was 10 after 5. As soon as Emmy saw me, he started crying and quit eating. I ended up holding him, so he'd continue eating some more.

As I'm the one filling up the bathtub, and our water flow is really slow, it was not ready, plus the water was too hot. So I was holding Emmy and Tammy (who also wanted to be with Mommy really bad), waiting for the cold water to make the temperature just right. They are sure getting heavy now. At first Tammy wasn't too happy, and Sammy was just screaming, which is not like him, but then they started playing, while Randy was dressing Sammy and putting him bed. So I was nice to see them smile and play for a while.

We still had to give them some of the diarrhea medicine. Sometimes Tammy likes drinking it out of the syringe, but sometimes she doesn't. And Emmy never does. So it's a two-person job to hold them and force the liquid into their mouths so they swallow it, and they sure don't like it.

As for the antiobiotic, we have to give it to them every 8 hours for a week. They had the first dosis in the afternoon, and the second one was scheduled for 10:30 pm. Emmy was up before that, so we gave it to him, and then his bottle of milk. It's also a sryinge that we squirt it into their mouths with. At 10:30 we woke up first Tammy, and then Sammy, to give it to them. I had already changed Sammy once, as the diarrhea is so bad, it leaks out and his pj's were completely wet. Sammy did not want any milk, but the girl had some. And since then they've been sleeping peacefully.

I'm always at my lowest point by the time they finally fall asleep, and then feel better by 10 or 11 pm. My belly had been hurting all day, but by tonight I felt really miserable and didn't even want to be on my feet. I decided to take a bath, hoping it would make me feel better, and I guess it did. I was cautious with what I was eating (no salad as usual), and started feeling better, ready to get to work. And so it's after 1 am now, and still have some work to get done. Three days from now we'll already be on a plane back to Europe!

Thank you for praying, and please keep it up!