The baby, tho not a boy to be called Jr, she was so developed by the lapsed time that the doctor chose to pull her from the womb when she got stuck. As you can imagine, squeezing a fragile baby thru a too-small space will cause damage.
Her right hip was turned, but this wasn't discovered until months later, after the mother had purchased two pairs of every shoe; the doctor diagnosed it as "two left feet." infant shoes are monstrously expensive; so for a family of eight, on one Army paycheck, the cost hurt. Sadly, there's more.
Erb's Palsy. The trauma paralyzed, stunted and stiffened the baby girl's left arm and shoulder. A child's mind won't begin to recall memory until about age two, but for a mother, she never forgets her baby's pain. She, the mother, we'll call her "Nancy," was instructed to perform therapy on the infant girl daily: straightening the arm at the elbow, and the fingers of the tiny tight fist. The baby girl's nerves were so taught, straightening was stretching and felt nearer to tearing. So, baby screamed bloody murder every day. Imagine the trauma a mother experiences mentally and emotionally when her baby is suffering and she has to deny her protective instinct and cause the pain herself. I'll come back to this later; there was one other bizarre event at the birth.
The mother repeatedly told the doctor, "There's something different about this baby." But it fell on deaf ears. That is, until the I initial exam revealed a sight unseen until this child. She, the newborn baby girl, was born fully developed. --- !!!This is a bit graphic, if you're not an adult woman; so skip it if you are too young or too male to understand and/or not get sick!!! ---
Okay, I said full disclosure, but even I feel trepidation sometimes when divulging. Oy... Okay, fully developed may be an understatement. There were three key anomalies that occurred: she was menstruating, lactating (producing milk), and her breasts were enlarged. Even I go "Ick!" when I think about that. Anywho, the family pediatrician had a friend at MU who decided to use baby girl in a study that was ongoing, because this was the first case they'd heard of. Ever. (Ugh)
Okay! Moving on! All... "That" vanished within days I believe, but the Ern's Palsy reared it's ugly head for the next three months before a checkup revealed yet another oddity medical science had yet to grasp. Aye-aye-aye!
At baby girl's, okay! Charity's (thank You God for convincing my parents NOT to use the traditional Grandmother's namesake baby name of Mary Francis. I take back all the moaning about "Charity Churchmouse," "There's my favorite Charity; here's my donation (a penny usually)," and the slew of others). At this checkup, Nancy was anxious as always about her baby's condition. The insensitivity and carelessness of some nurses blows my mind. The nurse comes rushing out to Nancy and gasps, "What have you done to this baby???!!!???"
My Mother starts imagining the worse. (Had she hurt her baby during therapy???) Next thing Nancy knows, doctors and nurses are rushing over in groups to get a look at "The Erb's Palsy Baby" (why they refuse to use names around patients; so we at least think they care, I dunno).
Nancy is about to panic, she's already crying, when the nurse or the doctor came out to reiterate the question, not waiting for an answer, rushing on to say something along the line of, "The Palsy's gone! She's squirming and trying to roll over!"
No one was ever able to explain how the palsy healed literally overnight. Fine with me, I won't stare that gift horse in the mouth. I'm just grateful. So is my Mother.
13 years later, the very same arm would once again be paralyzed, but that's another chapter entirely.
Back at home, tempers began to flare when number six was born, and born gimpy. No one could hold her and she got most of the attention. When you have five children from three different parental pairs, somebody or more will not be happy.
With the palsy a non-issue, Charity was fair game for sibling rivalry to some. But, the abuse didn't begin- we think - until after she'd begun to walk. That's for next time.
For now, Mom and Dad are relieved and all outward appearances show a Brady/Walton-reminiscent family.
Til then
No comments:
Post a Comment