The Problem with Dreams

Chapter 82 - Naming over Dinner

"I'm working tomorrow, Mom. What time did you want to go?" Matt asked.

"Around sunset?" Susan said. "What time do you get off?"

"About then. I'll tell Ashley I need to take a rain check on our date so I can go."

"Thank you," Susan said. "I'm sorry you have to cancel your date though."

"That's alright. She had to do that after her baby brother was born," Matt told her. "She understands."

"It's decided then?" Greg asked.

"I think it is," Mrs. Abernathy said. "I can take your milk over for you in the morning, Susan so Greg can go to services."

"Thank you," Susan and Greg said more or less together.

And so they got through dinner and their prayers, after which Greg drove Susan to the hospital to nurse and visit with their daughter.

c

Susan walked into the nursery accompanied by Greg who immediately went to talk to the nurse.

"How is she?" Susan asked anxiously.

"Hungry and waiting for you." A squeaking sound came from nearby, a sound Susan rapidly realized was the sound of Melody's cry. "She's been fussy most of the afternoon," Peggy, Melody's usual nurse shared.

"How is her weight?" Greg asked.

"Four pounds eight ounces today," the nurse said.

"That's two ounces less than she weighed yesterday!" Susan said with dismay.

"Yes, but she had a bowel movement today after you left this morning, and even after that she weighed one ounce more than she did on Wednesday, so we think that represents her true weight gain rather than waste gain," Peggy explained.

"True weight gain ... growth you mean," Greg realized.

"Yes. As long as that continues to go up, she's doing alright. Dr. Bower asked me to let you know he feels her lack of a bowel movement and the weight drop we saw when she finally had one was the result of constipation, a side effect of the diuretics she's taking," Peggy added.

"Poor baby, you have heart trouble and constipation too?" Susan said in a soothing tone as she picked Melody up out of her bed and settled herself and her daughter in the rocking chair so she could nurse. The silence was abrupt and complete when the baby latched on, and the squeaky crying stopped. "You were hungry, weren't you?" Susan crooned as she stroked her head while the baby nursed.

"Has the doctor any idea how we can avoid it?" Greg asked as he watched.

Peggy shrugged slightly. "Keep her well hydrated by giving her water as well as formula and milk. We're going to keep trying that to see if we can get her body functioning more or less normally before she goes home. We're going to keep her in this nursery until we can achieve that."

Peggy talked to Greg a bit longer about what they were doing to help Melody adjust to her new medications and life outside the womb while Susan and the baby visited, but eventually she left them on their own.

"Do you feel less tired when you hold her?" Greg asked curiously.

"No, but I feel the tiredness is worth it when I do," Susan told him.

Greg nodded as he continued to watch the two. "Susan, what did Dr. Daniels say to you?"

"He said I'm still bleeding more than he'd like me to be at this point. Did you know he put stitches up inside of me? Inside my womb, where the placenta tore away?"