Mon Apr 20

 Back to school for the girls 

I started tracking Gentry’s intake. So far it’s been .5 or 1oz. about every 3 hrs. His follow up appt is Thurs. We are Really hoping his intake will increase so he does not have to go back on IV fluids!

 Lonnie, the littles, and I headed for the US Embassy to get Gentry’s passport in progress. We were not even allowed into the parking lot without an appt. We caught North End coffee shop for lunch and coffee bean restock on our way home. 

We don’t know what is going on, but we observed several episodes of Police trying to deter/confiscate? rickshaws and motorcycles. One tried to pull the keys of a motorcycle to get the driver to comply, while we were waiting at an intersection and another Police pulled the seat off of a rickshaw to disable his passenger potential, another started tearing wires off till he complied🤔

This evening, we hit Jamuna Future Park mall. Smash burgers and fries at Takeout. Sadly, a couple of our favorite stores were closed. We spent the rest of the evening shopping Wholesale Club. We found out later that as of April 2026 most shops and shopping malls are required to close by 7:00 due to government-imposed energy-saving measures. These measures implemented due to a global energy crisis and rising fuel prices.😏

Gentry is 6 mo today 

He sits unassisted, those 2 bottom teeth are very sharp and would Love to eat whatever we’re eating.. he was fussing at supper tonight reaching for the fries.. tickled pink when we would momentarily let him put it in his mouth but his gag reflex is pretty strong yet for anything that’s not puréed. 

His brown hair is increasing.. has blonde roots and a definite red hue. A couple weeks ago Maddie had fun styling his hair into a Mohawk😉

He is a smiley, happy, social baby, but also enjoys sitting and playing with his toys for short spans of time.

Sun. Apr 19 🏥 ➡️ 🏡

 Gentry’s oxygen level is up to par today🤍 His pediatrician asked if we felt confident that we could get him to take sufficient amount of formula. Well, we didn’t feel confident about that but she wanted us to try. Says he is clinically ready to leave the hosp. So they started working on discharge and early afternoon we were headed back to the guesthouse. It was very relaxing to not have to worry about protecting his IV and also to be able to turn him over to the girls while we got some much needed rest in. 

Sat. Apr 18 🏥

 I forgot to mention that our Tala outpost Brother’s ailing mother passed away yesterday morning early.

We wish we could’ve been available, But, Doyle rented a car  and took some of the brethren from Gopalgonj and Khulna to the burial that afternoon at 4:00

Another day at the hosp. for us. Gentry’s oxygen levels are still too low on his own and not eating enough to stay hydrated on his own. No fevers today tho 🤗

Nurse today was taking some liberties with her white patient, unhooked his IV ,took him to the nurses station, passing him around and getting pictures. Hopefully he’s not contagious anymore and that there’s no other viruses floating around!

But he hasn’t been scared of these nurses and usually is happy when they come to check on him.

We decided I should go spend a bit of time at the guesthouse with the girls so I went out to the curb and hired a CNG all by myself😜 It was quite liberating to be able to do that😂 and I know, we’ve been here for over a year already but I usually have not had much of an occasion to do something like that with Lonnie always around.. and I found out later that I quite over paid him as I just gave him the price he quoted😏 (about $4 USD for a 20 min. ride) Oh well, lesson learned and maybe he can go home early tonight, or buy a chicken to have with his supper.

At the house, I read Annslie a few stories and she fell asleep. At 6:30 the girls were invited to Brian’s for supper. I stayed while Annslie napped. Kaylee showed up with a plate of food and sweet tea💛 then stayed to visit. It reminds me of visits with Brianna before Brian’s term started💛.. couples placed in Dhaka fill a special role when their fellow missionaries come in to the City💝It was amazing to visit without any littles to be attending to 🫶🏼 

Lonnie contacted his auto rickshaw driver friend, Syed Ali, about taking me back to the hosp. as CNGs are not as readily available on this end. Auto rickshaws are not allowed the last stretch to the hosp. I don’t know if that was the reason or what, but Syed Ali ended up summoning a car and driver to take me back! Annslie was being Quite clingy so we opted to take all the girls back to the hosp with us and then they would return home with Lonnie, so he could shower and put Annslie to sleep for the night. He had the driver run him to a pharmacy for a med that the hosp ran out of and then take him and all the girls home. Another way to use somebody else’s hard to obtain fuel🫣

Fri Apr 17 🏥

 A long night with only a precious hour or 2 of sleep. Gentry was a full time job, Miserable and wanted nothing to do with the oxygen mask.. he also has almost completely quit eating! But they said he is getting glucose in his IV fluid and not to push the bottle because he is so weak. 

Medical conditions in this country can be extra frustrating and stressful 😣 I finally asked them how often they check vitals. “Every 4 hours”, was the reply! Quite a bit different from the hospitals back home where you can just glance at the monitor and see how the patient is faring! And only oxygen and fluids All night while waiting on bloodwork to return from the lab and determine what medicine to administer. 

When it got light out, I went out to charge my phones in the car. 

