confused.

today was a stressful day at the WIC clinic. we saw a girl, a kid really, who had just turned 15. she also had a one month old baby. which means she was pregnant when she was 14. it was so weird to watch the interaction between this girl, her grandmother and her baby. it was very mixed up. the girl didn't necessarily neglect the baby when she held it, but it was as if the baby was more of an accessory rather than a human being, she was on her cell more than making eye contact with her child. when the grandmother asked if she fed the baby this afternoon, she got a guilty smile on her face and replied "no, i forgot again". forgot? you forget to feed a newborn? i kept thinking, shes just a kid! shes a child herself, why does she have a child? im 23 and don't feel prepared to have a child or like i am ready to raise a child, so how is a 15 year old supposed to? they're still completley focused on me me me.

then we saw a baby who was a foster child living with his aunt. when they got the baby, he had 8 cracked ribs, two brain bleeds. he was born at 8 pounds and was only nine pounds at two months, i.e. he had not been fed enough at all. i had a headache after today after seeing these two kids. how do you crack a baby's ribs? how do you forget to feed them? it just broke my heart to see these situations, and it's even worse because this is the norm for this area.

i have liked working in WIC these past 2 weeks, its just hard to see the really rough situations like those. luckily the baby who was abused was with a great foster family and it 100% ok now. makes me all the more thankful for the family i have and parents that have given me so much. i can't wait for the weekend!