Lullabies

Today I spent the day in the hospital to help out a friend. This hospital recently received a new addition and is now quite deluxe but I got lost several times trying to get from one point to the other. I had delivered my oldest 2 babies there but when I had Naomi, the UM system was the only one permitting midwife assisted births so I went there instead.

They do things differently at this hospital vs UM. UM has a dedicated children's hospital whereas this hospital has a peds floor partially filled up with post-surgical patients such as my friend. Everytime a baby is born, a lullaby is played on the intercom. At one point, the lullabies came 2 minutes apart-we were thinking twins. The night before was filled with lullabies according to my friend. Everyone's having babies. You would think that would become annoying after a while but it is just a small part of the constant din. My least favorite noise-the alarms that go off when an iv bag runs out. You can reset them for one minute at a time giving you some peace. I learned to hate these things when Shanna was hospitalized for 2 weeks when she was 10 and shared a room with 3 other girls, some having these bags along with her. I stayed with her the whole time. I'd dutifully call the nurse's station to tell them that a bag needs changing usually to be ignored. This went on all night. So it's not crucial that a bag gets changed right away but what really got me steamed is when they would forget Shanna's pain meds. I was on that intercom right away. Once when ignored and told 'just a minute' five times while my daughter writhed in pain, I interupted a meeting finding the nurse there sipping coffee. YOU get up and give my daughter her medsright now!!!!! I'm at a meeting now. I dont give a F!!! Yep I made plenty of friends there but don't mess with Mama Bear.
Moral: don't leave semi-helpless people alone in the hospital.

To leave the hospital, my friend has to be able to eat. Being a peds floor, baby food is in the patients' food cupboard (complete with signs: Only for Patients!!!-no elaborate fruit plates and pastry displays for patients' families such as the nice Cambridge hospital my grandsons were born in). I reported my findings to my friend to see if any of the flavors appealed to her in the least. No apricots? Sadly no.She settled for pears-a teaspoon full. One small step to getting freed.

I agree with her: baby apricots are the best! They should make them for adults. Indeed they did for a while. Trader Joes carried apricot sauce (and equally yummy-mango sauce). I was a big fan and found ways to make desserts with both sauces. In the morning, I'd mix it (unsweetened) with yogurt and granola. Bliss but now they don't carry either sauce.

Walking is a big part of recovery so I was needed for door openning and to make sure she didn't suddenly become ill away from her room. We'd walk by the kid cages. Patients less than 5 are put in escape-proof crib-cages. Unlike the cribs that my grandson now escapes from, these cribs have tops.

Last night was more cramming for the big micro exam. She seems to be trying so hard-so much for her to learn.
I will go back to the hospital today. Steve and Josh will buy a car so my husband is free to travel this weekend to help a family member's recovery. Then more cramming.