Dr. Johnston continued to stop by Jericho's isolette on his daily rounds, occasionally changing his daily treatment. Jericho was moved from section to section as he graduated from stage to stage.
It seemed so easy for Eric and Katrina to get caught up in the daily monotony of the NICU. They hovered over Jericho, read his file every shift and pushed for breastfeeding as hard as they could. Katrina pumped her milk for Jericho, giving him fresh milk for every gavage feeding (through a tube down the throat) and stored the excess in the NICU freezer.
Every feeding, Katrina would attempt normal breastfeeding so as to encourage normal eating, but he never seemed to get enough. The nurses were beginning to push bottle feeding, which Dr. Johnston seemed to be disapproving to, as were Jericho's parents. "Y'know, you really don't need to be here so much," one nurse snarled, "We could get him out of here a lot sooner if you'd just let us bottle feed him. Breastfeeding is really just a thing of the past."
Horrified, Katrina asked Dr. Johnston to be moved from that particular nurse's station. Very few parents were visiting their children in the NICU and those who did just didn't seem to have the attachment that Katrina and Eric had to their child. Nobody lifted their head to read their child's chart or asked about the treatment. Nobody breastfed naturally. They had these devices for mothers who insisted upon trying that guaranteed breastfeeding failure: nipple rings. They were bottle nipples that were placed between the mother's nipple and the baby's mouth.
One early morning, the NICU came alive, but no isolette alarms were sounding an emergency. The nurses were grabbing needles, breathing devices, drugs and they prepared an isolette that had all of the bells and whistles. Katrina stirred Eric, "Hon, look. There's going to be another one. Bad."
Eric woke up and turned his head to watch. They had seen this before. Another baby was being brought into the NICU. Usually, they didn't have this much preparation, though. Clearly, it was a very sick and or premature baby being brought in.
Soon, the doors from the maternity ward flew wide open and the buzzing began. A rather large, dark haired baby was brought into the NICU wearing nothing but blue footies, followed by a Middle Eastern man, presumably the baby's father. The father was very upset, snapping all of the photographs he could between questions like, "Will he live?" Nobody could answer.
Katrina picked Jericho up from his isolette and held him closely, nuzzling his cheek and whispering comforting things into his tiny ear. She watched the nurses "work" on the new baby as the baby's father pensively wrung his hands over and over again. Every so often, a nurse would look at the father as if he were an annoyance, hoping he'd get the hint and leave their work station. He didn't.
The nurses had the baby intubated and stable before Dr. Johnston came flowing through the back door of the NICU to examine the newcomer. "That's how it happened for Jericho at first," Eric whispered to Katrina. "It's like looking through a mirror into the past."
After a conversation with Dr. Johnston, the father seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and, as Dr. Johnston continued to examine his baby, the father let his eyes break for a moment or two to take in the NICU. Reaching Jericho's area, he caught eyes with Eric, who politely nodded an understanding gesture to the new father as if to say, "He'll be fine. Not too long ago, I was where you're standing and that doctor can handle this. Breathe, man." The father nodded back and sighed as he turned back to his baby.
When shift change came, Eric, Katrina and the new baby's father all left the NICU. The new baby's father went on to the maternity ward, presumably making the same trip Eric had made the day Jericho was born. They waddled on to the cafeteria, ordered their meal and sat down to talk.
"That was harsh," Eric said. "I knew every word he was thinking. It was written all over his face."
"Yeah," Katrina pondered, "Do you suppose he's like us? I mean, he didn't seem to want to leave and he was all over-" she trailed off as a set of NICU nurses sat at a close by table. Eric nodded.
As the double doors to the NICU swung open, Katrina noticed an odd look from a nurse that usually double teamed the unit Jericho was on. She looked guilty of something. She quickened her pace as she walked the NICU maze to get to Jericho and as she got there, she and Eric were horrified. There was a strange man bottle feeding Jericho.
Eric slipped in front of Katrina and said, "No cuddlers." Orion Hospital had volunteers who came and held the babies in the NICU every so often, but Jericho didn't need cuddling because his parents were always there and there certainly was not any reason to bottle feed him, as he was strictly a breastfed baby.
The man looked to the nurse to correct Eric, but she just acted confused. Eric looked at the nurse and said, "We specifically withdrew him from the cuddling program so that he wouldn't be exposed to new germs. He gets germs from us, his nurses and when a doctor checks him out. He doesn't need cuddlers if we are here."
