Joy Cometh in the Morning

AN: I’m a little afraid to post anymore of this story. Wow, I didn’t think the last chapter was that controversial. For those who have asked, Sophie’s behavior was very normal for a young toddler with a new sibling. I won’t even begin to discuss the issues of breastfeeding & discipline again (see the responses to the last chapter). I was just trying to portray normal childhood behavior & how parents might cope with those behaviors. I would encourage you to visit the American Academy of Pediatrics website (www.AAP.org) for more information. They also have wonderful books on childhood illness, normal care & development (Caring For Your Baby and Young Child: Birth to Age 5; as well as interval ages after), breastfeeding (New Mother’s Guide to Breastfeeding) & newborn care (Heading Home With Your Newborn: From Birth to Reality)

For those who don’t believe in research & studies, all I have to say is…I would not want to go back in time to an era without our current medical knowledge. A baby such as Sophie would most likely have died 15 years ago. In fact, President Kennedy’s son died of Respiratory Distress Syndrome (immature lungs) during his presidency. His son was only mildly premature (34 weeks gestation/6 weeks early), but we didn’t have the medical technology and ventilator support that we have now. It would be unheard of for an infant of that gestation to die of prematurity in this day and age.

As an aside, when an infant is born prematurely, we correct backwards for growth and development for how ever many weeks that infant is premature. If a baby was born 10-12 weeks early, then you expect them to act like a 9 month old when they are a year of age. We continue ‘to correct’ their growth curves for 2-3 years, until they exhibit full 'catch-up' growth. From a developmental standpoint, you might notice younger behaviors & skills well into school age. As for the language skills of a 37 month old (who corrects to 34 months), they would be expected to speak in 4-5 word sentences and would mispronounce words and letter combinations. Even at the age of 4 & 5 years, some letter combinations & words are difficult to enunciate properly. I actually gave Sophie a bigger vocabulary & greater language skills than many 3 year olds would possess.



Part 15

22:10
Saturday, May 20th, 2006
Bethesda Naval Hospital
NICU

Harm and AJ entered the NICU and scrubbed before proceeding to Sophie’s beside. Harm introduced AJ to Val, Sophie’s nurse that night. “Hi, Val…this is Admiral Chegwidden, he’s Sophie’s grandfather.

Val smiled in greeting, “Of course, he’s the other grandparent listed on Sophie’s visiting log. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sir. I assume by the last name that you’re Colonel Rabb’s father?”
AJ smiled back, “No, I’m an adopted Grandpa and proud to serve.”

Harm explained, “Mac’s parents aren’t around, the Admiral’s a good friend and like a father to both of us. We asked him to be Sophie’s other grandfather along with my Step Dad Frank Burnett.” Harm walked closer to the bed, “How’s Sophie doing tonight?”

Val adjusted the IV rate, “She hanging in there. She’s down to 40% oxygen and we’ve weaned several other ventilator settings…if she keeps making progress, we’ll probably be able to switch her back to a regular ventilator tomorrow.”

Harm beamed, “That’s great…will we be able to hold her then?” He gently stroked the baby’s arm before lifting up her hand to place a kiss on the palm.

Val smiled back, “Maybe…it just depends on how she tolerates the handling.”

Harm stepped back from the bed disappointed, “Oh, I see…I don’t want to hurt her.”

Val hurried to explain, “Oh no, Sir…what you were doing is fine. What I meant was that picking her up and moving her may be hard…especially with all the lines and tubes.”

AJ moved forward and placed his hand on Harm’s shoulder, “Well, Son…are you going to give me a formal introduction to my granddaughter.”

Harm beamed with pride, “Grandpa AJ, I’d like to introduce your granddaughter, Sophia Elizabeth Rabb…and Princess, this is your grandfather, Grandpa AJ.”

AJ chuckled and extending a finger, asked, “Is it OK if I touch her?”

Val grinned, “Of course, Sir.”

AJ stroked Sophie’s head, “Hey little one, we’re going to have some fun together…you and I are going to drive your parents crazy.” He glanced back toward Harm and continued to talk to Sophie, “It’s payback time.”

