Steven Alexander Preston, born 28 June 2012 - 6 weeks early.
It's as I sit here in Netcare's Sunninghill Hospital waiting for my precious son to get better that I reflect on the past four or five days (it's blurry) and what they've presented to us.
So as had become ritual, Mouse woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. It was when the light of the bathroom went on that I knew there was a problem. With no bags packed we pulled on some clothes over our jamies and headed for the hospital at 02h30 am. I was shivering. Perhaps from the cold outside, but probably because of nerves.
As we arrived at the hospital, I put Mouse into a wheelchair and started running for the maternity ward.We'd been taken on a tour of the ward during one of our ante-natal classes a few weeks earlier, so finding it was no hassle.
Immediately Bernice was asked if she had 'placenta previa' (which was the case) and a foetal monitor was strapped to her... A heart beat. Thank god. We're feeling better already. Stuart - the doctor is called and he gives his orders. Bernice is given medication and admitted for the night and at about 03h30 I get sent home.
Bernice and I agree that she'll only message me unless there's a crises in which case she'll phone - she's such an angel.
A few hours later I wake up again and head for the office. Routine stuff. Mouse is doing fine. Stuart decides to do the scan which Bernice was scheduled to attend later that morning anyway. Initially this was not a scan I was going to go to, but given the circumstances I decided to go.
Baby is fine. He doesn't have a name yet, but he's fine and well, weighing an estimated 2.7kgs. Stuart decides to inject Bernice with steroids that will get Boys lungs growing really fast. 24-48 hours. He keeps her in hospital overnight.
Thursday morning I SMS Bernice to say morning and hope not to wake her. She's already awake - par for the course in hospital - and replies saying she's slept well and is feeling much better. So with a light heart I preceed to get ready for work. I'm just about dressed when my phone rings. It's Bernice saying "it's started again". Oh fuck - I'm feeling nauseous. I'm now moving fast! Change of car this time. I need to get to Sunninghill fast! Oh fuck - again. It's peak hour traffic. Hazard lights on, window down and im talking to the traffic with my hands.
I arrive to find mouse ok. Not on the phoetal monitor though. I'm stressed about this and so the sister - who ends up being do good to us - gets shat on, Steve Style. Back on the monitor again and boy is doing ok, but word from
Stuart, who is now also on his way to the hospital, is that this boy needs to be taken out.
This part goes pretty quick. We're anxious. I don't have my camera. We haven't got any stuff packed in a bag. Oh yeah, and Boy doesn't have a name!
Stuart arrives and tells us that there are no available beds in the Neonatal ICU. We'll need a spot in case Boy has difficulty breathing. The sisters have started calling Fourways Life and Waterfall to see if they have space for us, but Stuart is fighting. He doesn't want Bernice to have any more on her plate than she already does.
I phone mom (gran) and ask her to head to our house and fill a bag with baby things. She's a bit worried too at this point. Everyone is.
In no time at all Bernice is wheeled into the theatre 'holding bay'. A bit like waiting for the plane in front to take off before you move on to the runway. At this point I'm busy donning theatre attire. We're both smiling, but we're anxious. While we wait we try and decide on a name from the list of favorites. Alexander Steven or Steven Alexander?
Prestons cleared for take off. Bernice is wheeled into theatre where the anesthetist begins with the spinal. Mom and dad are familiar with how this procedure works. Another one of the lessons that Elaine taught us in the antenatal classes.
Stuart, the pushing doctor and Christa - the Pead walk into theatre. This is a lot like Greys Anatomy. It's theatre in theatre. Surgeons chatting to us and each other like its a social. Bernice is being shaken. It looks like she's on a turbulent flight and then boy is with us. Time of birth 10h00. He takes one look at the Pead and starts screaming. This is Steven. He's gonna be a difficult bugger. Just like his dad I guess. Stevie is cleaned a bit and them given to mom, but only for a few seconds before he is taken to NICU.
**Boy this is re part that I want you to be sure to read before you ever consider lighting a sneaky cigarette with your buddies.**
Stuart closes what is in fact a very small cut and this plane is airborne. We're on our way back to the maternity ward.
Bernice is overwhelmed, perhaps in a little shock. Our 'plan' involved boy being in moms arms at this point. Not so easy.
Lesson 1 in being a parent: Do not try and plan. The little ones are not interested. They have their own plans.
