Bring Me My Baby

The Miracle of Penicillin

Caesarean section deliveries meant a long hospital stay. Nowadays it seems one can practically have combined brain and heart surgery at the local hospital drive through. For Elle she had the nurses caring for her and her baby after her abdominal surgical procedure. Complete anesthesia that put her to sleep was how it was done. “Where is my baby? I want to see my baby,” the nurses heard from a very groggy Elle.

Elle felt desperate to see her baby was a kind of irrational fear that her child might get mixed up with someone else and she would end up with the wrong baby. The nurses were caring for her baby for a long time before she recovered enough from the anesthesia to be able to hold her baby.  She wanted to nurse her baby but the nurses had already started bottle feeding.

The excited Elle examined the tiny arm bracelet, unwrapped the blanket and discovered she was holding a baby boy. Can you say panic? “Nurse this is not my baby!” Needless to say there was quite a skirmish until Elle finally was certain she was holding her own precious baby girl. After that Elle was happy and began nursing her little one. They remained in the hospital together until Elle had recovered enough to return with George to their apartment.

It happened only a few days after coming home with her baby Elle suddenly developed a fever that rose higher and higher every hour. George couldn’t call for advice or help because they didn’t have a phone. When Elle became so ill that she could not take care of the baby George put her and the baby in their automobile and took them to the home of his parents, Anna and George (what other name could he possibly have?). Anna immediately took over all the baby care and a doctor was called to come see Elle. Most physicians made house calls and when he saw Elle he said she needed to be hospitalized. Determined not to leave her baby Elle refused to comply with the doctor’s advice of being hospitalized and everyone around knew there was no use arguing or trying to persuade her otherwise.

The doctor said her high fever was due to kidney stones and a nasty kidney infection and penicillin became his last resort for Elle’s treatment. What was certain is she was very ill and weakened. During World War II, penicillin made a major difference in the number of deaths and amputations caused by infected wounds among Allied forces, saving an estimated 12%–15% of lives. Between 1941 and 1944 Jasper Kane and other Pfizer scientists developed the practical, deep-tank fermentation method for production of large quantities of pharmaceutical-grade penicillin. Wikipedia   After World War II, Australia was the first country to make Penicillin available for civilian use and by the time Elle was sick penicillin was produced enough, and though new, it was available for patient care in the United States. Elle was so ill that the doctor wanted penicillin for her treatment.  After being ordered it would take at least twenty-four hours before it could be available. So as she waited for treatment George remained by her side caring for her and slept on the floor next to her bed while his mother Anna cared for her baby.