In Memory of Julia

If you follow me on Twitter or on Facebook you'll know that I took my brand new baby boy to hospital on Friday afternoon when I found blood in his stool while changing his nappy.

He had a bunch of blood samples drawn and a lumbar puncture, in order to rule out a number of different infections, including meningitis, before being admitted for observation overnight. Thankfully, his test results all came back normal the following morning and he was discharged.

While James was being seen by one of the paediatricians, I was sent out of the room to wait in the corridor, where I met another young mother with a baby girl not much older than my James. Pretty little thing with enormous brown eyes. She had a severe throat infection which was preventing her from feeding at all. Her mother, Jabulile, was clearly distraught and I quickly learned that she had been brought to the hospital from her home in Diepsloot by ambulance. Here, she had been given some Panado to administer to her baby and instructed to come back on Monday, as the hospital did not have the medicines she required in stock. Jabu was there alone, had no money, and no means to get home, so I offered to have my husband give them a lift. This poor woman was so grateful for this small gesture that she actually burst into tears and I stood there wishing we could do more...

Jabu called me yesterday to tell me that her baby girl had died at 10:30 on Saturday. Her name was Julia and this post is so that she will be remembered, along with the many, many blessings we lose sight of every day.