We arrive at the room where Granny, Grandad and Kelly are waiting for us. Grandad and I go into NICU and I get to see this precious child fo mine lying in bed 1. He's perfect. No surprises there though. Look at mom and dad :-). At this point he's on oxygen through a mask and they're monitoring his blood pressure. He's going to be fine. This is Steve after all.
Not too much later Dr. Christa Swanepoel walks in and tells us that he's not taking in enough oxygen on his own and that they are going to intubate him and put him on a ventilator. At this point I'm thinking that this is not great, but let them do what they need to and I'll visit in about 30 mins.
After waiting for a while I walk into the NICU and very promptly get turned around because they're working on Boy. The look on Christa's face (a woman I've only just met) tells me there's trouble. Bernice and I - still pretty oblivious to what's really going on wait patiently. Anxiously. Christa eventually returns to our room. She's a little frantic / perhaps emotional, but she's stern. She explains that when she intubated Steve and they started ventilation, his lungs started bleeding. They suctioned as much blood as what they could, but he's not totally stable at this point. They're giving him (what I now suspect was) Surfactant at R 12 000 per vial. They've given him two so far. Christa explains that while this is in her words 'not ideal', she's still got one trick up her sleeve. The oscillator. In a worst case as her final ace, she's got nitrogen gas.
Another while later Christa is back. The news is no better. She's moved my little guy onto the oscillator. She's visably concerned. She explains that the situation is now critical. I go and see him again to have a little heart to heart. Arriving in NICU and seeing buddy lying there with all these pipes and tubes and drips and feeding tubes remains one of the most saddening things that I ever have or ever hope to see.
At this point Bernice is still not quite able to get up. The situation is - well it's a fuck up - to put it mildly. Bernice is strong though. She's unreal.
The waiting continues. Every hour they draw more blood and put it into their blood gas machine which prints out results 3 minutes later. They're not pricking him. They've got a pipe (one of a few) going into his umbilical cord with tiny taps at the end. Traumatic. Very traumatic.
Later in the evening Karen Chapman comes for a visit. Just what Mouse needs some up beat humour from a friend. Karen hasn't left when Christa walks in and gently tells us that Stevie is on nitrogen. She's now done what she can and it's up to Boy. It's touch and go. She also requests that I get to the pathologists and blood bank tomorrow so that we can check if my blood matches Boy's they're going to need it.
Seeing this on TV is a little frightening. Experiencing this in real life when it's your little Tiger is shattering. At this point Bernice decides she's getting up and getting to our son. He needs her. She's so strong. She manages to see him for a few minutes before she feels too worn.
22h30 I leave Bernice to get some sleep and go home. I'll be calling into the NICU every 2 hours, and I know that this is going to be a long night.
Saturations, Oxygen, Haemoglobin, Delta , BP (blood pressure). These are the stats we're looking out for. I call into NICU throughout the night. He's stable, but certainly not better!
Friday sees some mild improvements. Bernice is a bit down and in pain - both completely understandable. Christa is still very concerned. She sends me to the lab to have my blood tested. It's O Positive. A perfect match with Stevie's. He really is Dad's boy. Christa explains that by Sunday / Monday his haemoglobin levels are going to drop radically because at this age he cant produce blood as fast as they are draeing it.
I shoot off to the blood bank in Northgate immediately. They take 4 pints. It's hard to beleive that they need this much, but whatever it takes!
I'm back at Sunninghill again. Stevie is on the up. It's not amazing, but it's up. Sr Kumari (ward manager for NICU) is amazing. Between her and Christa, they've done an amazing job. They continue to get boy's stats up. He's doing well. Worry - Christa is going on leave for a week. Kumari is on leave for the weekend. After last night i can understand how these doctors need leave. They're up all night too.
Saturday has arrived and the new staff and Pead are here. Dr Pillay shares a practice with Christa. I like her! Sr. Adrian (Adie), the Sister looking after Stevie for the weekend gives me a book to read. It's all about preemie babies and what to expect from the early days in NICU right through their development. I'm starting to understand that patience is a pre-requisite. On average preemie babies tend to spend as much time in the NICU as what they would have spent in the womb until term. So it looks liek we've got six wekes to go before boy can come home and play with all his teddies.
Adie seems to be doing a great job looking after Stevie. He is given 5 ml's of mom's colostrum through a feeding tube and he's absorbing. This carries on every four hours. I'm happy. Oxygen levels are being turned down on the oscilator and so are the nitrogen levels. Adie also weans him of the paralysis drugs that have been keeping him still through this breathing episode. Good news!
