Friday, November 27, 2009

Sawatdee Bangkok!


Picture the scene -the suitcases are packed and waiting in the hall, we have our tickets and passports (which I check approximately once every 10 minutes), money converted to Thai Baht and most importantly a room full of the most beautiful (but trendy!) baby boy clothes you have ever seen - washed, ironed and sorted at least three times! We were good to go!

Two days before we were due to fly out we got a phone call - Button (as we call him - for he is as cute as one!) was in hospital. Immediately I rang the orphanage to find out more. For those of you who know me well, you'll realise that this was no small feat for me - I'm slightly phone phobic, especially when it comes to "official" calls, but for the first time ever I was in Mommy mode - my baby was in trouble - I'd have phoned the King of Thailand himself if it was necessary! When I finally got talking to someone who understood my panicky rambling, I discovered that Button had pneumonia, but that we should come over anyway, because he'd probably be out before we got there, but if not it would only be a couple of days more. Thank God! Pneumonia I could deal with - people have that and recover all the time, right? It was all going to be ok.

After a long, but pretty uneventful trip, we arrived in a small town in the North of Thailand where our Button had spent the first 9 months of his life. The heat and humidity when we stepped out of the airport was overwhelming for two Irish bumpkins who had never been further afield than Majorca! But we were there! After a night at our lovely hotel, we met the escort from the orphanage in the lobby. She had with her a little book with a photo of Button as a very small (and I mean VERY small) baby - priceless to us, our first glimpse of the life he had led before we knew of him. He was still in hospital, and she was taking us to see him straight away.

How do you describe the moment when you see your child for the first time? There are no words that can possibly do it justice. But for us, that moment came in a large, slightly scary hospital, where we found him lying on a bed surrounded by doctors and nurses, having his airways suctioned. He was the tiniest thing I had (or still have) ever seen. When they handed him to me, I just wanted to take him and run - he seemed so small and fragile, his arms and legs were like matchsticks, and his face was all eyes. it was obvious he had lost an awful lot of weight since his referral photo was taken - and my gut instinct told me that there was much more than pneumonia going on.

Over the next week we visited Button twice a day. His chest rattled when he breathed and the doctors couldn't keep his temperature down. The visits we had were bittersweet, we were so happy to finally spend time with him, but it was incredibly hard seeing him so ill. We learnt that his nickname in the orphanage was "dtaa leuk", which means "deep eyes", and that he was very nosy, even on his sickest day, he would contort his body to see what was happening behind him! After 4 or 5 days he was diagnosed with TB and his treatment began in earnest. We, on the other hand, still had paperwork to complete in Bangkok. We flew down in the hope that when we got back Button would be well enough to come home.

Sadly, this was not to be. Even though his temperature was stabilising and he seemed to be responding to his treatment, there was no way that he was fit enough to fly or that he would be any time soon. We knew that he was getting the best care possible, and that he was surrounded by people who loved him and who were familiar to him (a Nanny was by his side 24 / 7 in the hospital) we were strangers to him, he didn't yet know how much we already loved him. We made the heartbreaking decision to leave without him and to return to Thailand in a few weeks to bring him home.

12 comments:

  1. oh Tara I know u told me but reading it has made me blubber, thanks !!

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  2. It must have been heartwrenching to leave him there and fly home even for a few weeks. I have a lump in my throat reading this and trying to imagine the bittersweet emotions you must have had at meeting your little boy for the first time and the fear of losing him must have been unbearable xxx

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  3. omg tara how heartbreaking you are so brave and strong your blog is like a book that i don't want to put down you really should think off writing a book

    kathleen

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  4. Tara it's like an emily bronte novel!!! What a trauma for you all...but what a lucky little fella you have XXX

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  5. And Thank goodness I know how this turns our, I couldn't bear it otherwise!!! xx

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  6. I am with last comment, I don't think I could read anymore if I didn't know already. This is the kind of situation that can haunt a reader so I can't even begin to imagine what it as like for you as his Mum. Waiting for the next installment :)

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  7. Heartbreaking and beautifully told Tazzy. Brought yet another tear to my eye! xx Jazzy

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  8. Thanks God there are comments that Button is ok - I was quite frightened by the end of the story. Want to know what happens next!
    xx, Truf

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  9. Thanks for all your lovely comments! As you know, Button is fine..but to be honest, I had forgotten how terrifying it all was until I started to write it down! He's come such a long way, and I am sooooooo proud of my little man - and just happy he's here!

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  10. Delighted to be following your blog - looking forward to the next post so much.

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  11. so hard, your so brave, i couldnt bared to have left him, what strength that took xx mandie

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