Just over a day had passed and the decision to force our Little Boy to have his first movement was made. So a little before midnight, my son was taken away by the nurse and was screaming blue-murder down the corridor.
When I got there, the nurse had stripped him and was giving him a drop of something which made him ‘smack’ his lips together in some sort of curious tasting amusement. The contortions on his little face were very funny.
The nurse then began massaging his tummy while simultaneously poking around in his bottom, trying to make the Meconium plug break. His expressions changed massively, as you would expect from someone putting their finger up your bottom.
The next day he had to have another test – Neonatal heel prick – which involved bleeding blood from the bottom of his foot on to a piece of card which had four circles roughly the size of a penny. The blood had to cover as much of the penny as possible – on all four of the circles!
As feet do not bleed well, he almost broke my heart with his crying as the nurse squeezed his foot to make the blood come out – he sounded so sad and unhappy. I stood there holding his hand but feeling so helpless to do anything. I do wonder if there is another way to get the blood from a baby??
The worst point came when he was crying so much he placed his hands on either side of his head – like an adult would when in intense pain.
When it was over he just wanted to be held and eventually calmed down when we went back to the room.
A memorable moment in more ways then one.
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