The Boy Who Peed on Christmas

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The Boy who Peed on Christmas:
Aleko was taken to the Intensive Care Unit on the 23rd when it was found that his white blood count was above the norm. He had to be monitored closely and receive 2 types of antibiotics through an IV. He was bound to be discharged on the 24th by 5:00 p.m. when the test results were supposed to come in. Since we were discharged at noon, we waited anxiously to take him home before Christmas eve dinner.

We went to the ICU at 5 p.m. and as expected, the test results came in negative of any systemic bacteria but just as we were getting ready to change Aleko into his going home outfit, we were told that he had to pee in order to be discharged. It was just a standard procedure to ensure that no infection developed from the circumcision procedure done that morning.... a procedure that we were not made aware of earlier that day. You see, Aleko was transfered from one room to another and we fell in the crack between transition. A circumstance which could have been avoided, which made it even more frustrating.

Aleko has not peed since he was born because he was strictly breast fed and has not gotten enough fluid to pee. I tried to pump but my body does not naturally produce any milk enough to create a miracle (by that, I mean urine), so we finally decided to feed Aleko 50 ml. of formula. By this time, it was already 7pm. We waited restlessly and despondently. Nothing! To top that, we had to leave the N.I.C.U between 8-9 p.m. so we decided to head home and get information in the meantime through the phone.

GT, Gina, Bolo and Kathy joined us for dinner along with both grandmothers, and we made our calls every 45 minutes, starting at 9 p.m. The call made at 10:30 was wretched and by 11, we decided to drive to the hospital and see for ourselves - the worst case would be that we came home empty handed but we get to spend Christmas Eve with Aleko.
We got to the hospital at 11:10 - nothing yet. The hospital does not discharge past midnight and at this point, we knew our chances was already very thin. We were just trying to hold our emotions and swallow the situation as it was. Thing is, it was very difficult. I decided to pump milk and coming back at 11:55 from the pumping station, Jon said he just checked Aleko’s diaper and still was dry. We sadly got ready to leave but the nurse checked on Aleko’s diaper again and Aleko peed! He splashed here and there and everywhere. His first pee and a meaningful and memorable one at that. It was 12:01 and that gave us the pass to bring our Emmanuel home for Christmas.

While born on the 22nd of December, the 25th after all is still his special day. And who knows if that would have been the day he would have came into this world, had labor not been induced.