Today, Baby Ike is a healthy, active, curious, inquisitive, social and happy little boy. This certainly helps me to reflect on first few weeks with some positivity.
Exactly one year ago, Baby Ike underwent surgery and had approximately 10 centimetres of his bowel removed. It was a terrifying experience trusting doctors with our newborn son, just 5 weeks old at the time.
Although he looked pale and groggy when we met him in recovery, it was such a relief to see him, touch him, kiss him and know that the surgery had been classed by the surgeons as a best case scenario.
Two weeks earlier, Baby Ike had been in a newborn intensive care unit, known as the Butterfly Ward at the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) in Melbourne. Even during a harrowing time of fear, uncertainty and heartache, there was something that brought us great joy and emotion.
It was this library bag and book that had both been made by Tahlia, another patient within the hospital. When a handful of library bags were delivered to the ward a week before Christmas, Ike’s nurse specifically chose this one for him as she believed he had the traits of a tortoise; although his progress was incredibly slow she knew he would come out of this life hurdle a winner.
These library bags and books had been created specifically for the babies on the Butterfly Ward by older children in the hospital as part of the learning program offered by the RCH Education Institute. I love that the children were given the opportunity to develop a story, create illustrations and learn how to use technology to publish their own books.
These items will forever be treasured by Baby Ike and our family. The library bag is already well used during our library visits. I truly wish we had been able to thank Tahlia personally.
Although our experience wasn’t all smooth-sailing, I am thankful every day for the care provided to my Baby Ike by the doctors and nurses at the RCH. As I reflect on Ike’s surgery, I can’t help but shed many tears for the unfortunate children who must undergo any time in a hospital, whether it is for a day stay or for ongoing treatment. I find it heartbreaking to think of seriously ill children who are confined to a bed when other children their age are active and playing.
I wanted to share the importance of this library bag and book for us, and how powerful items like these can be for a child and their family when in hospital.
I wanted to share some ideas with you for creating a care package for children in hospital. This list of ideas is not definitive, but each item here can be used when confined to a bed, and helps a child to use their imagination, while providing them with the opportunity to play and create without exerting too much energy.
Below you will find affiliate links to the books shown in this post. They are all available through Booktopia.
Remember you can also download our bookplates for free, which are perfect for writing a personal messages inside the books you give as gifts.