Wonder what the weather is like in July in Beijing? Hot, hot, hot! There are a few popular ways that people express their discomfort during this season. One such phrase is a modern twist on a Yuan dynasty poem called Autumn Thoughts where some traditional scenes described in the poem have been replaced with air conditioning, Wi-Fi and watermelon. It seems that people just want to hide inside and forget about the heat.
Even with all these modern technologies sometimes it’s best to bring back ancient traditions. Today, the children at Dew Drops who have been abandoned and have congenital defects are going to show you how to remain cool by wearing a Duduo (a light backless halter top).
The kids who can stand and sit, pose like this:
Together in a group picture, they are like this:
The kids who can’t sit or stand yet, pose like this:
Together in a group picture, they are like this:
So are you convinced that a Duduo is the best way to stay cool in the summer? Our children at Dew Drops are! Xia wants you to try one, yes, you!
My name is Chelsie and I am a NICU RN from the US that volunteers with Little Flower Projects. I would like to share a story with you about a little baby named Xin.
A little over 3 months ago I was at Little Flower’s Inner Mongolia project and was eating lunch when suddenly someone rushed by and said “New baby!”. We jumped up and followed one of the orphanage staff into a room. She set a baby down on a crib.
This little one was a girl. The first thing I noticed was that this baby was tiny and blue. She was lethargic, felt cool, her skin was yellow, her stomach was bloated and she was obviously not oxygenating well. There was a flurry of activity as we grabbed our scale, pulse oximeter, thermometer and stethoscope. The pulse oximeter showed a low heart rate around 100 and oxygen saturation in the 70s. Her temperature was low at around 97 degrees F and I didn’t want to know how low her blood sugar was.
We got to work to stabilize her. We quickly placed her on our scale and she weighed just under 2 kg (4.4 lbs.). We placed a nasal cannula in her nose that delivered oxygen to her lungs, we inserted an NG tube and started small hourly feeds of donated breast milk, we took off all of her clothes and she was placed on the radiant warmer we had available. Skin to skin with me! She was continuously monitored but not with a machine. With my eyes, ears and the feeling of her little chest raising and falling against mine. Within an hour her temperature, heart rate and oxygen saturation all normalized and she became more alert which indicated that her blood sugar was normalizing as well.
We quickly purchased train tickets to get baby Xin back to Beijing where we could admit her to a hospital that would be able to help her. We suspected that she had some pretty significant medical problems based on her yellow skin and some peeling on her hands and feet, not to mention her lung issues and prematurity. The train ride is 8.5 hours between the Little Flower project in Inner Mongolia and Beijing. It was March and very cold still so Xin needed to be skin to skin for the majority of the train ride and was fed via NG tube every hour. She was also very dependent on oxygen so we had to get special permission from the train company to bring our oxygen concentrator on board. We then used portable oxygen bags to keep her stable on the subway ride and walk from the train station to the hospital. We made it to the ICU in Beijing and she was admitted.
There it was discovered that little Xin had a wide spread congenital infection that wasn’t responding well to antibiotics and her liver was not functioning. We weren’t sure she was going to make it. But she fought hard through 2 long months in the hospital and was released back to Little Flower’s care in mid-May still on liver medication and needing additional treatment for her infection. Currently this little fighter is back in the hospital for 1 of at least 2 more rounds of continued treatment for her infection. Little Flower Projects did what we needed to do save this baby’s life and we are so incredibly happy at the progress she has made and that she is stable and doing well.
We knew that her medical bills were adding up but we continued to do what was best for her hoping that we would be able to come up with the funds to cover it. To date her medical expenses total over $18,000. With her current hospitalization and her planned second, we anticipate her total bill to be around $23,000. This is a large amount of money for a non-profit and all invested into one baby. We have no doubt that this beautiful life is worth every penny! But we don’t currently have the funds to cover her hospital bill. If you are able, please consider becoming a part of little Xin’s story and donating to help us cover her medical expenses. Thank you for your support, thoughts and prayers for baby Xin and for the work that we do for babies like her every day!
Dragon Boat festival (Duanwu Jie) is a Chinese holiday celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar. Like most holidays, it is a time to get together with family and friends. However, for those without a family, celebrating holidays can be difficult. Although the children at Dew Drops Little Flower were abandoned, they are now not alone. Dew Drops might only be a temporary home but it is a home that provides life-saving surgeries and specialized care to those in need. And so, today the children at Dew Drops Little Flower are able to celebrate Dragon Boat festival surrounded by those who love them!
Thank you to our nannies who are always by our side. You provide us care no matter if it is raining or sunny, the daytime or night time, the weekend or weekday! Without you, we could not survive!
Thank you to all our visitors and volunteers. During your free time, you choose to come and help us! You have held us, played with us and cared for us and we are so grateful!
Thank you to all the companies that have donated supplies and supported us! You have provided much needed items like formula, diapers, wet wipes and milk bottles.
And lastly, thank you to all the donors and sponsors who we have never met. Although, we have not had the opportunity to meet you face to face, we are so grateful for your support!
During holidays we especially think of our families and friends,
Today we are grateful that YOU are right here with us!
Today is an exciting day for one of the little boys at Dew Drops - Yang will be meeting his forever family today! We are so honored that we could be part of his journey this far and that he now has a family to love and take care of him. We are excited to share with you little Yang’s story today.
I have come a long way from being abandoned under a seat on a train to becoming a healthy boy 14 months later. I arrived at Dew Drops in July 2016 as a 4 month old boy diagnosed with a congenital heart defect and pneumonia. I was completely helpless. All I did was cry while my new nannies held me.
I was rushed to the hospital for emergency palliative heart surgery. My post-operative care was very difficult as I had suffered from pneumonia and liver damage. But those around me, never gave up. Although I was weak, the hope that surrounded me, encouraged me to keep fighting!
Even after I was discharged from the hospital, I was still weak. The specialized care I received helped me grow slowly every day.
I learned to lie on my tummy.
This was the first time I ate a banana!
I learned to sit.
My first Christmas!
I learned to crawl.
When I learned to stand by himself without support for a few minutes, all my nannies were very happy and proud!
Standing by myself!
As I practiced walking more, I knew that all my nannies were around me to help me in case I fell!
How happy I was when I learned to walk!
I also love to sing. Let me show you some of my favorites - Twinkle twinkle little star, Little donkey and Dian dou dou.
I am also a very polite boy. I say “hello” and “goodbye” to everyone!
Today is May 21st, another normal day for some and a special day for me! Thank you for your support and love! When I struggled for my life, you were there! Your warm embrace encouraged me to keep fighting and growing. Today I will be leaving to go to my forever family. I have so many fond memories that I will cherish. Thank you for loving me!
