The Dilemma: An absolutely unforgettable and heartbreaking page-turner filled with family secrets by Julia Roberts

Author:Julia Roberts [Roberts, Julia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781803145280
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 2022-10-25T16:00:00+00:00

Annabel stays with me until it’s time for George’s next feed, then heads off home, saying she’ll be back to collect us tomorrow. He feeds well again, but, unfortunately, just as with the previous feed, he is sick shortly afterwards. This time, the nurse shows a little more concern.

‘I’m sorry, Charlotte, but the best thing for George will be to pump his little stomach. It will get rid of any residual meconium which could be irritating his gut. It’s not that uncommon and we’ll have him back with you in a few hours,’ she says, wheeling him out of my room.

I hate being apart from my baby, having only just met him for the first time, but obviously I want the best for him. While we’re apart, I’m shown how to express some breast milk for him to be given from a bottle during the hours he’s under observation and just after 8 p.m., I’m moved onto a ward with three other new mums, all of whom have their babies at their bedside, which upsets me. Why does my baby have to be the one to have swallowed meconium?

George is brought back to me around midnight and although I’d been concerned that he might not want to feed from me after being bottle-fed, I needn’t have worried as he latches straight on again. Once he’s finished feeding, he promptly falls asleep, his tiny hands clasped together touching his rosebud mouth.

George sleeps soundly for several hours. This I know because I barely close my eyes, due in part to being watchful after his rocky start but also for the sheer wonder that I nurtured this tiny human and would now have the job of continuing to do so for at least the next eighteen years.

When he stirs at 4 a.m., I gently lift him from the cot at my bedside to feed again before changing his nappy in the half-light so as not to disturb the other mothers and babies on my ward.

I don’t notice anything untoward until the next time I lay him down to change his nappy at around 9 a.m. George’s belly seems distended, and his face, each tiny feature of which I committed to memory the moment I laid eyes on him, seems to be rounder than I remember. Not wanting to seem like an overanxious first-time mum, I change his nappy, despite it not being soiled, before returning him to his cot.

Around 11 a.m., Doctor Radley comes to check my stitches to make sure I’m in good shape to go home and asks if I’ve passed urine or been to the loo. I tell her that I’ve had a wee, unlike my baby son, who seems to be holding it all in. She makes no attempt to disguise the look of concern that flashes across her face as she turns to George’s cot and rolls him onto his back.

‘I think I’ll have a colleague give George a quick examination,’ she says, unlocking the wheels on the cot and pushing it towards the door.

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