So ....it'd been a very long 36 or so hours !!
Had been out with the boss in Hereford, in M&S's
fitting rooms when her phone rang
... I answer it, as it's her son and I've got her hand bag round me neck ....
"the baby's .... click" FFS !!
all thoughts of the clothes she was looking at vanish as she frantically tries to call him back
.... NADA!!
it rings again
......
" the baby's here .... click" so Pam dashed off outside for some better service leaving me holding the small pile of 'prospects',
chatting to the very pleasant assistant, who had sort of gathered what the fuss was about.
10 minutes later, she's back
... another 5 and me wallet's lightened a bit
and the shopping expedition is the last thing on her mind !!
Home ... grab some 'easygrub' on the way
... she wanted to get back to see the pix she's been sent on her lap top !!
Neither of us
do 'phone internet'
Damn me, we'd barely gotten through the
door; phone rings again,
the little un's not well and they're being transferred on a blues and twos ride to the Royal Bristol Children's Hospital a hundred miles away
..... least the baby is, Josh and his wife , who'd given birth at 4 a.m. -- a tough one too -- were having to drive up behind the nee na (ambulance).
She could've gone in the Nee Na, but did not want Josh driving up on his own after not having slept for 40 odd hours
... she's a tough cookie
... they shared the drive up to Bristol
Was a very long evening and night for us
.... we could've been there in 45 minutes, but no
.. wait and see what was what.
Pam was climbing the walls !!
Anyway, by midnight the Consultant and his team had got the situation in hand and were happy the little fella was stable;
not as bad as first thought by the team in Plymouth's hospital and would hopefully not need the surgery they first thought was going to be required.
we were going to have to see how things were in the morning .. well was a long night ...
Call the next morning - a Saturday
.... come over whenever you like,
ideally later in the day,
" 'bout lunchtime'd be ideal ".... should all be calmed down a bit by then.
Now I spent 3 years in Bristol when I was doing my teacher training, back in the day, half an' a bit lifetimes ago, so I know it pretty well .....
she still didn't believe that I knew exactly where I was going ...
'til we were parked in St Michael's Hospital
car park,
behind the B.R.I. (
Bristol royal infirmary) and B.R.C.H.,(
Bristol royal children's hospital) a quick walk to the entrance where we had to be.
Door to door - no dramas!!
five minutes later Granny was cooing over the latest addition
... Baby Podge, as he'd been 'affectionately known' for the last nine months ....
Originalets URL: http://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans/WP_20170929_14_24_14_Pro_zps6dkqdags.jpgOriginalets URL: http://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans/WP_20170929_15_04_01_Pro_zpsrnh9se8b.jpgHe had as much plumbing and wiring as me VA-r ..... for a while !!
Originalets URL: http://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans/WP_20170929_17_21_10_Pro_zpsuplykssk.jpgbut he was looking pretty good all the same ...
Originalets URL: http://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans/Photo2098_zpsju1yfjro.jpg8 lbs 4 oz (
3.74kg)
.... his mum is a size 6 !!!!
... was a pretty traumatic jobby apparently.
she'd been getting ready to go to work on the Wednesday morning, (she teaches) and'd steadfastly refused to
not work, when she thought "
Hmmm ...
might just be the day"
.... supposedly two weeks early
..... I'd say he was well ready myself, but hung in there 'til 4 a.m. the next morning!!
I couldn't believe how well she looked, after all she'd been through those last couple of days ... a tough little
nut, fair
play ...
she'd even driven some of the way from Plymouth to Bristol, as they were both exhausted after the best part of 48hrs without any kip and had to keep swapping over.
RESPECT!! Oh to be young again !!
we were told the following afternoon (Sunday) that the anticipated op. they thought he was going to need was deffo not going to be necessary and he'd been allowed to have a feed for the first time, instead of relying on his IV drips, etc.
Jeeeez it'd been a long couple of days ... we thought might get some sleep that night
Report the next morning was that he's been feeding well all night,
found his voice and had become the new born they were expecting to have to cope with
... the centre of attention and limiting factor for sleep !!
they hoped they were probably going to get returned to Plymouth's hospital at some point that day ... he still had his course of IV antibiotics to complete, before they could take him home
It had been a looooooooooong couple of days ...... for all concerned !!
Wait nine months for them to arrive and never even consider this sort of scenario, with them being very ill on arrival !!!!!
By the 2nd of October everyone was back in Plymouth's hospital;
Podge had a few more days in the special care unit for a and then everyone went home, Phew !!
At least they were only a mile or two from their home by then and could have access to a level of normality
........ and clean clothes, etc.
they didn't pack for the both of 'em to be away for days!!
they did eventually 'escape' ......
and so the fun began
Massive respect indeed
...... to all those of the medical fraternity, who do so much for us all.
bit different, but same scale ....
Sparticus Puss, my GF had his rear under carriage rebuilt by the most amazing orthopedic veterinary surgeon,
when he was about 18 months old
.. fell off a roof, dislocated both hips and tore off the lower half of his right back leg !!
Russel Chandler, who just happened to be one of the best in the country and practiced locally,
screwed and wired his hips back in place and completely rebuilt his right leg with pins and screws and scaffolding
..... ABSOLUTELY BLOODY AMAZING ....
I ever break my leg ... I want him working on me.
There are some remarkably clever and skilled people out there!!
You'd barely tell he ever had a problem .... wasn't cheap, but he's family
regrettably, young Shem -- we got told the evening they took him home -- lives 2.5 hrs away in Plymouth, so we aren't likely to see anywhere near as much of him as we do of Clara !!
the only 'plus side' to all the events was that; we were able to dash across to Bristol, far more easily, than had they still been in Plymouth
Sitting here recounting all this, I have just realised that on September the 28th, 1976 I made the almost exact same journey to Bristol, the day before I started my teacher's training course in Redland College ..... about 2 miles from the BRI ...we went right past it on the way to see everyone in the BRCH
..... how amazing is that
Soooooo .... that was the first cause of me dropping off the radar for a while
.... and gets me to the end of the first week of October