Volunteering

About four months ago I decided that I wanted to volunteer at our children's hopsital here in Tulsa. I had read about a program call Baby Cuddling, which has volunteers come in and rock and hold newborns who are not able to be with their mothers all the time. This program just touched my heart. I just couldn't imagine little newborns laying in the nursey not getting the love and warmth they need from their mothers. I contacted the hospital and filled out the application, got my references, and about a month ago they contacted me to come in and speak with the Director of Volunteering. Well, the Baby Cuddling program was full at the time so I had to be put on the waiting list, but in the mean time they had an open for an evening sitter, which I basically just go to rooms and give parents a break. I stay with the kids while the parents go for a walk, get something to eat or even go home for a shower. It sounded like something I wanted to do. So after getting my background check done, a TB test, and of course my lovely uniform. I was ready to start. I actually started doing this the week before Halloween. I go one night a week for about 3 hours. I get a list of all the kids that are in the Children's Hospital and I go to the rooms that have of babies first and the move up to the older ones. I have to say this is one of the most rewarding experiences I have every had. My first night I spent almost two hours rocking a little girl that was only 31 days olds. Her mom was so grateful for the break because she was on her own with no other family. As her mom got some time to herself, I got to spend two wonderful hours feeding and just rocking and cuddling this sweet little girl. The rest of my time was spent with a little boy who was almost 3 years old and he had been in the hospital for almost 2 weeks. You would think that he would just be bouncing off the walls because he has to stay in his room but he was the sweetest boy. We talked, watched some cartoons and played a game. He was such a little talker. He kept telling me all about his upcoming b-day and how it was going to all dinosaurs. It was really amazing how well these kids handle being in the hospital. I don't know... it just makes me grateful I guess. I complain when my back hurts or I have a head ache and here are the kids that are in the hospital when they should be out playing and they have a great attitude.

I looked foward to going each week. Part of me likes to see that on the list the babies or kids I saw the week before are no longer on the list.