Please do not stop talking about babies, I happen to love the subject! My first nursing job was in NICU because they are such precious innocent creatures. I need to vent for a sec though, just don't let me
thread-jack
One of my residents at work, a 12 year old girl, has begun flying backwards in her treatment. She's been here over a year, she made a little progress but not a lot, and hidden beneath her loud, rude, and offensive behavior there is a heart of gold. I've seen it because I take time to let her yell at me as much as she wants until she wears down and tells me what she thinks she's feeling. I care so much for her, I can't really express it. Because of her behavior, her language, her volume, and her anger, I'm almost the only person in the world that cares about her this much. She's about to have a court date, and there's an extremely good chance that she's going to either be thrown into a more restrictive placement that I personally don't see helping her, or shoved back to the same screwed up family that got her here. The one that had her dress as a prostitute for Halloween last year and actually DID prostitute her out to friends before she came here.
This can't really be the world we live in, can it? I'm far too old to believe in fairy tales, but where are the happy endings? How can a child be subjected to a life like this? And her life is not nearly as soul-crushingly horrifying as the lives of some other residents.
I signed on to do this because I could make a difference, and often (though less and less lately) we do make an amazing difference and rebuild these kids from an environment I can't imagine. But when something like this happens, when I'm the only one with hope left and the system has given up... it's just hard. I miss hospice. That was sad, but I knew the end result from the get-go. All I had to do was provide comfort and compassion. All the comfort and compassion in my body and soul won't help this girl.
But I can tie this back to babies! Every birth announcement I hear, when I know (or online-know) a part of their family brings me joy. Every loving family means one less child to see the things my residents have seen. One more child with "normal" ups and downs. "Normal" problems and triumphs. "Normal" loving and appropriate relationships.
Nana, cherish that child. Love him and spoil him. TU4V, please do the same. And both of you take pride in the loving and stable world these children have entered by joining your families.
OMG !! He's HERE !! 
where's da lil red booties ? 
Oops...did I say it too loud Nana ?
Congrats Nana!!!!!
