The girls are moved to a nursery ward
Following on from my last post our girls had been moved to a nursery ward. This meant nursery nurses would take over looking after them now.
I have to be honest the nursey nurse, all of which were women were an interesting set of nurses. I felt as though they treated us parents as we were stupid. Not only by what they would say to us, but also in the way that they did things.
I think they forgot that we were people. Not just another person with a baby in their care. They forgot we were human. They forget we too had emotions.
Moving on…my wife was still expressing breast milk and that was mixed half and half with a prescription milk called Nutri-prem 2. Iron was also added to their milk.
It soon became apparant to us that the girls needed to gain weight in order for us to bring them home. It was the only way forward.
Both girls would take ages to finish their bottles, but when they did empty them it felt like such a relief. The satisfaction was an incredible feeling. We were one step nearer to home.
The days and nights were very slow. I was working everyday now and going into hospital mid afternoon/ The routine of the girls was such a strong point in our lives, but for us to cope we needed it to be that way.
I think they forgot that we were people. Not just another person with a baby in their care. They forgot we were human. They forget we too had emotions.
Moving on…my wife was still expressing breast milk and that was mixed half and half with a prescription milk called Nutri-prem 2. Iron was also added to their milk.
It soon became apparant to us that the girls needed to gain weight in order for us to bring them home. It was the only way forward.
Both girls would take ages to finish their bottles, but when they did empty them it felt like such a relief. The satisfaction was an incredible feeling. We were one step nearer to home.
The days and nights were very slow. I was working everyday now and going into hospital mid afternoon/ The routine of the girls was such a strong point in our lives, but for us to cope we needed it to be that way.
I mentioned in my last post that M had some tests done and we’d been anxiously awaiting the results
Well, the day arrived when got the results, but it wasn’t all good news.
Some of the tests had come back and the results were fine, but the chromosome blood test had either been misplaced or had been contaminated (I can’t remember which). Either way they would need to be done again, so we faced more worry and another weeks wait for the results.
In the meantime both girls had hearing tests and they came back all fine.
Well, the day arrived when got the results, but it wasn’t all good news.
Some of the tests had come back and the results were fine, but the chromosome blood test had either been misplaced or had been contaminated (I can’t remember which). Either way they would need to be done again, so we faced more worry and another weeks wait for the results.
In the meantime both girls had hearing tests and they came back all fine.
Now I would like to say that I know babies are the most important aspect of a special care unit. I man they’re the ones that need looking after, but for us parents I think a small room in which we could have made a cup of tea or coffee in would have been great. Maybe even a TV so we could go somewhere quiet for some time out. Sadly there was absolutely nothing, which I felt was a bit wrong.
Going back to the nurses and one thing that my wife and I had requested was that we didn’t out girls to have dummies/ This was written down in notes, but one nursery nurse who on night duty decided to give R a dummy to help settle her in the middle of the night.
Suffice to say that when my wife arrived in the morning to find a dummy in R’s cot she wasn’t very pleased. Regardless of anyone’s views on dummies, we are the parents and our wish should be respected.
This is where I come back to my point about nursery nurses being a law unto themselves. They appeared to have an attitude of we’ll decide what’s best for your child. What could the parents possibly know!
Suffice to say that when my wife arrived in the morning to find a dummy in R’s cot she wasn’t very pleased. Regardless of anyone’s views on dummies, we are the parents and our wish should be respected.
This is where I come back to my point about nursery nurses being a law unto themselves. They appeared to have an attitude of we’ll decide what’s best for your child. What could the parents possibly know!
Anyway, we gradually started seeing an improvement in the girls everyday. They were feeding well and we were becoming more positive that the girls would be home soon.
I’ll leave it there for now, but in my next post I’ll talk about our last seven days in special care.
2 Comments
Laughing Owl
October 14, 2014 at 9:17 pm
How awful. I can't imagine being separated from your babies, but then to have nurses that aren't listening to you. The dummy is a big deal. You should have been listened to. Crap, I even feel angry on your behalf!
Nigel
October 14, 2014 at 9:25 pm
Thanks for your anger! Yes, we weren't very happy about it that's for sure! The good thing that came from it was that the nurse finally apologised and weren't messed about again!