Harm’s eyes widened, “Oh Sir, I don’t think she’s going to need any encouragement. I have a feeling she’s going to be a force to be reckoned with,” he grinned mischievously, “…after all she takes after her mother.”

AJ shook his head, “Her mother, huh? I was thinking her father was the one more likely to find trouble.”

Harm shook his head, “Nah uh, I delivered as promised…my looks…her brains. She’s her mother’s daughter.”
AJ chuckled, “What’s this promise?”

Harm blushed, “Ah…never mind, Sir.”

AJ sighed, “Harm, it’s AJ…I’m not your CO anymore.” He turned back to touch Sophie, “I’m just her Grandpa, now.”

Harm smiled with contentment, “Yes, Sir…I mean Grandpa AJ.”

At that moment, Sophie’s monitor began to alarm. Harm looked up frightened, “What’s going on?”

Val moved closer to the bed to tend to Sophie, “Ah, her oxygen saturations are drifting down.” Val turned up the oxygen on the ventilator.

Harm paced closer, “Shouldn’t you do something?”

Val turned the oxygen up to 100% and called through the intercom, “Could you send Dr. Williams into Baby Girl Rabb’s bedside, please.”

The intercom squawked to life, “I’m sorry Val, but Dr. Williams is down the hall.”

Val yelled back as she grabbed the ambu to begin bagging Sophie, “Page her…I need her right away!”

Harm panicked, “What’s going on…is Sophie going to be OK?”

The charge nurse ran into the room to help. She pushed past Harm, “Sir, maybe it would be better if you waited in the family conference room.”

Harm bit back, “I’m not leaving until I know my daughter’s OK. What’s taking the doctor so long?”

At that moment, Dr. Williams entered the room, “What’s the problem, Val?”

Val shook her head, “I’m not sure…she just dropped her sats. I turned her up to 100%, but her sats won’t come up, so I started bagging her.” As the nurse spoke, Sophie’s monitor began to alarm for a falling heart rate.

Harm backed up and slid down the wall, dropping his head into his hands, “Oh no, not again…this is just like last night. I thought she was doing better, “ his voice cracked as tears streamed down his face.

AJ bent down and placed an arm around his shoulders, “Harm, why don’t we wait outside.” Harm shook his head. AJ pulled him up from the floor, “Come on, Son. We need to give them room to work on Sophie. We don’t want to get in the way.”

Dr. Williams nodded toward the door, “Captain, why don’t you wait in the family conference room…I’ll come talk to you as soon as I can.”

As he was pulled from the room, Harm heard Val say, “Doctor her heart rate is 50; I’m starting compressions…Stacy get a code cart in here; we’re going to need epinephrine.”

Harm only moved under the strength of AJ, into the family conference room. He looked around the dimly lit room, a sense of déjB vu overtaking him once again. He collapsed into the closest chair and dropped his head into his hands. “She can’t die now. She was doing so well.” He looked up in shock, “Mac hasn’t even gotten to see her yet. We’ve never gotten to hold her.”

AJ sat down next to the broken man and pulled him into an embrace. “Hey, now don’t you give up on my granddaughter…she’s a fighter. We don’t even know what’s wrong yet. The doctor said she’d been in soon.”

Harm scrubbed his hand over his face, “I don’t know if I can take months of this. It’s only been 24 hours and it already feels like a never ending roller coaster ride.” He looked up at AJ, “She just has to be OK.”

AJ rubbed a hand over his back, “She will be, Harm…she’s got that Rabb-MacKenzie spirit and tenacity…she’s going to be just fine.”

Ten minutes later, Dr. Williams appeared with a smile on her face. “Captain, Sophie’s fine…she just plugged off her breathing tube. Once we replaced it, she pinked right up.”

Harm looked up stunned, “But her heart rate was low and you were coding her.”

Dr. Williams shook her head, “We didn’t have too. I pulled out the plugged tube and replaced it. Her heart rate came right back up. Her oxygen level on the ventilator is already back down to 40%.”

Harm continued to stare wide-eyed, “So she’s going to be OK?”

