An Early Arrival

Tonight, I’m sitting in my hotel room in Durham, North Carolina, my sixth night here.  I flew across the country—in the middle of a pandemic.  I had an entire row to myself, everyone was masked, and the airline was careful.  The airports were amazingly empty.  I felt comfortable.  Yesterday I did a COVID test.  It was negative so tomorrow I’ll check out and finally be with my family.

Why did I go through this?  My older daughter needs my help.  A month ago, I made my reservations thinking I would be here before the birth of my granddaughter.  She was scheduled to be delivered via C-section on March 1 but for several reasons my daughter was sure she would come early.  We planned accordingly but she surprised us.  My daughter’s water broke at 34 weeks—6 weeks early.  Her daughter ended up in neonatal intensive care in respiratory distress.

This was so hard on my daughter.  After holding her newborn for a short time, she was whisked away and my daughter was taken to her room.  She had to wait hours until the numbness in her legs went away so she could transfer to a wheelchair to go to NICU to see her baby.  All she could do when she finally got there was stick her hand through the opening in the isolette and squeeze her baby's tiny hand.  Her daughter was connected to multiple wires and tubes.  The next day was difficult.  The staff decided to give the baby a surfactant to help her lungs function.  To do this they had to intubate her and connect her to a ventilator.  This required both a sedative and a paralytic.  This was too much for my daughter.  I heard lots of tear over the phone.

Luckily, the procedure worked and her lungs are fully functional.  Five days later she was removed from both the oxygen and the cpap machine.  She was able to start nursing and drink from a bottle.  A couple days later she was moved from the isolette to a bassinette because she was able to regulate her body temperature.  My little granddaughter, almost 2 weeks old, is gradually getting stronger and gaining weight.  The nurses say she is feisty.

My daughter is struggling through this.  It was painful for her to go home without her baby.  She and her husband have gone to the hospital every day, dropping their son off at his aunt’s house.  They are all tired, especially my daughter who is also trying to heal from surgery.

In the morning I will pack up and check out.  I am looking forward to being with my family—without masks.  I will help with cooking, cleaning, and entertaining my grandson.  Together we will wait for the homecoming of our precious new family member.