Day 2: Part 1 - The Weekend Begins!

So, the first day is done, both Katherine and I are feeling MUCH better about things.  Amelia had her first feeding, slept through it all, didn't pull out the tube, the tube didn't kink in the night, nothing exploded... Everything went beautifully and our little girl, even in her sleep, started to look so much better.  It was such a relief!

On top of that, as I was heading back to our room after working on a number of messages and updates and last night's blog post, a friend contacted me with some news that almost made me cry.  Colette, my PTO Boss (she and I are President and VP of Amelia's schools PTO) contacted me.  Last night was Family Bingo Night at the school.  Entirely unknown to us, Colette had put out a collection jar for us at the bingo night, and it had brought in over $100.  The love of our St Rose family is just so amazing.  This was the picture I got last night, and I almost cried.

It did make me think though...  I know that we will (eventually) be able to pay for all of Amelia's medical expenses.  We might just have to take out loans or get a payment plan or something, but we will eventually do it.  Having any kinds of help would just make it less stressful and one less thing to worry about, but more importantly, having help, giving people a chance to help us, would in turn possibly give us a chance to help others.  What do I mean?  Well, Katherine and I have both found two new favorite charities.

The Kartini Foundation - This is a foundation of some of the employees and owners of the Kartini Clinic, setup to help families that might not be able to afford all the medical expenses of getting their children the help they need.  Families can apply for a grant and receive help paying for their children to enroll at the Kartini Clinic.  Every moment we have been at that clinic, all the staff have been understanding, supportive, helpful, just lovely.  We want to make sure that other families get the help they need, and if we can help in that, all the better.

The Ronald McDonald Foundation - As I think I said in my previous post, the beauty is in the details.  All the little things here that you don't have to worry about.  There is a beautiful play room for the kids with all kinds of toys and dress up.  The art room is stocked with anything a child could desire to make whatever they want, from beads and string to glue, markers, crayons, and at least a hundred different papers.  There is a game room with karaoke, gaming systems, pinball.  There is a library you can check books out from or just sit and read.  There is a laundry facility, no coins required.  The kitchen is large, well stocked with a lot of necessities, and people are always happy to help if you can't find your way.  The staff is lovely, friendly, beautiful.  And my favorite so far has been Sebastion, the very small but very loving Keish Hound therapy dog that came in yesterday.  Getting doggy kisses when away from home always just lifts my heart.

So, some of you will notice I added a link near the top of the page for a GoFundMe account.  I am trying to follow my motto of "If you don't ask, the answer is always no..."  What do I mean by that?  I mean if I don't get a single dollar through that link to help with Amelia's medical expenses, I won't be disappointed.  I don't really expect other people to help me pay for my daughter's medical and mental health.  BUT, if people love this little girl even a fraction of the amount I do and want to show that by helping out, I want to use whatever I get to first help cover Amelia's medical expenses at the Kartini Clinic and for her pump and food.  Anything above and beyond her expenses, I would like to end up donating to the Kartini Foundation to help other families get help for their kids and to Ronald McDonald House to help them continue providing a home away from home for families like us.

Thanks all for reading this blog, for keeping up with my sweet girl and how she is doing.  It means the world to me to know that she is so loved.  Here are a few pictures from yesterday.  Hopefully future pictures will show a much brighter, much more awake and much healthier little girl, but we all have to start somewhere...