Fri. Apr 24

 Spent ALL morning getting all the bedding and towels washed. Once again, loaded to the hilt with groceries and Dhaka finds we made our way back to Khulna home. Back to very unsteady power and a hot house.

Thurs Apr 23 🏥

 Follow up and 6 mo appt for Gentry. Getting better, but he weighs the same as at his 4 mo appt!😣 once he started eating again,  he has gone from 6 oz in a 24 hr day to 9oz in a 24  hr day the last 2 days. His normal had been 24 oz… 

We had used Brian’s van to go to the appt while he took ours to see if he could find fuel so we could go home tomorrow! And miracles continue to happen.. Brian told us how it went.. he went to a gas station, A   l o n g  line. Police stood guard to keep any hanky panky from happening. Brian parked and stood there observing the scene for about 10 min. Then a police came over and asked what he needed and what he was doing in the country. Brian showed him pictures of the cleft lip and palette patients CSI has been helping. He told Brian to come to the pump and filled the van. Our prayer at the breakfast table was answered🤍

After lunch, we hit Apon, tried Jamuna Park Mall again, but this time it was closed due to a power/electrical supply issue. So on to airport Unimart in search of those imported tortilla chips we’d found there 2 months ago. No luck on that score😏 Supper at the Chef’s Table food court.

Wed Apr 22

 Lonnie went with Brian and John (our Bangla teacher’s husband who helps with the missionaries’ legal work) to the visa office where we are working on our extended visas.

The girls went with Kaylee to the clinic for lunch, cooked by our Sisters. Then Singing with them after.

After Annslie’s nap, we went to Gulshan 2 UniMart. The rest of the family went up to Chef’s Table for supper while I shopped to my hearts content😅 Told Lonnie later, it had been good therapy, so much fun!

Tues. Apr 21

 A day at the house

School

Lonnie worked on the online forms for Gentry’s passport

We’ve been struggling to get the Bud to take his bottles. Lonnie got the inspiration to try some fruit yogurt on him. Gentry was quite pleased and ate a good share of the little 100g container😋 A couple hours later he downed another whole container… 

Lonnie went for cha ☕️ in Dumni with SyedAli and Brian. Then to Brian’s, to work with him at the computer till the littles woke from their naps.

To Neela Mkt with Brian’s for the Yummiest “Barbecue”/chicken kabobs and their special ruti/tortillas. They offer several tortilla options but my favorite is a yellow one that has more the consistency of a corn tortilla. Makes me think it’s made with lentils maybe and they also flavor it nicely and add just a bit of spice. We also were planning to put up with a bit of hot sticky weather as these eating places in Neela Mkt are open air. But we sat at the back, with the river below us. There was a nice breeze coming in, totally comfortable, while we watched some large boats come by 🚤 

Walked down to a meeshti(mostly deep fried sweets) shop to try one of Brian’s favorite meeshtis. Then hung out at Brian’s till it was time to get everybody to bed.

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🫣