Free HER BABY'S SECRET FATHER by Lynne Marshall Page A

with a minute oxygen cannula, resting beneath her nose, and a tiny feeding tube inserted into one of Tara’s nostrils. How they could find a catheter small enough to fit amazed Jaynie.
    “Oh, my Lord, I can’t believe it.” Joy leapt in her heart. She clutched the incubator to keep from floating away. More tears—the good kind—washed down her cheeks.
    Dr. Shrinivasan approached. “We’re feeding her your breast milk through the nasogastric tube. It will help with digestion and the lining of her intestines.” He patted her arm in a fatherly fashion and nodded. “We want to encourage the sucking reflex. This is so far and so good.”
    He squinted his eyes and gave a pleased smile, bobbing his head from side to side. “This will also help improve her blood oxygen level. We will observe her progress.” With hands crossed behind his back, he turned to leave, but first raised a finger. “One very reputable study showed that breast-milk-fed preemies go to their homes fifteen days sooner than formula babies.”
    Jaynie wanted to hug him, but refrained. Her hands slipped into the portholes on the incubator and she stroked Tara’s tummy and whispered soothing words, then kept vigil for the next several minutes until the breast milk disappeared.
    She wanted to thank Terrance for calling her, and share the good news about Tara’s progress with him. But when she turned he was nowhere in sight, and she figured he probably already knew, anyway.
    Filled with delight and new hope, she hugged her newest friend, Arpita, when she arrived later for her daily visit. Unfortunately, little Manish, her son, wasn’t progressing as quickly as Tara. Jaynie felt some of her joy dissipate when she saw the preemie’s little ribs retracting and struggling with each breath, and the worried look in Arpita’s huge brown eyes.
    Later, tears filled those doe eyes as Arpita told Jaynie that Manish had developed a respiratory infection during the night. Jaynie put her arm around her new friend and offered a shoulder for her to cry on, and before long joined her.
    Exhausted, and on her way home for lunch and a nap, she glimpsed Terrance at the other end of the hall. He looked preoccupied with another employee, and she didn’t want to interrupt, so she left without saying goodbye.
    Kim had the day off. She’d give her a call after talking to her mother long-distance, and she would tell Kim all about Tara’s progress. And then she’d talk her into shopping for some pillows, paint and a small indoor fountain for her house.
    “Each day is one step closer to bringing Tara home,” she chanted like a mantra. “One step closer to bringing Tara home.”
    * * *
    The next morning, both a new R.N. and R.T. were assigned to the NICU. Jaynie wondered where Terrance was, and why he hadn’t been coming around. But she soon got distracted when the older nurse approached her with a sparkle in her eye and a tiny bath blanket tucked under her arm.
    The nurse wisely stood back and let Jaynie do the entire a.m. care for Tara, who reacted to her mother’s attention with squirms, and made a tiny bleating sound.
    Jaynie laughed.
    “Oh, my gosh, she sounds like a little lamb.” She smiled and touched her index finger to Tara’s delicate chin, and the baby opened her mouth as if she wanted to eat. Jaynie slipped her pinky finger inside. Tara latched on. Surprised, Jaynie’s eyes widened, and she turned to the R.N. who nodded in approval.
    As the morning progressed, Tara got fussy and couldn’t seem to settle down.
    “I want you to go pump yourself.” The nurse spoke in gentle tones. “We’ll try an experiment.”
    When Jaynie returned, a rocking chair had materialized and the nurse handed her an adult-sized bath blanket. “Now, open your blouse, take off your bra and sit down,” she said.
    The R.N. went about untangling Tara from all of the tubes and wires strategically placed around her body, holding her like a football, and then put her against