Thursday, November 6, 2008

Bed-restless

I've come to the conclusion that the words "hospital" and "bedrest" belong nowhere near each other. Sure, I am confined to the bed all day, but I would definitely never describe my time here as restful. For one, a nurse comes in every hour to check on me, day or night (at first, they were also taking my vitals every hour, but that's now been knocked down to every 4 hours, thank goodness). Plus, I have to use the commode every 90 minutes or so, due to the massive amounts of water I am drinking and all the IV fluids they're pumping into me. Add to that 5am visits from the residents, midmorning visits from the doctor, daily ultrasounds, twice-weekly physical therapy, twice-weekly massages, twice-weekly weigh-ins, and daily visits from chaplains, volunteers, patient relations, room service, and housekeeping, and it's hard to squeeze in a nap, let alone a full night's sleep!

I guess all this activity is good for me, though—it makes the time go by a little faster and helps to keep my mind off of home (have I mentioned that I miss Ted terribly during the day?). And yesterday I actually got to make a new friend; at the doctor's suggestion, a nurse put me in a wheelchair and took me down the hall to meet a girl who is 22 weeks pregnant with triplets. She was admitted on Monday and, like me, is probably here for the duration. I am hopeful that we will get to visit each other again soon so that we can keep each other encouraged during the long weeks ahead. Even though 28 weeks is the short-term goal (for an 80% survival rate versus 50% at 24 weeks), we would both love to gestate our babies much longer than that—the less time they have to spend hooked up to all sorts of stuff in the NICU, the better!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

So glad to see that you were feeling inspired to post. You're such a tropper! Love ya lots!
Julieta

Anonymous said...

You're doing a great job!! How fun that you have a friend now at the hospital. Maybe she has a laptop too and you can IM each other! ;) Keep it up! I'm looking forward to seeing you next!

Anonymous said...

I agree that hospitals are anything but restful. I asked to go home early after Caroline was born because I was so tired of people walking in on me at all hours. I was so thrilled to have a child who slept (Kate never did) and I wanted to enjoy it for a little while. It's good to have someone to share your bedrest experience with. You'll probably end up at those MOMS meetings together, huh?

Suzy said...

Yep, the girl down the hall actually is in my MoMs group ... we just never met until now. :) She didn't have a laptop when I saw her yesterday but I hope she gets one soon for her own sanity's sake!

Anonymous said...

Yay for a new friend--that is so funny that you're both experiencing the same crazy, "bed-restless" days at the same time! I know I may have mentioned it before, but I highly recommend the Australian Project Runway on Youtube. With each episode broken up into little 10-minute segments, maybe you can fit it in between all the measuring and weighing and poking stuff those docs are doing. :)

Anonymous said...

Ugh - those 5am residents visits are cruel and unusual punishment! I'm so glad you and the other MOM found each other. That really does help pass the time.

Are you totally sick of the food yet?

-Christine

Suzy said...

Christine: Yes I am totally sick of the food! Didn't think it would happen this soon, but I guess everything gets old after a couple of weeks. :)

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...