Convo: Elliot - Blog Posts

“Hi princess, how are you doing.” Julia grinned as she reached out a hand to pretend to shake little Sawyers one. She knew neither of them could hear her - but that didn’t mean she was going to ignore the baby, she could still see when interaction with her was happening which was just as important. “She’s growing up so fast, but staying just as adorable.” Julia signed with a grin, a little stilted in her hand movements but since meeting Elliot she’d certainly gotten better at sign language. Her knowledge being basic but enough to communicate with patients if needed. Still she felt relief when he pulled out his phone because as much as she wanted to sign to make him feel comfortable, she was often worried what she thought she was saying was…not right, aka she was saying something else entirely. Pulling out her own phone she read his text, moving to type up her own. “Of course! It’s so nice to see you both away from the hospital. Sometimes it starts to feel like that place is an extended part of my own body. Which can’t be healthy.” A small laugh as she blew the baby a little kiss while waiting for Elliot to read her message. @doctorjuliasato

Elliot grinned as he sat up, placing Sawyer into his lap so that he could have his hands free for a moment. If anything, that was by far one of the frequent struggles he didn't expect to have. Having his hands free for signing. Whether it be to his daughter or the people around them. "She really is getting so big!" Hardly able to believe that she had just turned six months. Pretty sure it was just yesterday that he was meeting his baby daughter at the hospital and being signed over full custody of her. Taking a moment to grab for his phone that was laying in the grass not too far off from him. Hoping to make the conversation easier on Julia, deciding to type to her for a bit. Or well, for at least as he could get Sawyer to not wiggle in his lap. Thanks for meeting up with us today- Can't remember the last time I saw you outside of the hospital. He teased with a warm grin his eyes locked on hers, pretty sure that was where there spent most of their time. Or well, at least it felt like that some days. @doctorjuliasato

Julia adored babies, of course she did otherwise she wouldn’t be doing the job she did, but spending time with a healthy one felt like a luxury she was rarely afforded. After all when they came into the ICU it wasn’t because they just fancied some extra tummy time. At the invitation from Elliot to hang out with him she’d jumped at the chance on her day off, glad the sun had decided to come out as well for them all. Not wanting to creep up on him in a way that might scare him or the baby she waited until Elliot looked her way before waving, heading in there direction. “Hey! Look how cute you guys look. Hey sweetheart, aren’t you getting big!” She beamed at the baby while trying to do the best sign language she could, unsure if it had actually made sense or not but hoping for the best.  @elliot-appsley

@doctorjuliasato Central Park

As excited as he was to enter a new season of life with Sawyer, to watch her experience her first Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, Elliot wasn't prepared for the cold weather that came with it. It was the one thing he hated about New York, the blistering cold. So he was trying to make use of the warm days on his days off, to get outside with his daughter as much as he could. Which is how he found himself sprawled on a picnic blanket in the middle of Central Park. Laying flat on his back, raising the baby up into the air above him, laughing as he watched the pure happiness on her little face. Still unable to believe that she was his, that he was a dad. As he brought her back down, supporting her on his chest he turned his head to the side, catching Julia not too far away from the two of them. Giving her a wide and warm grin in greeting.

Julia was well versed in talking to parents about the patterns their babies might fall into depending on outside influences, but right now she was just imparting the most generic for Elliot meaning there was every chance the timeframe could be wrong. “Well, that’s a generalisation, every baby is different.” She attempted to reassure him with a soft, encouraging smile. At his return comment she couldn’t help but chuckle, knowing full well the thing she didn’t often do was lie to preserve a parents feelings because that was a recipe for disaster in the field. If she lied then that would cause chaos with their preparation with what was to come. “I hate to break it to you, but I’d be breaking my oath as a doctor if I told you otherwise, I don’t want to give you a reason to come back to me in a week threatening a lawsuit from misinformation.” She nodded, a half shrug thrown into the mix as well. “Well if there is one thing you can count your blessings for it’s that once she falls asleep a sudden accidental loud noise isn’t going to wake her up. The amount of parents I have bickering in front of me about how one dropped something and woke the baby up…it’s a long list.” @elliot-appsley

