A Guiding Hand for Families in Special Care Nurseries - Digital - Book - Page 54
Special Care Nursery (SCN)
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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