When Sophie got back to the NICU, she walked past Pod E
and stopped short. Rihanna stood outside the pod looking in.
Sophie noticed a mother with a tearstained face clutching a baby
blanket. She stood alone on the periphery of the group of doctors
and nurses that surrounded her baby. Hers was the only baby in
the pod that normally held four. The others had been moved out
because of all the equipment this one baby required. Sophie had
quickly learned that the more equipment there was attached to a
baby, the sicker the baby.
Most surprising to Sophie was that this was no small pre
mature baby; she was the size of a robust full-term infant. But
there was nothing robust about her. She lay perfectly still, eyes
closed, seemingly asleep in the center of all the frenetic activity
around her. Next to her was a machine the size of a mini sports
car. Coming out of this machine were two large tubes that looked
like small garden hoses. With a closer look, Sophie was surprised
to see that these tubes went into the side of the baby’s neck.
Sophie went over to Rihanna, who was talking with Dr.
Sheldon.
“What is wrong with this baby?” Sophie asked.
“Shh,” Rihanna whispered. “This poor babe inhaled her own
poop before she was born.”
Dr. Sheldon left them to consult with one of the doctors
reviewing the baby’s lab work.
“That huge thing is called an ECMO machine, according to
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JULIE HATCH
Sheldon, and it works like a heart-lung bypass. It keeps the baby
alive while her lungs recover from inhaling her poop.”
“Why are we whispering?” Sophie whispered.
“She needs to stay calm. They don’t want her stressed or agi
tated the slightest little bit.”
“She’s so still. She looks like a normal full-term baby, except
she’s not moving, not crying. Is she even alive?” Sophie asked.
“Of course she’s alive, you dolt.”
Sophie looked at Rihanna in surprise. “Did you just call me
a dolt?”
“Sorry.” Rihanna smiled. “I only know this medical stuff
because Sheldon tells me. The baby is paralyzed so she can’t
move and heavily sedated so she doesn’t feel anything. That’s
why she looks like that. See those two huge tubes in her neck?”
Sophie nodded. “Yeah, kind of hard to miss.”
“Those are her lifelines. If anything happens to those, if they
get moved the smallest bit, she’ll die.”
Sophie stared at the baby. “Are you for real?”
“It’s true,” Rihanna continued. “Sheldon said they can’t risk
anything disturbing those lines. That’s why they keep her para
lyzed and sedated.”
“My God. How horrible.” Sophie turned to the mother
and offered a look that she hoped expressed her sympathy.
She watched the intensity of all the activity swirling around
the baby. There was a constant stream of nurses, speaking in
hushed voices, running blood samples back and forth to the lab.
Pharmacists delivered medications to the nurses. Doctors hud
dled to carry on quiet discussions and then wrote orders, which
were immediately carried out. The ECMO technicians focused
all their attention on the machine and the numbers on the
monitors. As soon as an alarm went off, all heads turned to the
monitor. This spurred more urgent whispering, then someone
adjusting the machine.
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THE VERY BEST OF CARE
An ultrasound tech scanned the baby’s brain. Blood samples
were drawn and rushed to the lab. Sophie thought it looked like a
three-ring circus working in astounding synchronicity. The num
ber of people and the complexity of the machinery surrounding
this seven-pound baby was what Sophie found so incredible. To
think of all the technology and knowledge collected in that one
pod. The nurses spoke in hushed voices.
“Sheldon or Dr. Morrison will stay here in the pod for as long
as the baby is on ECMO,” Rihanna said.
They continued to watch the doctors and nurses coming and
going. It was exhausting to see the intensity of the staff caring for
this baby. There were frequent urgent discussions about the baby,
nurses vigilantly studying the monitors and reacting to every
alarm, and doctors reviewing the chart with tired eyes and doing
whatever it took to keep this baby alive. Twenty-four hours a day.
“I just hope she’ll be okay,” Rihanna said.
“I can’t even imagine,” answered Sophie. “I’ll say a prayer for
her next time I’m in the chapel.” Now she understood the look
she’d seen on the mother’s face. It was a look of desperate hope
