From 0 to 4 days: in hospital
The next few days were a haze. We remember that Lisa’s
parents phoned at lunchtime. I remember going out to phone parents and Andy in
the evening. The rest of the time was a jumble of nurses’ and doctor’s
visits. Lisa had to remain flat out for 24 hours so I spent a lot of time making
sure she got drinks and food, and turning her over from side to side so she
could feed Jordan. We were persuaded to give Jordan cows milk because Lisa wasn’t
producing much milk; they gave it him out of a metal beaker and with a teaspoon.
This was just a taste of what was to come…
The pediatrician examined him for the first time and
recommended more cow’s milk. We were blessed in that Gail and Philippa had
come up, and they had a showdown with her. Finally she said that it was up to us
and left the room. I felt crushed by worry; one opinion had our baby becoming
lactose intolerant, the other, some other dire condition. Philippa was great
though, and the doctor also echoed her down-to-earth attitude.
The food and coffee were surprisingly good too, and the
man who worked there was great, bringing them both up all day. The view
from our room was beautiful, looking over Coonoor with the Nilgiri hills behind.
Thursday, Joy arrived early. It had been a tough night,
with none of us sleeping from 3.00 onwards. But it was still good to see her.
Later Philippa came back again, with Sarah this time, and some of their kids.
For me these visits were such a boost, a breath of fresh air, and a reminder
that there was still life beyond our hospital room. The final little encounter
with the pediatrician had came that morning. She wanted to use a breast pump, to
check how much milk Lisa was producing. I phoned Philippa straight away and she
said that it wasn’t necessary, so I sent the nurses away when they came to do
it, and that was the last we heard from her, thank goodness.
Thursday night was the nadir. Lisa ran out of milk, and
we spent hours trying to console Jordan. From 2.00 onwards we didn’t sleep; it
was nightmarish.
Friday morning was the waiting game; waiting for
Sharlene to come and take us back to Hoz, waiting for the doctor to check Lisa
one last time. And then after all that, we had to wait for the final medicine
prescription to be signed. We finally escaped, and got back to Hebron at
12.40pm.