Gerhard and I are told to go to my room, where a little cot awaits us with no baby in it. Within minutes of walking into my room, the head of the ward comes to tell us that our siblings are there for a visit. We are rather shocked as all of our friends walk in. They were at various locations, having dinner etc. on this Friday evening and rushed over to the hospital as soon as they received the news.
We were so blessed to have their company, although this was cut short when my gynea arrived and told them that they need to leave. Gerhard and I need our rest as we will need all the energy in the coming days to cope with a baby in NICU.
The maternity ward keeps on phoning NICU for news; Liam's condition is still very grave, his apgar score is 2/10.
Gerhard helps me to take a bath, I have some supper and we just lie on my bed comforting each other.
We decide to go to NICU to see Liam before Gerhard heads off home at around midnight and as we walk in there, Liam has some colour! This is the best news ever, they are winning. Gerhard goes home, my gynea prescribed some sleeping tablets for him that I know he will not take.
Off to bed, sleeping tablets, calming tablets and a host of other things taken and then the NICU nurse wakes me. I have a feeling of dread, is Liam dead I ask. No, she just needs my consent to give Liam some blood. He does really not have enough. I immediately say yes as I am a blood donor myself and I have faith in the South African National Blood Services. Liam gets 80mls of blood.
After a rather restless night of tossing and turning I am up at the crack of dawn I go to NICU immediately. Liam is doing very well. A lovely older nurse was looking after him and asked me to bring over some of his things, like wipes and a dummy. He was very happy and sucking on a teat that they plugged with some cotton wool! I call Gerhard (who was still sleeping) and tell him the great news.
We spend the rest of the day in NICU, only leaving to have lunch and some physio. The nurses in NICU are amazing and Gerhard and I both hold Liam for the first time tubes and all when they were making his bed. As he was being fed intravenously he had no need for milk, so I started expressing with a lovely torture devise that Gerhard bought for me at the hospital pharmacy. I know things are returning to normal when Gerhard asks for discount in the pharmacy, on a breast pump, heaven help us.
The paediatrician came again and told us that they were concerned that Liam had suffered brain damage as a result of a lack of oxygen. Due to the fact that he was born with the ventuse, his head was still swollen, but initial brain sonars picked up nothing of concern. He introduced us to a paediatric neurosurgeon (two days ago I did not know that this profession existed; now I was consulting the top one in my pyjamas). The nurse later told me that this guy is booked months in advance and that kids fly in to see him from all over Africa. He regularly appears on Carte Blanche, so we were in good hands.
Some more waiting, the new paediatric neurosurgeon wanted to do a MRI scan. The swelling would only be gone in a couple of days, so until then, we have no idea if Liam is brain damaged or not.
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