Wednesday, February 14, 2007

No News Is Good News ... Right?

I know that my good friend Karen will likely nod with a smirk of understanding on her face but we got bumped. Bumped? Yes bumped. We were supposed to have the ECV at 10:00 this morning but after five hours of waiting, a kind nurse took pity on us and asked if we could come back tomorrow morning at 8:00am as it was a literal gong show in the OR/Delivery ward.

In the five hours that we patiently waited, probably at least 9 women came into triage in full blown labour. The nurse mentioned to us that the past 48 hours has been nothing like she has seen before; a constant, steady stream of women in labour having babies.

I am sure that we were a godsend to deal with as we never got irritated with having to wait, nor were we irritated when we were told to come back tomorrow. And, I am proud to say that my mood was still relatively human after 17 hours of fasting. It was almost relief when the nurse told us to come back as I was starting to feel emotional, dizzy, shakey and of course hungry. It wouldn't be such a difficult feat to accomplish when not pregnant, but at 37 weeks pregnant, I can selfishly say that I was struggling. Selfish in the sense that I know that there are women in the world that are pregnant but likely only eat once in a 24 hour time period. Thankfully I am not one of those women.

I can't imagine what it is like to be a medical professional working in our city at the moment. We are in such a healthcare crunch due to the rapid growth of our city that we just don't have the proper infrastructure to deal with it accordingly. As a result, everyone loses. The patient is left frustrated with waiting and a perceived lack of service and the medical professional? Well ... can you imagine what it would be like to come to work everyday knowing that it will be a zoo in the hospital and you are somewhat helpless to deal with all of the issues at hand? People will be yelling and ripping a strip off of you as they have lost their patience in waiting meanwhile you feel helpless because you want to help ... you just can't.

So ... off we go to the hospital tomorrow. I hope that our wait isn't long and that we are able to get the ECV done. We will go prepared again though like we did today: there is nothing like a few good games of crib to pass time. And if not, then we will try again for Friday. Sooner or later we will get in and at present, this little one in my belly is thankfully showing no signs of wanting to come out any time soon.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

You got bumped on Valentine's Day and not raise hell? Hmm. I admire your positive outlook in life.

Mike
http://somethingaboutparenting.typepad.com/

Anonymous said...

Oh, that sucks! You were a shining example to us all! You'll have to tell me your tricks to staying patient. Praying that all goes well for your!

Goofball said...

OK then I am crossing my fingers today again!

sari said...

Best wishes for all to go well and your good mood to hold!

Sometimes little things drive me bonkers but sometimes I get lucky and the big things don't. It sounds like you're holding up well!

Jenn said...

Allie,

Good Luck tomorrow. As a health care worker I do appreciate your realistic outlook of the health care system.

Jenn