We decided to visit the hospital, just to see Mum and the baby. We didn’t take the little boy as we felt it would cause too much disruption to Mum and the maternity ward having another little baby around. We were unaware of what the incident that had taken place but were sure that the staff and the Social Worker would fill us in. When we arrived, after thirty minutes finding a parking space, we found the maternity ward and you had to walk through an area where you washed your hands before progressing into the corridor. There were various rooms including an Intensive Care Unit. We went to the reception desk and gave the name of the little girl and then had to explain who we were. The staff asked a number of questions and then seemed happy for us to go in and see her. We asked what room Mum was in but were told that Mum had discharged herself and the hospital were happy to let her leave as it was her third birth. We then asked about the incident the night before. Apparently a guy had turned up claiming to be the little girl’s father. He was under the influence of something or another and refused to wash his hands at the wash stations we had walked through. The staff had asked him three or four times to wash his hands but again he refused. Eventually Security arrived and there was a bit of a confrontation. In the end he was asked, politely, to leave or the Police would be called. He gave no name and didn’t provide any evidence of who he was. We went into the Intensive Care Unit and found her, and wow was she tiny. Now I am one of those guys who always do my bit with regards to changing, feeding etc. With this little lady it wouldn’t be something I’d volunteer for. She barely weighed three pounds and looked tiny and I can be a bit clumsy and was concerned that I would damage her in some way. My wife took her out to feed her and it really hit home about her size.
We had brought some vests and baby grows for a premature baby and, frankly, they were far too big for her. After about 30 minutes the Social Worker appeared. We sat and chatted about the little boy we already had in our care. She asked if we would care for him until the little girl was ready to leave hospital. The nurse in the ward said that it was unlikely she would be released until she weighed four pounds. So we agreed with that and asked what the long term plan was with Mum. The Social Worker had no idea at this early stage of the placement. Mum was not an easy client to work with, apparently, and was not really working with Social Services. It was not known who the father of the little girl was or even the boy we had in our care. It was unknown if they were full siblings or not. We spent about an hour there and suggested that maybe we would visit a couple of times a week and spend some time with her. We were expecting that Mum and family would be visiting and we didn’t want to get in their way. So we left for home and endured the pleasures of the South Circular Road which resulted in a ninety minute journey home. later in the week we visited again only to be told that nobody had visited her.
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