December 8th, 2017 by georginagreen

(On a hand-written poster in the nursery. A quote often used by pro-life groups, not my intention here. It’s a beautiful, daily reminder that each child in that nursery is precious, is Loved.)

These mothers. Coming into the Nursery/ NICU every two or three hours, all day, for weeks and weeks sometimes, with cups of breast milk hand-expressed, which they they will put in the nasogastric tube or a cup to feed their babies. Every. Two. Hours. They don’t have bottles here. Not one bottle in this hospital. The mothers do most of the care for their own babies. They come in at the feeding time, wrapped in striped, cotton maternity gowns, barefoot or wearing flip flops found in a basket by the door, sit in plastic chairs, and do the work that needs to be done.

These mothers. Cuddling their babies. Patting the baby in the next cradle if she cries. Living in the hospital in what seems like NICU mommy purgatory, waiting for your baby to grow until you can go home. In the US, you are often discharged from the hospital if your baby is admitted to the NICU (though some places do have individual rooms and parents can sleep in, I think it’s not the norm). I believe the thought is that the care is intensive, and you would be in the way. Here, the care is intensive, and you are only feet away.

The NICU nurses are the same as any NICU or charge nurse I have ever met. They know their babies well. They care for the mamas as they can. They give meds, baths, watch vents and babies on CPAP and bili lights and keep constant watch. The charge nurse made an executive decision to let a mother rest today, a mother who is physically (and possibly emotionally, though she is strong and doesn’t complain) exhausted. So that nurse, in addition to her many other duties, is also feeding the baby today.

I would love for some of my friends who work in the NICU to be here. It’s different but universal.

Another sick baby today, brought in during morning rounds from another hospital, in respiratory distress. Had a seizure in the afternoon, now intubated and on a vent. Her mum hasn’t named her yet. 25-weeker also delivered during rounds. So tiny. Stable.

We prayed for the team on call tonight. That they may have the wisdom and strength to care for the children tonight. Every one of those children needs prayer. The newly-diagnosed type 1 diabetic who will soon go back to boarding school and is learning how to give herself insulin, the child with gastroenteritis that might be malaria, the child recovering from meningitis who is not yet walking and has a long road ahead. And all of the babies in the nursery and their parents.