My First Parenting Lesson
I carried my bundled baby into the pediatrician's office that bitter January morning, at the telephone advice of the lactation consultant. Dr. L took one look at my 10 day old baby and blurted out, "She's blue. Either she's a cardiac baby or she has RSV." He gently took her from my arms and began to listen to her he art and lungs. I knew something was wrong. 2 days earlier, I had taken her to my family doctor because she had a stuffy nose. He passed it off as normal newborn stuffiness. Nothing to worry about. Not only was I a new and inexperienced mother, I was still a fairly new nurse. I graduated from nursing school only 2 years earlier and got a job on the maternity unit at our local hospital. I worked with newborn babies, but I didn't work with sick babies. I trusted his judgement. The next night she wouldn't wake up to eat. I was getting worried. We stripped her down to a diaper and rubbed wet wash cloths all over her tiny body but she still would...
