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Yuan Zhijun, a nurse at Wuhan Children's Hospital, change the diaper for two-month-old Dongdong, Feb. 26, 2020. (Photo provided to Xinhua)
To fulfill her duty as a temporary mother of a two-month-old boy, this unmarried nurse learned babysitting from scratch...
by Lu Yifan, Lou Chen, Ding Li
WUHAN, March 13 (Xinhua) -- After lathering up quick-drying hand sanitizer, Yuan Zhijun, dressed in medical protective gear, expertly dissolved milk powder into warm water, cuddled and fed a two-month-old boy named Dongdong and tiptoed around the ward to put him to sleep.
As Dongdong nodded off, Yuan carefully laid him down in a crib, feeling a sense of relief and soreness in her arms.
Yuan, 25, is a nurse in the respiratory medicine department at Wuhan Children's Hospital in the capital city of central China's Hubei Province.
Several days ago, it was hard for Yuan, who is not yet married, to imagine that one day she would become a "temporary mom" to take care of an unaccompanied baby infected with novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Dongdong came to the hospital on Feb. 22. His mother, father and grandfather were all infected with the disease. His grandmother was the only person who could come to his care.
However, three days later, his grandmother received a phone call and was told her COVID-19 test was positive. She, too, had to be hospitalized in a public facility-turned temporary hospital.
Dongdong was left unaccompanied. Nurse Yuan stepped in and took the responsibilities of babysitting and treating him until his family members recovered and picked him up.
"In the beginning, Dongdong's mother was extremely anxious about leaving her son alone with us, and she kept asking about her son," Yuan said. Dongdong's family members and Yuan set up a WeChat group to contact each other. The photos and videos of Dongdong shot by Yuan helped ease the mother's anxiety.
Yuan Zhijun delivers aerosolized drugs to Dongdong, Feb. 26, 2020. (Photo provided to Xinhua)
To fulfill her duty as a temporary mother of Dongdong, Yuan learned babysitting from scratch -- how to dissolve milk powder into water, change diapers, and dress the baby so that he could feel warm and cozy.
"I thought making baby formula was exactly like dissolving powdered medicine, so I poured the formula into a bottle, added water, and shook it thoroughly before feeding Dongdong," she said.
This was all wrong, Yuan was told. A head nurse reminded her that shaking the bottle would produce bubbles and the baby might feel bloated after drinking it.
Then Yuan followed the newly acquired steps for making baby formula and learned how to feed the baby properly bit by bit. She also learned how to dress and undress a baby, and prepare a baby shower.
All of the underage patients hospitalized in the ward were confirmed cases of COVID-19, but most of them were mild cases, and very few of them had symptoms like fever.
Dongdong was a mild case with no fever or cough, thanks to timely hospitalization. The only two treatment programs he needed were nebulization and taking prescribed medicine.
"Most of the time, Dongdong was rather cooperative in the treatment. He only cried when I made him drink bitter medicine," Yuan recalled.
Three other colleagues of Yuan took shifts to take care of the boy. Through careful note-taking about Dongdong's daily routine for eating, sleeping and receiving treatment, Yuan and her colleagues were able to provide him with the best of care.
When Dongdong drank milk for the first time during hospitalization, he could barely drink 120 ml, while later he could finish a 150 ml bottle. As a result, he gained 1 kg in weight.
Dongdong was discharged from the hospital on March 6, and is currently undergoing a 14-day medical observation at a designated venue. The quarantine for all recovered patients is to minimize the health threat posed by a relapse.
The days of being a temporary mother were an out-of-the-blue but rewarding experience for Yuan.
"Two weeks ago, when I changed Dongdong's diapers for the very first time, I couldn't tell the difference between the front and the back side of a diaper," Yuan recalled.
"I have experienced many firsts and truly understood the meaning of motherhood," she said.
Many children at the hospital also greatly impressed Yuan.
"Some of them shared food with us, some chatted with us in the nurse station, and some colored images on our protective suits," she said.
A straight-A student, who is in the ninth grade, was always reading books during hospitalization. "She wrote a very long letter to us, about her despair when she first came to the hospital and how our words and company helped her get through it," Yuan said.
"At this special time, these lovely kids really made working here a joy," said Yuan. ■
