Sweet Baby by Teddy Jovial

Author:Teddy Jovial [Jovial, Teddy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Teddy Jovial
Published: 2023-09-03T16:00:00+00:00

ERIC

Eric parked his car closer to the hospital this time. In his hands, he held the signed paperwork to release Oliver to the adoption agency.

He had signed the papers this morning after Miranda had reviewed them to ensure everything was as it should be.

They had both sat in silence at the kitchen island.

He knew she would support him no matter his decision, but her sadness was palpable.

When he walked into the NICU, he was met with bright smiles, but everything felt different. He felt like the smiles were in sympathy.

Everyone knew this was the last day he would be here.

He clutched the papers in his hand and took a deep breath as he made his way back to Oliver’s room.

Inside the room was Dr. Hajar, and beside her stood a slightly built older woman with grey hair in a tight bun.

The older woman smiled widely as he walked in and gave him a firm handshake.

Dr. Hajar gave a smile also. More sympathy?

“Good morning Eric. I want you to meet Sally. She’s a very experienced foster mom and has helped out with several of our NAS babies.”

Eric nodded as Dr. Hajar continued, “Since Sally has experience with NAS babies, and Oliver is doing great, we have agreed to discharge tomorrow morning with morphine titration orders.”

“Tomorrow?” He was so surprised that his voice cracked as he spoke.

“Yes. We could even discharge today, but Sally needs some time to prepare for him. I’ll leave you two. Please reach out if you have questions.”

Dr. Hajar left the unit with a brief smile, and Sally and Eric were left alone.

Oliver started crying. Eric instinctively walked over to the cot when Sally put her hand out and stopped him.

“He needs to learn to self-soothe. You’ll spoil him if you pick him up right away.”

Eric looked over at her. “He’s crying to let us know something is wrong.”

She pushed her way to the cot, smiling.

“No, what’s wrong is he is asking us for attention, and what he needs to do is sleep.”

Eric could feel his cheeks becoming heated.

“I believe that style of thinking is quite outdated, and developmental research has proven that you cannot spoil a newborn.”

Sally looked unimpressed. “I have helped raise several newborns and have never had my methods questioned.”

Eric shook his head and picked up Oliver despite her frown as he did so.

Instantly Oliver snuggled into his neck and calmed down. He bent to pick up his soother when Sally snatched it out of his reach.

“No soothers.”

Eric laughed, “Are you serious?”

“Yes, as I said, he needs to self-soothe, which means he can’t use a soother.”

“He’s not breastfeeding. He wants the stimulation that he isn’t getting from bonding with his mother.”

Sally turned and threw the soother in the garbage.

Eric wondered if it was possible to be so angry you could see red, because that’s exactly what was happening.

“Is the name Oliver of special significance?” She had her chin up, in keeping with her stuck-up posture. She was wearing clothing his mother would have approved of – pleated white dress pants with a tucked-in blouse and black dress shoes.

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