Bringing up Baby

It was Monday, October 31st. Mei Li was exactly 2 months old. Where did the time go? She cherished every minute of it, enjoyed it to its fullest, from her first fever to her first smile, from midnight feedings to daytime naps and all the diaper changes in between. Yet somehow, it was hard to believe it was time to go back to work.

For her first day in daycare, Jing Mei chose a cute little red dress that had a ruffled hem. She put little white tights that had black polka dots on her tiny little legs. She brushed her downy black tufts of hair with a soft baby brush and slipped on a head band that matched the dress. A pair of precious red booties completed the look.

She packed her diaper bag with a couple of outfits in case she needed a change, plenty of diapers, her binky, and last, but certainly not least, she got the bottles of breast milk she'd stored up out of the refrigerator and put them in the bag.

Her bag, with everything any new breast feeding mother could possibly need, was already packed and ready to go. She put both bags in the back of the stroller. She got the sweet little jacket with the pandas on it and put it on Mei Li. Placing her in the stroller, she leaned over just inches from her daughter's face and playfully touched her nose asking "who's the prettiest little princess of all?"

She stood up and took a deep breath. She wasn't sure she was ready for this day. What made it doable is that the daycare was across the street from the hospital. She would be able to go see her daughter during her breaks. She'd be able to feed her and hold her during the day, lessening the span of time they'd be apart.

So out the door they went. Jing Mei pushed the stroller down the hall to elevator. Down the elevator to the lobby and out to the street to make the six block walk to Mei Li's day care center. The air outside was a bit brisk. She got out a receiving blanket and put it over the stroller to protect her daughter from the cool wind.

Dropping her daughter off at the daycare came with over 10 minutes of instruction and advice. It's not that they really needed it, they took care of many babies, but this was the first time they were taking care of her baby. The people were warm, loving and understanding. She guessed every first time mom did the same thing. She gave her daughter a tender embrace and kissed her goodbye. Unable to compose herself, she just let the tears fall as she left to walk across the street to the hospital.

Walking into the hospital, she was cheerfully greeted by the doctors, nurses and other medical staff she worked with who were glad to see her back. She headed into the lounge and opened her locker. She reached into her bag and got out the pictures she brought complete with magnetic frames. She put a few of her most favorite on the outside of her locker and the rest went on the inside. She slipped into her white doctor's coat and reached for her stethoscope. She pensively studied it for a moment before positioning it around her neck. Closing the door, it was time for her to be a doctor.

Her first stop was with the hospital manager to begin laying out her plan for the hospital to better meet the emergency medical needs of the community they serve. The first step was changing how the staff was structured. Emergency medicine needed to be recognized as a special skill set apart from other types of medical services. They would have to work together to identify the doctors and nurses who would become part of the new emergency department.

They would start by introducing small changes, small improvements to techniques and practices currently used by the medical staff. Grumblers would remain with the general staff. Eager adopters would be selected for the emergency department. She would build her department with the people willing to give their 100% best effort to save a life, any and all lives that came through their doors.

Knowing she had a purpose, a goal, to make emergency medicine effective and responsive in a timely, life saving manner, helped her stay focused on the medicine until her shift was over. She was just that much closer to her achieving her end: that no other family be ripped apart by a preventable death, a senseless tragedy that had struck hers.

Though she spent her lunch period at the day care center feeding her daughter, holding her in her arms, it seemed like entirely too long before her shift was over and she could take her daughter home to love on her to her heart's content, but the hour did arrive.

Half way home, she stopped in the grocery store. Mostly it was to break up the six block walk in the cool fall evening, but she also wanted to let the workers see her new daughter. She had become friendly with some of them so it was a chance for some strictly social chat. She picked up a few things for dinner and then they were back on their way home.

Arriving at home, she took off her coat and got her daughter out of the stroller. She put her in the bouncy seat on the kitchen table and made herself a little dinner. Over dinner, she told her daughter all about her day and all she hoped to accomplish at the hospital. It wasn't that she expected Mei Li to understand the content of the conversation, but the tone and manner in which she was speaking and interacting with her, would let her daughter know that she engaging her in a fun activity.

After dinner, she took her daughter into the living room and clicked on the TV. She surfed through the channels, stopping at a nighttime soap. Her daughter on her lap, they watched. She explained things to her in "the baby voice" as the show went along. After it was over, she gave her a bath and put her in a little onsie for the night. She wrapped her in a blanket and sat down in the rocker. With Mei Li nestled in her arms, she nursed her to sleep.

Baby asleep, she turned her attention back to work. She made further refinements to her training plan and wrote down some notes as to doctors and nurses she felt would make excellent candidates for the emergency department.

And so a new routine was established. It may seem mundane to some, but for Jing Mei, it was life, more abundant and complete then she had ever known it to be.