Erika is doing well. She will temporarily move back in with her parents when her due date is closer. The path to the house where she's living now is so steep and rutted, no car can pass. It is too far from the road for her to walk with contractions.
Erika's boyfriend has already paid a taxi driver to take Erika to the hospital if she goes into labor at night. If the baby comes during the day, they'll call yours truly. Erika's Mom will stay with Marjory and her Father will ride with her to the hospital.
Erika can't bring anything with her when she goes to the hospital. Fany says they will strip her down, put her in a hospital gown, and hand over everything to her father, including jewelry, clothes and even hair bands. The nurses will provide a towel to wrap the baby in, as well at the first diapers. They may also provide ibuprofen for Erika, if they have any. Public hospitals have a serious lack of medications.
I warned Erika that I may be very anxious because I have never been around a woman who is in labor. She just laughed.
We made homemade pizza and painted our nails. We also made lists of things she needs before the baby comes.
Marjory is getting big! Long gone are the days when we could set her on the bed and she'd sleep. She ran around all afternoon. We read books and played outside. Her personality is so much like her Uncle Lorenzo, it cracks me up. Erika is going to have her hands full.
When I picked Erika up at she was at her mother's house. I had barely turned the car around before I was surrounded by Lorenzo, Carlos and Junior. They smothered me with hugs and asked when we can do something together. I told them some friends of mine will be at the breakfast program next week, so I hope they enjoy the visitors. Lorenzo said he hasn't attended the breakfast program in months, but Carlos and Junior will be there. Years ago Lorenzo told me about another church that has a program for kids which is similar to the breakfast program. He prefers to go there.
People broke into her parents' house before Christmas. They were armed with big guns. Erika spoke about it quietly with all of the windows in the car rolled up. They haven't dared tell a soul. I can't even write about the details here. I never cease to be shocked when the people I care about survive circumstances that I can't begin to comprehend. So, so sad.
 |
| Carlos |
 |
| Junior |
 |
| Lorenzo |
