Nursing You Back To Health: Body And Mind

(I am a mum to a little girl, aged three, and a newborn daughter who is in the NICU for two weeks after birth. My three-year-old develops tonsillitis just days after we come home and is very ill, but then a week later also develops chickenpox from several children at the nursery. My husband has been deployed in the army during the whole past six months, meaning he missed our daughter’s birth and I am struggling on my own. This is the final straw, and after taking both my girls to the hospital I am told to sit in the paediatric waiting room, even though my daughter is screaming in pain and is clearly very unwell. I ring my husband in tears. He tells me to calm down and demand to at least see a nurse, as she is only three years old and I have a newborn, as well. At that moment, my baby’s NICU nurse enters for her shift and sees me.)

Nurse: “[My Name]! Are you all right? What’s wrong?”

(Sobbing, I explain that my toddler was diagnosed with tonsillitis last week and now has symptoms of chickenpox, as well. All the while, I am holding my newborn as far away from my toddler as I can.)

Nurse: “Give [Newborn] to me. I’ll take her to NICU; she’ll need to be looked after by someone, anyway, because you have [Toddler], as well, and there’s a chance she could be infected as she is still very small. Can you just come with us up to the desk to give consent of care? Then you’ll be sorted.”

(I trust this nurse, so I give my baby to her. Five minutes later, our name is called and it is confirmed that my toddler has both illnesses and will need to be taken into paediatric care to be treated as soon as possible, as her veins have collapsed. I spend a few hours with her until she is asleep and then go to see my newborn in NICU.)

Nurse: “We ran some tests on her, [My Name], and she should be fine, but we want to keep her under observation for a couple of weeks to confirm she doesn’t have them, too. How’s [Toddler]?”

(Two days later, my husband returned home for a month on compassionate leave. Our toddler recovered quickly and our baby didn’t get ill. I want to thank that nurse who saved my sanity and made sure we were well looked after for the two weeks we spent running between our children! She is now a good family friend and I am forever grateful that she arrived at that moment.)