you’re going to touch her lip with the nipple of the bottle to let her know it’s there.”
“Then what?” I asked, hoping I hid the trepidation in my voice.
River laughed. “Chances are she’ll do the rest of the work. If not, I’ll be here to help.”
With those vague words of reassurance, I touched the tip of the bottle to Blue’s lip and watched in amazement as her head turned toward the nipple, and her lips started moving as if she was trying to find what touched her with her mouth.
“That’s called rooting. It means she’s looking for her food source, because she’s ready to eat. Go ahead and put the nipple in her mouth. She’s probably so pissed off right now she’ll latch on like a champ.”
That’s exactly what she did, emptying the small bottle of formula in what had to be record time. “How do I know if she’s still hungry?”
“You’ll know because she’ll continue to look for a food source and she’ll start to cry when she doesn’t find one. I’ve got a handout that goes over what each type of cry sounds like and means. I can’t stress to you how much easier your life will be if you take twenty or thirty minutes to commit everything on that piece of paper to memory. Also, I have a magnet you can stick on your refrigerator that tells you how much to feed her and how often.” River cleared her throat and shifted her weight. “You’re aware that the hospital is obligated to notify the police about this situation, right?”
“I’ve already notified them,” Copper interjected. I glanced at him in surprise, and he answered my question before I could ask it. “Right after Blue pissed all over my phone. I had to use Layla’s. You owe me a new cell phone, by the way.”
“Knock, knock,” a woman called out as she entered the room.
“Oh, Dr. Daniels, we’re so glad to see you,” Leigh said sincerely.
“I certainly wish it was under better circumstances,” she said while washing her hands. “Now, let’s have a look here.” With gentle movements, she carefully examined Blue, taking a close look at her umbilical cord. She put a tiny stethoscope to her chest and listened, then did the same to her back.
“I’m probably about to make her mad. I’d like to apologize for that now,” Dr. Daniels said and did something with Blue’s legs that caused her to let out an angry wail. “Just checking to make sure her lower joints are intact and stable. Some babies are born with their hips dislocated or very loosely in place.”
She continued to examine Blue, who was still fussing but not exactly crying. My eyes remained trained on Dr. Daniels, watching every move she made. It didn’t matter if Blue was or was not my daughter; I silently declared myself her guardian and protector until that position was proven to be mine or the person it rightfully belonged to was found.
When she was finished, she carefully wrapped Blue in a blanket the same way Leigh had. Seeing how it seemed to instantly comfort Blue, I said, “I’m going to need one of y’all to show me how to do that magic blanket thing.”
Every woman in the room laughed. “That’s called swaddling, and I’ll show you how to do it when things settle down unless an opportunity presents itself before then,” Leigh said.
Dr. Daniels cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention. “First, Baby Black appears to be a healthy baby girl. After examining her, I estimate her age to be between six and twelve hours old. It does appear that she was cared for by someone with at least a little bit of medical knowledge and access to medical supplies judging by the way her umbilical cord was cut and clamped. However, due to her age alone, she’ll be admitted to the hospital for at least twenty-four hours, if not longer. Under the circumstances, we’re going to assign Baby Black a bed in the newborn nursery, but we’re going to also reserve a room on the Mom and Baby unit for you—and the mother should she be located. That way, Blue can stay in the room with you as much as you want. If you need to take a shower or get a few hours of sleep, you can ask your nurse to take her to the nursery,” she explained.
“My nurse?” I asked.
She chuckled. “The nurse assigned to Blue. Typically, mom and baby have the same nurse, unless