A Guiding Hand for Families in NICU and Special Care Nurseries - Digital - Book - Page 25
Babies born too soon, too small, or sick
6 January. The first I saw of him was as he was wheeled out of theatre
in a humidicrib and taken to the NICU. I could not yet see Karin, so I
followed Robbie up to the NICU, with several nurses crowded around
him, monitoring his vitals. I was on the outside, trying to peer over the
shoulders of hospital staff with concerned looks on their faces. I tried
to get a picture of him with my phone but the flash caused the picture
to white out so there was no first new born picture for the album. I was
then instructed to leave the NICU as Robbie started to have difficulty
breathing and had to be intubated. At this point I was terrified – I did not
know how Karin was doing and for all I knew Robbie was dying. It would
be two days before Karin would first get to see Robert, as she was in
Intensive Care on one floor whilst Robbie was in NICU on another.
And so began the exhaustive program of going to
work, then visiting Karin and Robbie at the hospital,
followed by going home to try and complete the
renovations that we had earlier commenced when
we believed that we had time. I was grateful for our
friends that stepped in to help, primarily by providing
food, as I had no time to cook.
Once Karin was discharged, she still spent most of
each day at Robert’s side in hospital, so I would catch
the train there after work so that we could drive
home each night to an empty house. There we would
try to eat, sleep, and complete the renovations.
The time spent at the NICU was stressful– to sit there and watch your
child through the perspex screen of the humidicrib and not be allowed to
hold him while he struggled to gain strength during those first weeks was
awful, worrying about if he would be OK or suffer ongoing complications.
Karin’s recovery was drawn out as well, so I had the two most important
people in my life going through some pretty tough times.
But, after what seemed to be many months even though it was only 6
weeks, Robbie came home and proceeded to grow and develop into
a happy and healthy boy. After a considerable amount of time, Karin
recovered from the pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome as well.
Today you would have no idea that either of them were ever so unwell –
the picture says it all.
Life’s Little Treasures Foundation | Supporting Families of Premature & Sick Babies
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