Katrina interjected as she bundled Jericho in her arms, taking the bottle and throwing it into the trash, "and no bottle feeding, either."
The nurse rolled her eyes and replied, "Well, it's not his fault. Nobody told me if you were coming back and he was about due for a feeding so I just thought-"
Katrina squinted her eyes, "We are his parents. Of course we were coming back."
Just then, Katrina and Eric looked across the walkway to find the new father they'd seen earlier was already back with his baby and watching the scene.
"I'm calling Dr. Johnston," the nurse smarted off snidely.
Once Dr. Johnston appeared in the doorway, Katrina sighed. She had not placed Jericho down since the incident, half an hour prior. "I heard you had an incident with a cuddler," he smiled warmly.
Eric explained thoroughly and expressed concern for the germs and noted that they were always present, except during shift change and there was no need for someone to introduce a bottle yet because they were still attempting breastfeeding. The doctor listened politely, then turned to the nurse, "Do not allow anybody to give this child a bottle." The nurse's face contorted from smarmy to disgusted as the doctor continued, "And these parents are here every minute of the day. It is clear when parents take shifts and do all of their child's changing and cares that they do not want strange people picking their child up and breathing on it. I don't know why you allowed this, but I know you already knew not to do it. I will be speaking with the Head Nurse about this."
"Thank you," Katrina sighed. The doctor smiled as he examined Jericho. "When do you think we'll be able to take him home?" she asked.
"Well," Dr. Johnston spoke in very low tones as he motioned to Katrina to come closer, "I would like to see him go home with you and I am trying to get that done, but you will have to be a little more relaxed for me to make that happen."
Katrina's eyes immediately filled with tears, "Oh, my God," she whispered, "What-" she bit her lip.
Dr. Johnston picked Jericho up and placed him in her arms as he pretended to be reading his file, "You were doing fine. Just relax. Nobody else knows, but we have to do this right. He still needs care so we'll talk later. There is no need to worry yet unless a reason to worry arises, get it?" Katrina took the baby and cradled him close to her heart as the doctor continued, "Unless there is reason, we only check the system upon release and we can do things: typos, mistakes can be made, you know?"
Katrina's chest swelled with joy. He was going to help. Eric just sat and watched, nodding occasionally. He was still suspicious, but had no choice but to trust this new development.
It seemed so easy for Eric and Katrina to get caught up in the daily monotony of the NICU. They hovered over Jericho, read his file every shift and pushed for breastfeeding as hard as they could. Katrina pumped her milk for Jericho, giving him fresh milk for every gavage feeding (through a tube down the throat) and stored the excess in the NICU freezer.
Every feeding, Katrina would attempt normal breastfeeding so as to encourage normal eating, but he never seemed to get enough. The nurses were beginning to push bottle feeding, which Dr. Johnston seemed to be disapproving to, as were Jericho's parents. "Y'know, you really don't need to be here so much," one nurse snarled, "We could get him out of here a lot sooner if you'd just let us bottle feed him. Breastfeeding is really just a thing of the past."
Horrified, Katrina asked Dr. Johnston to be moved from that particular nurse's station. Very few parents were visiting their children in the NICU and those who did just didn't seem to have the attachment that Katrina and Eric had to their child. Nobody lifted their head to read their child's chart or asked about the treatment. Nobody breastfed naturally. They had these devices for mothers who insisted upon trying that guaranteed breastfeeding failure: nipple rings. They were bottle nipples that were placed between the mother's nipple and the baby's mouth.
One early morning, the NICU came alive, but no isolette alarms were sounding an emergency. The nurses were grabbing needles, breathing devices, drugs and they prepared an isolette that had all of the bells and whistles. Katrina stirred Eric, "Hon, look. There's going to be another one. Bad."
Eric woke up and turned his head to watch. They had seen this before. Another baby was being brought into the NICU. Usually, they didn't have this much preparation, though. Clearly, it was a very sick and or premature baby being brought in.
Soon, the doors from the maternity ward flew wide open and the buzzing began. A rather large, dark haired baby was brought into the NICU wearing nothing but blue footies, followed by a Middle Eastern man, presumably the baby's father. The father was very upset, snapping all of the photographs he could between questions like, "Will he live?" Nobody could answer.
Katrina picked Jericho up from his isolette and held him closely, nuzzling his cheek and whispering comforting things into his tiny ear. She watched the nurses "work" on the new baby as the baby's father pensively wrung his hands over and over again. Every so often, a nurse would look at the father as if he were an annoyance, hoping he'd get the hint and leave their work station. He didn't.
