Baby D and Jesus

I have now been in Haiti for a couple weeks and I did not expect to be impacted so much in such a short period of time. We have all been working hard, nonstop, at the center. Setting up and preparing for the regular schedule to resume is not a small task. In the midst of all of this chaos, the last thing that we were expecting was an emergency baby to arrive.

Last Thursday, in the middle of the night, a very dedicated ambulance service called “Hero” brought us baby D. If you follow Middle Ground on Facebook, you have likely heard about this little guy who fought harder than I could possibly imagine. Born 10 weeks early, baby D was brought to us in need of a CPAP machine. We were in no way ready for a baby, but no hospitals in Port au Prince had available space. So, we cleared a spot in the clutter of a room and welcomed this little guy and his momma into the center.

Pictured to the left is the space we cleared for baby D, in the middle of all of our bins that still needed to be moved into their designated rooms. We prepared this space as quickly as we could and continued to work in it for several more days since the rest of the center was not ready.

And here is baby D who weighed only 1.15 kg when he arrived. Throughout his time on earth, this little body fought more than many will in a life time. He lived past what even the nurses thought possible.

One night, we lost power in the center and we thought we had lost him as the CPAP machine shut down. However, his sweet and incredibly strong momma sang to him and loved on him throughout it all. One of the nurses who watched this happen said it was a 100% God given miracle that he made it through that night with the power of his mom’s love. The past 5 days with baby D have truly impacted me. The love and strength of his mom is so inspiring and I can not even imagine her pain. God blessed her with so much strength and passion.

There were so many wonderful nurses and medical personnel who worked day and night to keep baby D alive and comfortable as he went through countless episodes and complications. He truly received the best care possible. In addition, there was a number of other individuals who loved on the momma as she road the emotional rollercoaster this past week. I have learned so much from all of these people as they showed incredible amounts of love to a woman and her baby during their time at Middle Ground. I have never been so proud to be a part of a group of people.

Baby D passed away yesterday morning and as much as we mourn this little guy, we are grateful that he is now in heaven with Jesus, feeling no pain.

I have added a link to Middle Ground’s website above, if you would like to read more about them. I also have a link for “support” above, which helps cover my personal stay here at Middle Ground.