The bag you see above has been in the car ever since the 21st of December. Ever since Carissa was admitted, there was this hope that she would be discharged from the Special Babies Care Unit (SCBU) in time for her mom’s birthday, the 22nd of December. The bag contained ‘baby-discharge’ essentials, such as diapers, blankets and so on, and was packed by her mom. The bag itself was hand made by my sister.
But unfortunately, that date came and went, with Dr Alex still not allowing her to be discharged due to the antibiotics, and her weak oxygen level in her blood.
Dr Alex however gave assurance that she will be discharged before Christmas, but her condition, despite improving, was still not good enough for Dr Alex, with Carissa having low oxygen levels in her blood, and her face turning blue shall the oxygen supply to her be stopped. The kind nurses at the SCBU even tried to switch off the oxygen when we were visiting, and the results were disappointing.
Hope rose as Christmas eve came, but with the clock slowly ticking to 9PM (the closing of visiting hours), it looks rather certain that Carissa would not make it home for Christmas. In fact, on Christmas day itself, Dr Alex was unable to give the green light to discharge Carissa because her oxygen levels in her blood was unstable, playing around 80-91%, at best.
I can’t forget this Christmas day because I know my wife had high hopes Carissa would be discharged on Christmas itself, and when she came to realize it wasn’t happening, her usual ‘joyful chat’ with Carissa went silent, with tears flowing out of her eyes as she bowed looking at the floor.
Mind you, my wife doesn’t shed tears easily. So, the fact that she did so this time only shows how heart-broken she was with the fact she will not be carrying her baby home for Christmas. It’s not a sight any husband could watch to be honest, especially when there’s nothing one can do.
The next day, the 26th, we soldiered on to the hospital to see Carissa as usual. I’d admit that spirits was low, but we know that we should not give up hope.
Like a Christmas surprise, Carissa was now off her greenish oxygen tube, with the nurses saying that she had managed to stabilize her oxygen levels as of midnight last night!
My wife in particular was beaming from ear to ear, and Dr Alex’s intention to hold her for observation just for a couple more hours, was not such a huge fuss for us.  We wanted the doctor to be sure she was able to go home all well, so a couple of hours wouldn’t hurt us both.
Nonetheless, the brief hour we had at the SCBU that morning saw Carissa scoring a good 99-100% oxygen level in her blood, and only dropped it when she was stretching or crying, which was normal.
We left the hospital with spirits and hope at an all time high, and at 2:26PM, a text from Dr Alex confirmed that she would be able to go home. Yay!!!!
So, to everyone, this post is just to update you; little Carissa is now at home with us for the first night after ten nights sleeping alone in a bassinet at the SBCU. Words can’t explain how her mom and I feel right now, but it is relieving to finally have her here.
From the bottom of my heart, I thank all of you for your prayers and well wishes, and it is my belief that she would never had recovered if it wasn’t for all your prayers.
That said, I hope its not too late to wish you all a happy and jolly Christmas, and Happy New Year!
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