Our First Scare
Baby Zuri is two days old. I have just woken up and decided to take a warm, relaxing shower so as to start my day well. I am still trying to figure out if it is the rain or early morning weather that is causing the cold outside.
As I leave the bathroom, I meet with my mother and smile to myself thinking how I have finally managed to wake up before her. It’s too embarrassing when your mother wakes up before you every morning and has to call out your name about four times before you can get out of bed. At least today I won’t have to take my breakfast in the car to keep her from being late for work.
I open my wardrobe and pick out a pair of faded black jeans and a red T-shirt, which I top off with a red jumper. My usual love for jewellery leads me to pick my three silver rings, one red ring and a red bangle. Yes, my favourite colour is red and I hope to one day pass it on to my niece though if all goes according to my sister’s choice, she may fall for pink. Then I head to the sitting room.
A few minutes later, mum and I are cruising in her Toyota Corolla to the hospital, where her office is, and where Tracy and baby Zuri are admitted.
At mum’s office she receives a phone and after she hangs up, she tells me it’s Tracy calling to say that baby Zuri seems to be suffering from something. We rush towards to the ward where we find my brother-in-law, Isaac, and my sister, Tracy, standing at the small nursery. Inside, baby Zuri is lying in a small incubator—some gadget with blue light. Her eyes and hands are bandaged. If you look closely, you can tell that her skin is slightly yellow-jaundice, I conclude.
Isaac had noticed that Zuri’s eyes were yellow and her skin as well. The nurses observed her urine and confirmed jaundice. The paediatrician then instructed that the treatment begins immediately while we await the results of the blood test that would tell us just how much of the yellow substance (bilirubin) was in her blood. The bandages over her eyes are to protect her from blindness that can be caused by the bright blue light and those on her hands to prevent her from trying to remove the bandage from her eyes.
The treatment is to take a few days and Tracy is to breast-feed Zuri every two hours to ensure that she frequently removes the toxins from her body via pee.
As I stay with my sister to help her with the baby as mother and Isaac go back to work. I sit down and look back at my fears or at my naive thoughts. I had assumed because I had been so excited the past two days and taken Zuri dozens of photos that maybe the flash had affected her eye sight and I was to blame for the bandages on her face. What a relief that my imagination had just travelled to another place all together and she was well despite the symptoms. I keep track of time for my sister so that she knows when her two hours are up to breast-feed or at least till I hear the baby crying. I realise that Zuri is not the only one who seems to be having the same problem as two more babies are taken to the nursery to join her.
As I attend to Zuri while Tracy takes a shower, I look at the marvelous gift that God has blessed our family with. I thank Him for her and add a few words in prayer for her safety and quick recovery.
Moments later, it’s time to say my good byes and go back home. It has been a long day and I am glad it is over. I just pray that as I come back tomorrow, Zuri will be back to her normal self again. She is too small to be going through any suffering.
END:BL32/26-27