The Bub in the Belly

Nope, not me!

After dim sum breakfast at Thomson this morning, we went to Mount Alvernia Hospital to visit a friend who had just delivered a baby. This is her second child. We didn't get to see the baby however. He had been sent to NICU as he has a lung infection (Strep B). Thankfully, he is responding to treatment and should be discharged after about a week. Luckily, the lung infection was caught early (only a few hours after his birth, his lungs were already 55% shut down) and that therefore treatment could be administered straightaway. If they had gone home before the infection set in, it would have been dangerous as the infection can spread to the blood and then to the brain. His mother, our friend, was herself having a problem because her uterus didn't contract and she was bleeding quite a lot as a result. Her situation is better now and, with some treatment and the onset of breastfeeding, this should resolve soon.

These unexpected medical upsets always make me so so so thankful and grateful that things went smoothly for us. It is so easy for me to take things for granted when they go according to plan. The plan here being: carry the baby to term, deliver him and recover. As things happened according to plan for me, I don't think about it, precisely because it happened as it should. But there are really so many ways that issues and complications can arise, unexpected or otherwise and things don't always happen "as they should". I assume that my body works and will work. And it does work. Still, as demonstrated by incidents like these, this is not something that I should be taking for granted.

Anyway, this post is not about me giving thanks for my smooth delivery (which I do, of course but that's a separate matter). It's about giving thanks for a new baby! It is always such wonderful news to hear.

While we were at the hospital, we went to peek at the newborn babies in the nursery. I marvelled at their small heads, their tiny hands and feet covered in teeny weeny mittens and booties - so hard to believe I held one in my arms in January! I do miss those days.

The strange thing is that this baby and Ryan will be starting school in the same year, despite being almost 11 months apart. Ryan is a Jan 2009 baby and he is a Dec 2009 baby, so they will be treated simply as being born in 2009. It sounds crazy now, as Ryan is already cruising on his feet whereas this baby is barely a day old. Just goes to show - they grow up too quickly!