Clearly she’d been here a few times before. Melinda waited until the two were inside her new office, which was decorated with bright colours and mobiles hanging from the ceiling.
‘It’s nice to meet you, Rachael,’ Melinda said, sitting down at her desk. She took Taylor’s baby book from Rachael and flicked it open to the recording page. ‘How have you been?’ Looking up, she focused on the woman, who looked tired but was smiling.
‘I’ve had a great month,’ she said. ‘Taylor is beginning to roll from side to side and she even slept through for the first time last night.’
‘Well, aren’t you a clever girl!’ Melinda said to Taylor. She reached down and held out her finger for the baby to grip hold of and refocused on Rachael as Patti had instructed—these sessions were as much about checking in with the mothers as they were about assessing the babies.
Having offered to sit in on Melinda’s first few appointments, Patti had been called away to help her elderly mother, who had had a fall. Melinda was on her own.
‘Don’t show fear,’ had been Patti’s parting advice. ‘New mums are like horses—they can smell fear a mile off. Act confident and sure of yourself. If you have any problems or think something is wrong, ask them to make another appointment for next week.’ She’d smiled. ‘You’ll be fine. You’re a paediatric nurse, so you know all of this. It’s just a matter of applying it in a different context, okay?’
‘How is Taylor sleeping generally?’ Melinda asked in her most professional tone.
‘Okay. I mean, she still wakes up three or four times a night mostly. Last night was out of the ordinary and…’ She stopped as her eyes filled with tears. ‘I had a bit of a freak-out this morning when I first woke up and realised she hadn’t woken.’
Melinda understood. ‘You thought the worst? That’s perfectly normal.’
‘Yeah, I did. Stupid of me. She was still asleep, breathing away just fine. Then I felt bloody ridiculous.’ Rachael brushed her tears away and smiled again. ‘Crazy, huh?’
‘Not at all. It would’ve given you a fright. However, you can probably expect she’ll do this from time to time now. In fact, with any luck, she’ll do it every night from now on and last night wasn’t a once-off! How old is she again? Seven weeks?’ Melinda glanced down at the book to check.
‘Eight,’ the new mum answered.
‘A lot of babies can have a night here and there of sleeping through at her age.’ She paused. ‘But all babies are different.’ She focused on Rachael. ‘What about you? How are you feeling?’ She picked Taylor up out of the pram and held her over her shoulder.
Rachael sniffed. ‘Mostly I’m okay. Just sometimes when I get a fright or she doesn’t feed easily, I get a bit teary. It’s not often, just…’ She broke off and it seemed to Melinda she was unable to finish because she was working overtime not to cry.
‘That’s common too, you know. Having a new bub is a big change for everyone and these little cherubs don’t come with a manual.’
Rachael seemed to gather herself. ‘It was just the fright I had this morning.’
‘Crying is healthy,’ Melinda reassured her. ‘As long as you don’t do it all day, every day.’
‘Marty is such a help too,’ Rachael said. ‘He baths her and changes nappies when he’s home. I really don’t have anything to complain about. Do you know, my friend,’ she seemed to brighten, ‘she had her baby two weeks ago and her hubby hasn’t changed a nappy yet!’
‘He might need some practice,’ Melinda said dryly, happy to see Rachael was recovering herself so quickly. She made a mental note to ask about this again at the next appointment, but she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary here.
‘Right, maybe you could undress Taylor and we’ll pop her on the scales.’ Melinda gave her another big smile and handed the baby to her mum.
‘How’s your husband coping with the new routine?’
‘I think he’s getting used to it. It’s a bit tough when he’s on night shift and needs to sleep during the day. I try to make sure she doesn’t cry very much then, so she doesn’t wake him. If she’s unsettled I put her in the pram and take her for a walk. Makes it easier to sleep when it’s quiet.’
‘Sleeping during the day is hard work,’ Melinda said. ‘Even when you’re used to it.’
‘Yeah, Marty said as much, but every time I go past the bedroom door I hear him snoring, so she can’t be keeping him awake all the time!’ she laughed.
‘I know when I was working night shift at the hospital, I’d sleep like the dead for the first few hours after I got home, but then noises would wake me quite easily.’
Taylor started to cry as her jumpsuit was taken off. Melinda watched as Rachael expertly removed her nappy and popped her onto the scales.
‘Have you got any concerns about Taylor at all?’ Melinda asked while she waited for the scales to freeze on the weight. ‘Ah look, there we are. Four point six kilos—a gain of about six hundred grams. Very nice.’
‘Oh, that’s great! I always feel it’s a bit like a test coming in here—you know, how good I’m doing as a mum. As soon as I know she’s put on weight, I relax!’
‘I hope I’m not as scary as a test. That wouldn’t be cool!’ Melinda flashed a large grin and repeated her previous question.
‘No, no concerns.’
‘How’s everything for you since the birth? No pain or discharge?’ She started to work her way through the list of questions that Patti had left for her.
Within another ten minutes she had everything wrapped up and she was showing Rachael out of the door.
A feeling of triumph surged through her. She’d got through her first appointment as a child health nurse and she’d nailed it!
Chapter 15
1945
The man finished burying the woman’s body and placed his shovel in
