Thank goodness it only lasted a few months right?
Well for a medical mama, the newborn phase doesn't fade.
When I became a mom, I graduated in so many other fields in a matter of days, some with crash courses, some without.
I have learned and do her trach care every single day, which consists in removing her trach ties, while her dad or nurse still holds the cannula in place, so I can clean around the stoma and her neck, dry it, apply ointment if necessary and replace the trach ties and make sure it is secure. I have to suction her trach, and once a week, her dad removes her cannula out of her throat and I insert a new one. I clean the one I removed and place it back in her emergency bag.
A nurse: I administer medication and food using serynges, through a g-tube, check her temperature several times a day, clean and care for her g-tube, replace it when necessary, check any symptoms she has. Clean her extensions, serynges, nubulizers... I cath her several times a day, check her fontanelle, her stomach. I have learned medical terms I had never heard of before, I know about way too many types of surgeries and conditions.
An occupational and physical therapist: She has an OT that comes every Friday and she teaches me what to work on during the week to help Melody hold her head better, gain core strength, use her hands, bear weight...
A hearing therapist: Melody's hearing therapist comes once a week also, work on sounds, what can she hear and not. We sing her songs, teach her basic things like lifting her hands up when we ask her too, we learn sign language, how to clean her ears and hearing aids.
A feeding therapist: I have learned some massages of her lips, cheeks, tricks to have her tongue move in a specific way.
A technician: With the quantity of equipment I have at the house, I have learned how to change the tubings that connects her to the ventilator, replace parts, recognize different alarms and do what's necessary to have them stop, and even repair broken equipment with medical tape until the company can deliver something new.
An assistant: I spend countless hours on the phone, waiting, writing down, screaming, explaining, repeating, about broken equipment, insurance, new orders, scheduling appointments, follow ups, medication deliveries, new equipment deliveries, supplies deliveries,... I am sure I am forgetting a lot here. Oh and then, the hospital's automatic stuff calls me to answer surveys after each appointment... No thank you.
I used to be a wife and Customer Service Representative. I quit the latter but am still currently hired as a wife, (I joke by saying hired of course, though sometimes at that rythm I wonder if my contract will be terminated), so I still cook, clean, do the laundry, ironing, get the groceries, some gardening and decorating our new home (when finances allows), feed the pets, clean their cage, pick up the dog's poop in the yard, mow the lawn, weed...
I work all those jobs every day. I don't get paid. I don't get vacation, or time off. My breaks consist of a quick shower that has been scheduled with my husband or the nurse if I have one. This is the most tiring job I have ever had, and still, I do it everyday to the best I can because SHE is WORTH IT.
In all that chaos,though, I have met and gotten in contact with fantastic other medical mamas, who support, help, and advise me. They are always here when I need them, because like me, they care for their kids the best they can. And they get it. They know the feelings, the hardships, and the rewards.