Dr. Williams nodded, “Yeah, she doing fine. When the babies’ lungs start to improve, they mobilize secretions…sometimes the secretions can plug off the tube.” She looked into the teary and exhausted eyes of the distraught father and knelt down in front him. Touching his arm, she comforted, “Sir, Sophie’s OK, trust me. Why don’t you go give her a goodnight kiss and go home and get some sleep. You’ve been through as much as she has in the last 24 hours. You’re not going to do her or your wife any good if you collapse from exhaustion.”

Harm nodded with tears in eyes, “I will…thank you.”

The doctor gave him one final pat and a wink, “It’s my pleasure…that’s what I’m here for. Now, I hope this gentleman next to you is going to give you a ride home…I don’t want Sophie’s Daddy to get in an accident.”

Harm nodded, “This is Sophie’s grandfather…Admiral Chegwidden.”

The doctor immediately stood up straight, “I’m sorry, Sir…I didn’t realize.”

AJ chuckled, “I’m retired…Now, I’m just Sophie’s Grandpa.”

The doctor tipped her head, “Pleased to meet you, Sir. I trust you’ll both have a safe trip home, Sirs.”

Harm and AJ briefly stopped by Sophie’s bedside to make sure she was indeed OK. They both gave her kisses and uttered whispers of ‘I love you…goodnight…see you in the morning.’

As they left the NICU, Harm turned to AJ, “Would you mind if I stopped by the chapel for a moment?”

AJ grabbed his shoulder, “I think that would be a good idea. Come on, we can both say a prayer.”

***

22:55
Saturday, May 20th, 2006
Bethesda Naval Hospital
Chapel

Harm settled into a back pew, while AJ hung by the door to offer silent support. As Harm began to pray, the elderly Chaplain from the previous evening once again approached. Harm looked up and smiled, “It’s good to see you, Sir.”

“Same here, Son. How is your family doing?”

“My wife’s much better. She’s awake and back on the regular floor…she should be able to go home in about a week.” He paused and responded with a bit more introspection, “My daughter’s still critical.” He paused again to blink back tears, “She has good moments and bad…she gave me quite a scare tonight.” He wiped his hand over his face, “I’m afraid we’re in for a long haul with her.”

The elderly gentleman laid a hand on his shoulder, “But that means she’s still alive, Son. I’ll continue to pray for both of them.” He looked toward the door, “Now, it looks like someone is here to give you a ride home. Why don’t you get some rest and I’ll pray for strength for you as well.”

Harm stood and nodded back, “Thank you, Sir. We’ll take all the help and prayers we can get.” He shook the Chaplain’s hand and turned to leave.

***

Throughout the car ride home, Harm sat quietly with his eyes closed. As AJ pulled into the drive, he reached out to shake his arm, “We’re home, Harm. Time to wake up.”

Harm opened his eyes and quietly responded back, “I wasn’t asleep. Thanks for the ride, AJ.” He started to get of the car, but then turned back, “My car…it’s still at Bethesda. I’m going to need it to get back to the hospital in the morning.”

AJ shook his head, “Don’t worry about it…I’ll come get you at 10:00. Get some sleep, if something happens tonight…just call me, I’ll come pick you up sooner.”

“But Sir, I wanted to be at the hospital early in the morning.”

AJ frowned, “Harm, it’s almost 01:00… you need to get a goodnight’s sleep just like the doctor said. I’ll pick you up at 10:00 and take you for breakfast…Mac would kill me if something happened to you.” AJ grinned, “And believe it or not…I fear the Marines more than Navy. Now, go to bed, Son.”

Harm smiled back, “I have to agree with you there, Sir…even at 120 pounds, I think she’s tougher than me.” He sobered, “At least she handles most things better than me…” he sighed, “…she’s the dispassionate plan…head of reason.” He shook his head, “I don’t know what I’d do without her, AJ.”

“Luckily, you won’t have to find out. Goodnight, Harm.”

“Thanks, AJ…Goodnight.”

Harm dragged his exhausted body into the house and up the stairs. He dropped his clothes in a trail leading to the bed and collapsed on top the covers. He glanced over to Mac’s pillow, and pulling it to his chest, inhaled her irresistible unique scent. Muttering, “Mmmm, MY Marine,” he succumbed to his fanciful dreams once again.