A soft smile graced his lips as he watched Julia's hands, not even minding when she got some of the words mixed up with other signs. Pretty sure that he was still getting the gist of what she was trying to ell him. So he gave a nod of his head in encouragement before his eyes switched over to reading what she had typed down afterwards. As he did so, Elliot made a slight face over at Julia. "Months?" He signed with a raise of his eyebrows, pausing for a moment as he grabbed for his food and took a small bite of it. This time reaching for his own phone as well. See, this is where you were one hundred percent supposed to lie and say only a few days or something. Not months. Letting out a laugh as he turned the phone back towards her before he added more. That's what I sort of figured though, that it was just one of the joys of having a baby. She's just done so well with sleeping that I guess it threw me off when she started having some rough nights. @doctorjuliasato

Julia wasn’t good at sign language by a long shot but she always put in an effort with Elliot because she could only imagine how isolating it could feel at work to not be able to communicate with your colleagues as easily as they could with each other. Therefore she lifted her hands instead of writing back this time, slowly trying her best to sign out what she thought was ‘Hopefully this is just a little setback, she will get through it soon.’ But instead she’d managed to say ‘Hopefully this is just a little seatbelt, she will get through the moon.’ Which wasn’t exactly her intention. After pulling a face she reached out to grab the phone again, deciding maybe typing would be more beneficial in this instance. “Babies tend to go through phases, it can disrupt sleep, eating, they can get clingy, but it’s nothing abnormal. Tiring yes - but nothing to worry about and they usually come out the other side in a couple of months.” 

I'm going to get gray hair just thinking about her teenage years. He typed back, shaking his head some. Already having hard enough time trying to wrap his head around the fact that she was already six months old and trying to sit up by herself. Let along partying and dating and all of that. She went a go stretch with only getting up once a night for a feeding and going right back to sleep. But now once she's awake, she's determined to not go back to sleep. Still doing his best at figuring out this parenting thing. Taking a sip of his coffee, Elliot gave a nod of his head at her question. I like to think I do. I have a bedtime routine in place for her, same thing every night. Even on the nights I'm working, my sister or parents follow it. Always thankful for all the people he had in his life to bounces ideas off of, to get suggestions from. Whether it be friends, co workers, or family. @doctorjuliasato

It was strange, knowing she was a mother but not being a mother, something Julia struggled with on her lowest days. Many would question why she worked so closely with children if this was the case but it actually brought her a lot of comfort ironically. Getting to help them in a way she didn’t get to help her own son or daughter was a weird way of her silently repenting for her failure to them. She was grabbing some food, actual food rather than something out of the vending machine for once, mid yogurt when Elliot came into sight. Returning his smile with a small one of her own she lifted the spoon to give it a little wave, nodding to the chair in front of her as a silent invitation to join her at the table. Waiting patiently for him to pass over his phone so she could read it, letting out a small chuckle at the question. A shake of her head as she started to reply. “I wish I could, but she’s going to carry on partying between 1 and 3am, it’ll just be out of the house when she’s older. No I’m joking - she should hopefully start sleeping better soon. Have you got much of a routine for her?” @elliot-appsley

Who: @drjuliarebeiro Where: The Hospital

Ever since becoming a dad, Elliot did his best to try and not work night shifts. Wanting to be home to take care of Sawyer and put her to bed for the night. But there were also times where it couldn't be avoided, where he would have to pull an overnight and that was where he currently found himself. Between a rough previous night with Sawyer, who flat out refused to sleep it seemed like, he had barely caught up on sleep during the day. So when his break finally rolled around, he made his way to the cafeteria. Grabbing the largest coffee he could get his hands on and a hot sandwich to hold him over. Looking around at the tables, he saw Julia not too far off, and made his way over to her. Giving her a tired grin in greeting as he sat and pulled his phone out. Even if you have to lie to me, I need you to tell me that at some point in her little life, Sawyer will want to stop partying from 1 am to 3 am. Letting out an amused huff as he slid his phone over to her.