Mother & baby to shelter home, another baby coming soon?

Right after I got back from Cameron Highlands on Sunday, I tried calling Puan Nur to get the latest updates. But my call didn't get through. So I called Sharifah - and was told that she was waiting for her mother to come to bring her to ward 6C to see the baby.

Later at night I tried calling Puan Nur again. This time I managed to speak to her. According to Puan Nur, they asked the nurses at ward 6C as to when they can send the baby back to the maternity ward to be with Sharifah. They told her that once Sharifah is confirmed to be discharged, then they will send the baby to the maternity ward.

Since Sharifah was supposed to go for her appointment at the combined clinic this afternoon, we thought there was a good chance she'd be discharged today - so we thought we could bring them to the flats first, and tomorrow we (as in myself and Sharifah's mother) will send both Sharifah and baby to the temporary shelter home. Apparently Puan Nur had already spoken to the lady in charge at the shelter home (I told her to call as my earlier arrangement was a bit different) to explain to her their latest decision not to give the baby away, and to ask if the lady would still accept Sharifah and the baby temporarily.

The lady not only accepted them both, she even offered Sharifah an admin job at the home if she was interested. That would be useful experience for Sharifah especially because she does intend to look for a job once she leaves the shelter home.

When I went to visit Sharifah today, she still wasn't sure when she'd be discharged.

"Doktor kat combined clinic kata apa?"

"Dia kata kalau tak dak apa-apa buleh balik. Tapi masa balik bilik ni tadi nurse tu kata doktor tu tak tulih apa-apa pun."

That meant Sharifah wasn't discharged today.

Puan Nur needs to go home on Tuesday by hook or by crook as she needs to attend to something on Wednesday, even if that means she has to take the night bus. But if Sharifah doesn't get discharged by tomorrow, then banyak susah lor. I will then have to take over as the mama again... aiyaiyai...

We needed to make plans but not knowing when Sharifah and baby would be discharged, it was difficult to plan. So I went over to the nurse counter, saw a few doctors there and asked them when Sharifah was expected to be discharged. The more senior doctor there asked if I was a social worker. I just said yes and I told them I needed to arrange to send both mother and baby to a shelter home. She then told me that Sharifah would be discharged tomorrow, and since there are so many things to arrange (Sharifah's next appointment, baby's next appointment, medication for the baby etc), most likely we could only take them out in the afternoon.

I told Sharifah to confirm with the doctors when they come for their rounds the next morning; and once she is confirmed to be discharged, to immediately inform both her mother and I. I also told Puan Nur to go to the hospital early if so, to help arrange whatever necessary. Since Sharifah doesn't have a husband, the best person to handle all the signing this and that would be her own mother. If I were the one having to do this and that, there would be probably loads of questions asked.

So Puan Nur is now at the flats, packing up, so by tomorrow afternoon, once we get Sharifah and the baby from the hospital, we will only drop by the flats to get all the luggage, then immediately drive off to the shelter home. After settling things at the shelter home, I need to rush back to Ipoh to send Puan Nur to the bus station so she can go home latest by tomorrow night.

Hopefully we can stick to the plan.

Just as I was updating my blog with this posting, a call came in from Asiah. Just to recap, Asiah got HIV from her first husband. She then remarried, as wife no.2 to an elderly man (elderly but still strong lah... not yet the ketaq-ketaq type). That was about 3 or 4 years ago.

So, why did Asiah call me?

"Kak, hari tu saya tengok dah dua bulan tak dapat period saya pergi check kat klinik. Depa kata saya pregnant. Macam mana boleh jadi macam ni kak?" (eh, eh, tanya kita pulak macam mana boleh jadi macam tu... dia yang buat kerja, bukan kita!)

"Laahai, tak pakai kondom ke?"

"Pakai, tak tau macam mana boleh lekat le pulak. Ni suami saya kira suruh saya gi cuci, buang kandungan ni. Dia takut nanti budak ni dapat HIV."

I explained to her about all the precautions that can be taken etc. That was what she thought too, but she wasn't confident enough to explain it to her husband.

"Terima kasih kak, dah cakap dengan akak ni lega sikit rasanya."

Oh boy, I thought I was done with the pregnant cases for time being after Sharifah gave birth. Now comes another one??? I haven't even finished dealing with Sharifah's case. Maybe I should just be a midwife... a diving midwife. (bidan terjun daa!)

Oh well, at least for this new pregnancy case, the baby has a father.