Quick note here, while out waiting for my phones to charge, I was quite burdened and overwhelmed with the situation at hand. I asked God what verse he had for me today? Opening my Bible app, the verse of the day, Jeremiah 29:12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. What a comfort! What an encouragement🤍

 Stopped by North End for a little breakfast and coffees. Being Fri, the parking lot and the main floor of the hosp was mostly empty! I had never seen this normally teeming place, So quiet! Fri and Sat are this country’s weekend, so only on call Drs etc. At North End, I had a friendly chat with the employees. They commented, that usually they are so busy they cannot chat with their customers like this!

Diagnoses is Influenza A.

So they want Lonnie and I to wear a mask when leaving the room now and Gentry is not to leave the room, which he’s not in any condition for that anyway..

When his pediatrician came by, she was optimistic about the situation. Said his X-ray was clear! The oxygen is needed because of the mucus that has collected in his nasal passages and throat. Nebulizar treatments with physical therapy after to help loosen things up and get him to cough it out. Nasal spray every hour that he’s awake to help the drainage there. Fever reducer is still needed a couple times a day.

We had a very good nurse today. She seemed to love her job and be a natural with this 6 mo old. While waiting for a temperature reading, she was all sudden singing “Baby Shark” and then “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” In English! Perfectly on tune! What a beautiful surprise💗 come to think of it, she knew pretty good English, so was not too difficult to communicate about the situation in front of us. She spent extra time with Gentry just playing and gently getting him to do what she needed him to💝 This momma heart rejoiced. Prayers are being answered.

So Dr says not to push the bottle but nurse says if you are to be able to go home tomorrow, Gentry will be needing to be able to take in enough fluids to keep from getting dehydrated again! She wanted me to try every 1-2 hrs. At 1st it was just 1 swallow. We started making 1 oz. bottles and got him to take 1/2 an oz a couple times and now by this evening, a few 1 oz bottles

We did a couple calls with the girls at the guesthouse and this evening, Lonnie went to shower and put Annslie to bed.

Thurs Apr 16 Dhaka 🏥 🤒

 We finally made the decision it is time to get help for Gentry’s medical condition.

After lunch, we packed and got the house ready to leave. Traveling was Very good!

 Oh and by the way. As we were leaving, we saw Akash working on our generator part in his dokan. Generator should be good as new again😅🙃

4 hrs later, at the guesthouse. Brian and Kaylee showed up soon with sweet tea and Carmelito bars💛. Doyle’s had just left this morning after a stay here, so there was not time for the maid to come in and clean. So we did a quick bathrooms and floors job and made the beds. Showered, got Annslie to bed for the night, gave the girls instructions, and left for the hosp.

We got to the E.D. round 11:00.

Your boy needs to be admitted. Oxygen saturation 87, temp 101, high heart rate, rattly breathing, 

They gave breathing treatment and chest x-ray then ushered us up to our private room on 5th floor. Here they started IV fluids and oxygen.

Wed Apr 15

 Power out the middle part of the day

The repair man was here rebuilding a part on the generator 

We decided it felt cooler to be outside where there was a breeze even if the temp was hotter

Dipti cooked Bangla rice, curry, dhal, and shobji for lunch

After school, I had a tub and bucket of water on the front porch for Annslie to get wet in. Jaira and Miss Christina found it a good opportunity for a water fight 💦 … Gentry and I were benefactors also🙃

In the evening, after singing with Annslie for awhile, I went into the bedroom with Gentry. It was stuffy in there and completely forgetting we were running on generator I turned the AC on 🤦🏼‍♀️

So much for the generator repair job😱

Our repair man thinks we need to get a new generator, says he’s been workin on this one for about 20 yrs😅 .. It’s just getting tired..

Tues Apr 14

 More power outages. 

 The generator cannot be coaxed on anymore. The repair man is here today tho 

It’s hot, the baby is sick and miserable

Thankyou for your prayers 💫 

Electricity is restored and somehow the courage picks up also.

The busy toddler goes down for a nap.

We go up to the classroom to help sing at the end of music class

The chicken and pork mangsho(meat) is washed and in the fridge and freezer.

Lonnie goes out to mingle with the villagers

After Christina’s supper of sausage n rice casserole and fried apples we walk over to the mela that Tulshi told us about. The religious part was held at the school grounds and all the food and gift booths were behind. If we hadn’t just eaten supper we would’ve gladly bought more from the food vendors. As it was, we didn’t actually buy much, an icy cone(don’t think it can hardly be termed an ice cream cone😉) and as we stood waiting for some bags of popcorn, acquaintances from Chakrakhali S.S. just ahead of us bought for us. And one of our neighbors running a meeshti(deep fried sweets) stand just gave us a taste, as we didn’t want to buy a whole kilo. We did come away with hand held palm frond fans and a toy for the Bud 👶🏼 and lots of hellos to neighbors and friends.

Maddie’s still been feeling wiped out from the virus, taking 1-2 naps a day, a low grade fever returned this evening 🤒