The nurses had the baby intubated and stable before Dr. Johnston came flowing through the back door of the NICU to examine the newcomer. "That's how it happened for Jericho at first," Eric whispered to Katrina. "It's like looking through a mirror into the past."
After a conversation with Dr. Johnston, the father seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and, as Dr. Johnston continued to examine his baby, the father let his eyes break for a moment or two to take in the NICU. Reaching Jericho's area, he caught eyes with Eric, who politely nodded an understanding gesture to the new father as if to say, "He'll be fine. Not too long ago, I was where you're standing and that doctor can handle this. Breathe, man." The father nodded back and sighed as he turned back to his baby.
When shift change came, Eric, Katrina and the new baby's father all left the NICU. The new baby's father went on to the maternity ward, presumably making the same trip Eric had made the day Jericho was born. They waddled on to the cafeteria, ordered their meal and sat down to talk.
"That was harsh," Eric said. "I knew every word he was thinking. It was written all over his face."
"Yeah," Katrina pondered, "Do you suppose he's like us? I mean, he didn't seem to want to leave and he was all over-" she trailed off as a set of NICU nurses sat at a close by table. Eric nodded.
As the double doors to the NICU swung open, Katrina noticed an odd look from a nurse that usually double teamed the unit Jericho was on. She looked guilty of something. She quickened her pace as she walked the NICU maze to get to Jericho and as she got there, she and Eric were horrified. There was a strange man bottle feeding Jericho.
Eric slipped in front of Katrina and said, "No cuddlers." Orion Hospital had volunteers who came and held the babies in the NICU every so often, but Jericho didn't need cuddling because his parents were always there and there certainly was not any reason to bottle feed him, as he was strictly a breastfed baby.
The man looked to the nurse to correct Eric, but she just acted confused. Eric looked at the nurse and said, "We specifically withdrew him from the cuddling program so that he wouldn't be exposed to new germs. He gets germs from us, his nurses and when a doctor checks him out. He doesn't need cuddlers if we are here."
Katrina interjected as she bundled Jericho in her arms, taking the bottle and throwing it into the trash, "and no bottle feeding, either."
The nurse rolled her eyes and replied, "Well, it's not his fault. Nobody told me if you were coming back and he was about due for a feeding so I just thought-"
Katrina squinted her eyes, "We are his parents. Of course we were coming back."
Just then, Katrina and Eric looked across the walkway to find the new father they'd seen earlier was already back with his baby and watching the scene.
"I'm calling Dr. Johnston," the nurse smarted off snidely.
Once Dr. Johnston appeared in the doorway, Katrina sighed. She had not placed Jericho down since the incident, half an hour prior. "I heard you had an incident with a cuddler," he smiled warmly.
Eric explained thoroughly and expressed concern for the germs and noted that they were always present, except during shift change and there was no need for someone to introduce a bottle yet because they were still attempting breastfeeding. The doctor listened politely, then turned to the nurse, "Do not allow anybody to give this child a bottle." The nurse's face contorted from smarmy to disgusted as the doctor continued, "And these parents are here every minute of the day. It is clear when parents take shifts and do all of their child's changing and cares that they do not want strange people picking their child up and breathing on it. I don't know why you allowed this, but I know you already knew not to do it. I will be speaking with the Head Nurse about this."
"Thank you," Katrina sighed. The doctor smiled as he examined Jericho. "When do you think we'll be able to take him home?" she asked.
"Well," Dr. Johnston spoke in very low tones as he motioned to Katrina to come closer, "I would like to see him go home with you and I am trying to get that done, but you will have to be a little more relaxed for me to make that happen."
Katrina's eyes immediately filled with tears, "Oh, my God," she whispered, "What-" she bit her lip.
Dr. Johnston picked Jericho up and placed him in her arms as he pretended to be reading his file, "You were doing fine. Just relax. Nobody else knows, but we have to do this right. He still needs care so we'll talk later. There is no need to worry yet unless a reason to worry arises, get it?" Katrina took the baby and cradled him close to her heart as the doctor continued, "Unless there is reason, we only check the system upon release and we can do things: typos, mistakes can be made, you know?"
Katrina's chest swelled with joy. He was going to help. Eric just sat and watched, nodding occasionally. He was still suspicious, but had no choice but to trust this new development.
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