February 12, 2013
Story by Kerri Robins
Olivia Jordheim is a one-year-old cherub.
She’s chubby in all the right places and sports the cutest, ‘I can do anything’ look on her face.
You’d never know she started life in intensive care, born six weeks premature and weighing in at slightly more than four pounds.
“I had nothing for her other than a pair of socks that pretty much covered her whole leg,” says mom Valene Jordheim.
Four days after Olivia was born by emergency C-section on Feb. 10, Jordheim was discharged.
“But I couldn’t go home and leave my baby,” says Jordheim. “I told the nurses I’d sleep in the hall and wouldn’t bother anybody.”
But the nursing staff at Medicine Hat Regional Hospital had a better idea.
“They gave us a ‘home’ in the family room on the Maternal Child Unit, all nicely furnished and complete with a bed, TV, fridge, microwave, room for a crib; everything my family needed so we could be together,” says Jordheim.
Furnished through donations to the Medicine Hat and District Health Foundation, the family room is used by families when their children must stay in the hospital for an extended length of time.
“We’re thrilled at the support of the community in donations to furnish this room,” says Heather Bach, donor relations co-ordinator. “The room is comfortable and has a warm feeling and, when you walk in, you’re leaving the hospital – so to speak.”
Jordheim arrived at the hospital last February, gravely ill with a fever of 40C, pains in her belly and was extremely disoriented.
“I wasn’t in a position to make any decisions,” Jordheim says. “But with the support and knowledge of a great team of doctors, my husband was a rock.”
Jordheim was suffering from a rare bacterial infection of the amniotic membranes and fluid in her placenta that often proves fatal for the unborn child.
But preemie status doesn’t seem to hold much weight in Olivia’s world. Despite the odds, mom says she’s doing fine with no long-term concerns.
“I’m indebted to the caring staff at the hospital,” says Jordheim. “The doctors took charge and calmly guided my husband through all the information he needed to come to the best decision in our situation.
“And the nurses who took such good care of Olivia when I couldn’t, the family room that allowed us to bond as a family right away – I can’t say enough how grateful we all are,” says Jordheim.
“I still have Olivia’s first gift – a tiny knitted tuque, handmade by a member of the foundation volunteers group.”
For more information, please visit Medicine Hat and District Health Foundation, www.inyourcommunity.ca or call 403.528.8133.
