“ ITS MY TURN TO BE THE BABY”

Yesterday morning, after giving the baby her morning feeding, hubby came and took her. No sooner had he taken her, our four year old son jumped into my lap, assumed the nursing position and remarked, “its my turn to be the baby”. I could not believe how big he felt in my arms and wondered, where did the time go, where did my first little baby go? I did not waste the opportunity to bond with him as I have been quite delinquent where that is concerned. He was a little out of sorts when we took the baby home but now he is doing quite all right, and enjoying his precious little gift of a sister.

I told him that mommy used to hold him just like that and feed him ‘chu chups milk.’ (When he was born his grandmother gave my breast the name tu tups, and so since then this is the name we have used and because he did not quite get the correct pronunciation, it became ‘chu chups’ for him and still is). For his sister, he now refers to it as ‘mommy’s magic chu chups’ as she falls asleep as soon as she starts nursing. Much to his dismay though, as he always wants her awake so that he can play with her. I went on to sing him the lullaby ‘hush little baby don’t you cry’ and he laughed hysterically (he has a laugh that no matter how down you are, it warms your heart and cheer up your soul).

He too seemed to have wanted to cease every moment of this opportunity because any minute, his father would be calling to get ready for school. He then requested that we play forte (for him it is ‘house sheets). I am sure most of you know forte and used to play it when you were kids, where chairs and cushions are used to create an enclosure. For our son though, he uses a sheet (hence the term ‘house sheets’) and our bodies do the function of the chairs. He has a dictionary of terms like no other, for things. His first name for cheese sandwich was ‘triangle cheese,' because we used to cut the sandwich into two triangles. Soda for him is ‘burny hot juice’ because it burns the throat when being consumed, and if it is grape flavour, it is ‘burny hot juice, purple.’ He is quite a little comic around the home, and makes us laugh so much. So under the forte, I began to ask him about school, who his best friends are etc.

The time was short but it worked for me and seemed to have worked for him as well. This got my day off to a great start and was reminded again, that our struggle with infertility was so worth it and how blessed we are to have these precious little miracles in our lives.

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. - Romans 8 verse 37 (NIV)

I am just able to post since the start of the week, and what a week it has been. My husband and our daughter became ill on Sunday. My husband with the flu, and our daughter, what we thought was he flu, turned out to be gastroenteritis along with a bad cold.

She had a fever starting from Sunday afternoon and for all of Sunday night, I was up keeping vigil over the fever, which went high at times. We took her to the doctor on Monday using our son’s follow-up appointment for ear infection. By the time it was our turn, the baby had a high fever almost reaching 103 degrees. The nurse immediately sent me to the washroom to wash her down.

We were sent to the doctor soon and after she examined her, she, with a concerned look on her face, said to me, mommy, I do not like how she looks (she was having problems breathing and was giving off a grunting sound). She then said she would do a referral for her to go to the children’s hospital. I must have turned white like a ghost at that point because I was terrified thinking the worst.

When we got to the hospital, they examined her and began administering rehydration fluid right away, over a period of two hours. She cried so much because she is not used to drinking from a spoon plus this fluid taste really bad.

My husband began making calls as soon as we got to the hospital and by this time, some of our family members began showing up. I was so happy for the support because I was getting really fatigued from trying to feed the baby the rehydration fluids and have her crying so hard that now her throat is sore and hoarse.

About 8pm she was able to see the doctor and he confirmed that she was having gastroenteritis. I said to the doctor, I really think she has the flu too, but he insisted that it was gastro and did not give me any medication for any flu, he just told me to give her panadol for the fever. They also gave me some rehydration salts and told me to give her some after she has passed a stool. We were so happy to be on our way home.

We made it through the night with the fever in check, but later Tuesday morning, my husband was holding her and felt her struggling to breathe. He was frightened and I was too and so we instantly took her back to the hospital as we did not want to take any chances at her age, and also given the fact that her paediatrician said she did not like how she sounded.

She got to see a doctor almost immediately who told me that it was only a cold and they could not do anything about it, we just have to let it pass. I was not willing to just accept that and so I said to him, yes I understand that, but at her age, I am not comfortable with how she is breathing. He said he understood and sent me to the treatment room, to have them suction some of the mucus from her head. The doctor also told me to give her saline drops when she becomes stuffy. I was happy with that and left the hospital feeling much better.

Our son and niece loves the baby so much and would give her the world, with their germs and all and I have so fatigued trying to prevent them from touching her hands and face. I guess with even my best efforts, it’s just difficult. She is also a little children magnet and so there is the challenge even outside of the home. Some adults as well, who should know better, really do not.

She is doing better now, still stuffy at times and cranky but when we give her the saline drops, it really works. My husband is doing better too and yesterday I came down the flu as well. I guess my system is just worn from all that has happened over the last couple of days. It would be a good idea for us all to rent a section in the TB ward at the hospital, because our home has now become germs central.

The testing did not stop there, as at one point after all that, we really thought we would have ended up in the emergency room with our daughter again. I was terrified to say the least and at that point I felt losing our daughter so real, it pierced my heart. God gave me the resolve while at the hospital, to show some amount of calm and composure on the outside even though I was dying inside, but for the latter test, there was no composure at all, I was really worried. I could not lose my second little miracle just like that and thought would God do this to us. No, I somehow knew God would not have it that way at all, because she came directly from his heart. At my age I was not expecting to even become pregnant and have a perfectly healthy child and so I give all credit to my Almighty and all knowing God.

We remain grateful to God for his faithfulness and continue to give him thanks for the precious little miracles he has so graciously sent into our lives, when it seem we would not otherwise have been so blessed.

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