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‘Not that tiny for a thirty-four weeker,’ Julie, the paediatrician, took the baby away for a quick examination and Luca prowled over to her side, watching every move she made.
‘Are her lungs all right?’
His dark gaze was acute as he gazed down at his daughter, waiting impatiently while the paediatrician examined her.
‘Everything seems fine at the moment,’ Julie assured him, wrapping the baby carefully in warm blankets. ‘Obviously we’ll need to watch her carefully and see how she copes.’
‘I’ve found the problem,’ Dan said as he delivered the placenta. ‘A small section had started to peel away. It’s a good job we operated or this could have caused us a major problem later.’
Luca strode over to Dan’s side and the two men spoke softly together as they looked at the placenta.
Finally Luca turned and returned to his seat by Tia’s side, his eyes strained. ‘You are feeling all right, cara?’
Tia nodded, exhausted but relieved that it was all over. ‘Now what happens?’
‘You go into the recovery room and get to know Lily, and after a bit we’ll take you to the ward,’ Polly told her, finishing off the swab count with Dan.
Tia lay there, gazing at her daughter, oblivious to the action still going on around her.
Finally they finished and she was wheeled through to the recovery room.
‘We need to give her something to eat,’ Polly said, gathering the charts together. ‘Are you going to breastfeed her, Tia?’
Tia nodded. ‘I want to.’
‘OK, well, let’s see if we can get her to latch on.’ Polly positioned herself by the side of the trolley and together they tried to persuade Lily to feed. ‘Your milk might not come in for a few days, but I don’t need to tell you how good for her the colostrum is.’
Despite both their efforts, they had no success.
‘She’s not doing it.’ Tia’s voice was choked and Luca gave a frown.
‘Give her a chance, Tia,’ he said gently. ‘She’s tiny, cara mia. It takes a while to get the hang of it and she is only just thirty-four weeks. Her suck reflex may not have developed fully yet.’
They carried on trying and then Polly tested the baby’s blood sugar. ‘It’s very low, Tia,’ she said quietly. ‘We really do need to get something into her. Can I give her a bottle for now?’
Tia nodded reluctantly, disappointed that she hadn’t managed to breastfeed her daughter straight away but understanding that the important thing was that the baby had a feed of some kind because she was so tiny.
But Lily wouldn’t take the bottle either and there was something else that was disturbing Luca.
‘She’s grunting,’ he muttered, glancing across at Polly who nodded agreement.
Tia’s heart fluttered in her chest. She knew that grunting was often the first sign of respiratory distress.
‘But I thought her lungs were all right.’ She turned to Luca, visibly upset, and he gave her shoulder a squeeze.
‘She doesn’t seem to be as well as we first thought,’ he admitted, his voice rough with tension. ‘She obviously hasn’t developed her suck reflex yet and she’s going to need some help with her breathing. She needs to go to Special Care for the time being, Tia.’ He strode across to the phone and spoke to the paediatricians.
Tia looked at Polly with horror. ‘But I don’t want her to go to Special Care. I want her to stay here with me.’
Polly’s eyes were sympathetic. ‘I know that, Tia, but she needs some help. As soon as they’ve settled her you can go and visit her. We’ll push you in the wheelchair.’
‘Will you stay with her?’ Tia turned to Luca, upset that she couldn’t keep Lily with her.
‘Of course.’ Luca bent down and kissed her forehead. ‘Don’t worry.’
He scooped their daughter up gently and laid her carefully on his shoulder. ‘I’ll take her up myself, Polly. You stay with Tia.’
Polly frowned. ‘I ought to ask them to bring down an incubator.’
