‘We need hope, not platitudes’: what I’ve learned as the parent of an ill child

Fussy feeding, bad nights – after my daughter’s birth, I thought I was just dealing with the typical challenges of a newborn. Then came an emergency visit to A&E...

A chorus announces the arrival of birthday cake in the corridor of paediatric A&E in Lewisham hospital, London. Were it not for the paper curtain separating the corridor from our cubicle, we’d be at the party, but there’s a different kind of bustle where we are.

Two registrars, a junior doctor and a nurse are trying to draw blood from my baby for the second time today, and, after more attempts than I can count, have so far been unsuccessful. Her face contorts, she squawks, her little limbs flail. This needle has burst the bubble of new parenthood irreversibly. “I’ve never seen a baby with haemoglobin this low,” the doctor tells me, grimacing.

Had I not so often been complimented on Vida’s porcelain skin, perhaps I’d have listened more to the niggle of doubt

Related: Grace Dent: ‘Sometimes I see the terror in Dad's eyes, and it hurts my heart'

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from Children | The Guardian https://ift.tt/38kkGh6