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4 Long Days in NICU

If I ever have a baby and I am in a position to determine the baby's due date, I will not have the baby on a Friday.  All specialists are not available, the MRI scans are not done etc. 

I must tell you about my great gynea first.  This woman is amazing.  When all the things went wrong on Friday evening in the delivery room, she literally started crying and told me her amazing story.  Her son was born prematurely as she suffered from pre-eclamsia.  When he was born, he could not suckle and nurses told her he would never speak because of this.  Everyone was convinced that this boy would be brain damaged.  She refused to believe this and sent him to a stimulation centre as the brain at this young age is flexible and can learn new ways of working.  Today he is a fine and clever little boy and there is nothing wrong with him. 

Now in a time like this, you need to hear these stories from other people.  She also kept on telling us that she visited Liam and he is fine, she looked into those clever blue eyes and she could see that there was intelligence in there.  One morning I went to NICU very early and saw a teddy in Liam's crib, when asking where this came from the nurses told me that the gynea delivered it.  This is really above and beyond.  


I was discharged from hospital after a two night stay.  So I promptly checked back in and stayed until Liam was discharged.  I was not going home without Liam.  At this stage I also started speaking to people over the phone again.  The neurosurgeon helped with this.  One Liam's 2nd day in NICU, he asked me if I was happy with what I had received, this put things in perspective for me, Liam was mine, brain damaged or not, and I loved him with all my heart. 

On day 3, the blues really set in too.  It all got to be too much for me and I just sat in my room crying.  In a way, the blues never really left, but that is a story for another day. 

Day 4, a Monday, time for the MRI scan...Gerhard and I were sitting in the breastfeeding room cooing to Liam when a nurse came to give Liam some vile green syrup that knocked him out completely.  We then pushed his little bed down a floor and had the dreaded scan done.  It felt like forever and I cannot get over the sound the machine makes!  It is shockingly loud. 

The technician performing the scan said that she could not see much wrong and would send up the report and x-rays as soon as possible. 

Back to NICU and the envelope arrives.  The head nurse takes a look and there are some dead spots in Liam's brain.  She tells us that she will call the paediatric neurosurgeon, but also tells us that brain tissue once dead does not recover.  We are in a state.  The paediatric neurosurgeon does not show up, but the paediatrician does.  He confirms what the nurse said.  Liam is brain damaged.  Gerhard, normally a cool and collected guy loses it and tells the NICU nurse to call the paediatric neurosurgeon NOW.  From his tone, she realises that this daddy has now had enough and she calls.  He arrives within 5 minutes.  He looks at the x-rays and says that Liam will be fine, even a genius as the dead spots are minute and in an area of little concern. 

Gerhard and I laugh and cry at the same time, and preparations are now underway for Liam to be discharged four days after being born.

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