Well, actually Miles has a tooth. His first! He was so so fussy the past couple of days I should have suspected he was teething, but since he had a cold earlier in the week I just figured that was the problem. I didn't realize a tooth had popped up until today when he started gumming on my arm. Once again I was ridiculously thrilled and proud of this discovery as if Miles had some control over the fact that his tooth had grown in. He's just brilliant, isn't he?! If I can get Miles to keep his mouth opened wide and hold still long enough I will try to get a photo of it to post (as if you all have never seen a baby's tooth before. Still, it is MY baby's tooth!).
Thankfully everyone is now well again in the Onofrio nest. Miles only woke up once last night so I am hoping that with the tooth finally through the gum and his cold basically gone we will be back to the usual schedule and we all can get some sleep. I have always been a light sleeper and a paranoid mother and so with Miles being sick I really didn't rest well. When giving very careful instructions to Benjamin before I went to work Monday night about how he was to care for sick Miles, he asked me, "Don't you think you're being a little melodramatic about all this?" or something along those lines. However, later that night I took care of a six month old previously totally healthy baby boy that we intubated (put a breathing tube in) and hooked up to a ventilator shortly after I started my shift. The baby had been admitted to the hospital just earlier that afternoon after having "cold-like" symptoms for a few days. See, you would be paranoid to if you saw what I see at work--kids are not adults! They can get really sick really quickly!
Something else I have been thinking about a lot lately as a result of my work is how lucky I am to have been born as the child of my good parents. The same baby I took care of the other night had an extremely worthless mother. I can't say too much because of HIPAA, but I will just tell you that she was a teenager, couldn't identify the baby's father, and spent the majority of the night chatting with her boyfriend on the phone instead of showing any remote concern for her child except for when the drama would result in her getting attention. Through the night I kept looking at this sick little baby the exact same age as Miles and wishing I could just take him home with me and make him Miles' brother because I knew his life was going to be pretty sad as a result of his mother's bad choices. This is definitely not the first time I have felt this way at work. In fact, the social aspects of my job are usually much more emotionally difficult than the fact that the children are ill. Anyway, when I take care of kids like this, I always wonder how did I get the amazing parents I have? Why did I end up with them instead of some deadbeat or neglectful or abusive parent? For that matter, how did I get to be born in a free and generally peaceful country and never have to know war or poverty or hunger? Anyway, thinking about that stuff too long with just make your head spin. All I can say is when I die, if I make it to Heaven, I am definitely going to ask the Lord how all that works as far as which spirits are born where.
Oh goody! What a fun surprise to have a tooth! Pictures please :-)
ReplyDeleteI remember trying to take a picture of Lucy's first tooth, it was comical. Also-I have had those same thoughts. When we took the hospital tour when I was pregnant, I looked at the other parents and most were normal but this one couple was covered in tatoos and rock t-shirts. I shouldn't have judged but I couldn't help but think of the difference between Lucy and this child's upbringing. But hey, they were taking the hospital tour so that was encouraging. :)
ReplyDeleteOh-and I got a lamaze/childbirth DVD. We'll see how it goes. :)