19
Addie hurried home from her duties at St. Catherine's each night to be with the baby boy. The first few days, she rationalized the newborn needed constant attention, but she soon came to realize it was she who had come to need the child. She ordered furniture to fill a nursery, and hired a seamstress to sew finely stitched gowns for him to wear. She spent long hours in the evening rocking him, studying his little feet with the ten perfect toes. Holding his hand in her fingers, amazed by the strength of his tiny grip. She'd bring him close to her face to feel his soft cheek against hers and inhale the sweet milky baby scent of him. The strains of the day would pass away and she'd find contentment in the warm bundle cradled in her arms. She'd close her eyes and imagine John Chapman at her side making the picture whole.
Professor Pittlekow had not had much time for anything other than doctoring that first week. The storm had taken many lives, especially those who'd been caught down by the lake during the St John's Eve ritual. More still had been seriously injured; every doctor in and around New Orleans had their hands full tending to the medical needs of the community. As a senior member of the teaching staff, the Professor bore an especially heavy burden. To be closer to the hospital he'd taken a room in the Doctor's Quarters adjacent to St. Catherine's.
His visits to his own house had been short, only long enough for a brief respite before he headed back to his duties. He hadn't been aware there was a baby in his home, until he came in late one night five days after the child had been born.
The house was dark except for a low light burning in a small bedroom off the back staircase. As far as he'd been aware no one occupied the room. The door was slightly ajar so he didn't hesitate to open it to see who was there.
He was rather astounded to see a black woman sitting in a rocking chair, with a baby to her bosom and another sleeping peacefully in a cradle on the floor. The startled woman jumped and the baby in her arms began to cry.
The Professor apologized, "I am sorry to disturb." He said.
The black woman adjusted the fretting baby and it was then he noticed the child at her breast was white. The fuzz of red on the infant's head identified the baby's mother. He wondered what the child was doing here, when he'd been informed it had been taken to the convent. The baby in the cradle started to cry as well, the professor moved forward and offered to take the child from the mother's arms so she could tend to her own.
After some hesitation the woman handed over the newborn. The Professor was surprised at the weight of the child. By his accounts this baby had been born at the very least five weeks early. Although the measurements he'd taken had alerted him to the fact this child was large for its dates. Premature infants often have very little body fat as well as decreased muscle strength, bulk, and tone. This little fellow was solidly built and already showed both muscle strength, and tone. He took the child over to a makeshift changing table and removed the flannel blanket covering him and began a careful exam. The amount of creasing on the soles of the baby's feet, the genital development, and other characteristics gave a fairly accurate measurement of the number of weeks of gestation, what he saw led him to believe this child had not been born early.
He then examined the infant's neuromuscular development testing how the baby held his arms and legs, and how far his knees extended. He took a hold of the little feet and stretched them to the child's ears. He moved on to the baby's arms and hands, testing his wrist, and elbow flexion. Every indication the doctor took into consideration spoke of a full term newborn. The black woman had settled her own baby back to sleep and now moved to the doctor's side ready to resume nursing her charge. The professor wrapped the baby back in his blanket and handed him to the woman.
She settled back in the rocking chair, "He nurses vell?" The Professor asked, knowing sucking was often a problem of premature infants.
"Oui, he is always hungry."
Professor offered a rare smile. "You are doing gute vork. If you need anything you let me know, I vill see to it you are taken care of."
"Oui Monsieur, merci."
Professor Pittlekow saw his daughter the following morning at the breakfast table. "I see ve have hausguest." He remarked as he helped himself to the scrambled eggs being served to him by Ferdie the kitchen helper.
Red crept up her neck but she fought it down, "I'd been meaning to talk with you Papa. Ve have both been so busy … it was difficult to find the time. About the child … I could not send the little boy to the convent. I am keeping him. I vill raise him."
He'd been a physician long enough to know how easy it was to feel personally accountable for a patient's welfare, especially when you'd developed a relationship with the patient. "Ja because you delivered der junge, you feel responsible. I have felt this too, it happens especially in case where Mutter is sick or unable to care for de child. But, you cannot keep der kinder, you are not married, you have a profession. The Sisters are better equipped und dey vill find gute home for him."
She raised her chin in determined defiance, "No Papa, I have given this complete consideration. I cannot believe the Sisters will give him better care than I can. Isabella is a competent nurse, and is glad for the work, she can be trusted with the baby when I am at the hospital or tending to patients."
He frowned and thoughtfully tugged at his beard, "I examined da boy, he vas not premature."
She raised and then slowly lowered a spoonful of eggs, "I know." Addie admitted
"Does Frau Russell know der junger was full term und not five veeks early."
She avoided a direct answer, and thus averted a verbal lie with a nod of her head, "She told me to take him to the sisters. She doesn't want him. She has made that perfectly clear."
His daughter was all he left of his family, it was not in his power to deny her something she was so set upon, especially when he knew she would never have children of her own. "Very well, but dis is difficult path you have chosen for yourself. It is not easy to raise kinder alone. Do not forget Adelheide, you have responsibilities to your patients who depend on your skills as surgeon."
She tilted her head and smiled, "You were both parent and physician."
"Ja, but vas not always easy, und when you very young you had your mama."
She reached out and touched his arm with her fingers, "Und dis baby will have a Grossvater to love and respect."