Mommies Know Things....

Tiger watching over her while she sleeps

Finally, FINALLY after 7 days of not eating a bite of food, someone has listened to this Mommy and given me what I asked for 3 days ago...medicine to treat the blisters/thrush in Vivian's mouth that is keeping her from eating.

She had a lazy morning sleeping cuddled up to me with her little arm wrapped around my neck and her tiny feet squeezed between my legs.  She is now like a little baby monkey hanging on to her mama and won't let me go.  Jason says she is going to become an invalid because I carry her around everywhere, but when you haven't eaten for a week, you have very little energy to carry your little body through the lobby and down to the restaurant, right?

We almost had a little smile at breakfast and she is starting to talk a bit again (crying out "mama" to pick her up, but hey I'll take it).  Such a relief.  We walked to a park, which she slept the whole time and popped into a little cafe for lunch.  She tries to eat the food, grabs it into her hand, puts it up to her mouth, even takes a tiny bite; but then spits it out or starts to cry.  She has resorted to watching us eat while holding chunks of food in her hands (which she will not let go).  Yesterday she carried around a sucker for 6 hours, never taking a lick. And today, I had to crush her little spirit by insisting she leave the two chunks of watermelon at the restaurant instead of packing them back up to the room.

This is what she feels about eating....poor girl!

This happened again at the lunch cafe and that is when I saw and captured the evidence that would get what I wanted...while she howled loudly about having to leave behind an uneaten french fry and mozzarella stick (which had already been in her paws for 30 minutes), I peeked in her mouth and saw that her tongue was almost entirely covered with huge patches of blisters and lesions!  Quickly snapped a pic and sent it to the guide, again requesting that the doctor give us something for thrush.  2 days ago, it was a tiny round patch...but he could not get her to open her mouth and so dismissed it.  Today, there is no denying the symptoms in this picture...it is so yucky looking and has to feel absolutely terrible.

By 6:00, we had anti-fungal meds couriered to the hotel from the Dr.  Tonight, she tried even more bites, spit them out, but still was trying.  Poor thing!  She stares longingly at our food and I try to offer her a bite every few minutes just to let her know that she can have some anytime.  I just can't imagine not being able to understand us, still trying to please us, be polite, your mouth burning like hell, and you are starving your little orphan tushie off!  It makes me so frustrated that it took so long for us to get what she needed.

She is so, so sweet!  She now lets Jason carry her, but in the room just watches him with the most serious, analyzing face you've ever seen.  She just doesn't get him yet, but also somewhat understands his role. While we ate tonight, I let her carry a little package of fruit snacks to the restaurant, hoping that she would be content to hold onto those instead of carry out greasy/sticky chunks of food.  It worked.  She wanted to open the package at one point, but didn't want to eat them.  Instead, she held onto the juicy little chunk of treat, caressed it in her fingers, while pondering it with her eyes...suddenly out of the blue, she thrust the little red fruity snack out towards Jason and looked into his face...aw, she couldn't eat the fruit snacks herself, so offered one to her Daddy.  SO SWEET!

I think it melted his heart...that she is starving her butt off, that food is so comforting to her, and yet she was offering out all the food in her little hand as a token of love.  She then silently passed them out to Lydia and me.  After we were full of fruit snacks, she then suddenly grabbed my dessert fork.  I thought "Oh! She wants to try my tiramisu, smart girl!" but then she shook her head "no" and so carefully and methodically took the tiny fork, pressed off a little piece of Italian goodness and began to feed me.  She was so gentle and would not stop until I had eaten all of it.  What a sweet, compassionate, and giving soul she has. Love her so much!

She was so gentle and precise with the utensil that it makes me wonder if they let her feed the babies at the orphanage and help take care of them? What a huge heart she has.  Praying that tomorrow, she will be able to put the food into her own mouth comfortably...have you ever not eaten for a week (without being in the hospital or something) and still have to go throughout your day?  It must truly be miserable.  She is a tough, tough little girl.

Thank you, family and friends, for your continued prayers...four more days until we are home.