Monday, November 08, 2010
Long Day
"Huh? Where?"
"Labor room."
I sprang from bed. Must have been adrenaline rush. Half-panicking I walked down the stairs, did a final check on the seven-week-old luggage in the trunk and added my favorite malong in the bag.
After a quick bite, we headed of to the lab to pick up some test results done last Saturday. I found myself getting impatient. "Where's the in-charge? The sign says 7AM - 5PM." And only to find out it was still 6:45a.m.
By 7:30AM, we were at the door of the labor room. It was the beginning of another round of tests to check on the baby. Only the mother is allowed in so I stayed outside, with her girly handbag and a pile of clothes as she had changed into hospital clothes. I kept pacing the floor for an hour or two before I decided to have a quick breakfast.
After breakfast, I met some people from CordLife, while texting and calling some of my wife's clients. So I had a few hour's worth of experience in her shoes, how it is to be in sales. After getting her some food, it became quiet, too quiet. No calls, no text messages. Too quiet that I was able to finish two local newspapers.
Near noontime, I was advised to get a room and wait. By this time I had drained my mobile phone's batteries after using it as a radio and I may have probably worn down my slippers by a few millimeters.
After a quick lunch, I went back to the waiting area. My favorite radio station has already switched to Chinese. So I had no other form of entertainment but looking at the new babies in the nursery.
After a few hours, I decided to go home, pick up a few documents, my netbook and maybe a new reading material. When I came back, my wife met me at the door and told me to stay in the room and watch cable. I complied but wasn't really interested in watching any TV.
At about 4PM, the nurse called informing me that my wife requested to be brought to the room to 'freshen up'. I didn't understand what it meant to I went to the labor room to fetch her. The labor room is on the second floor of another building while our room is on the tenth of another building, a good 10 minute walk.
While waiting for the orderly and the wheelchair, I bought my dinner and a few snacks and cola for the night. She was very happy to be in the room as the labor room was bare, devoid of any entertainment and no mobile phones allowed. The only sound any mother-to-be would hear are moans from labor pains, not a good place to be.
We had dinner. She had a chance to check e-mails as we had in-room wifi access. Had an hour or two just laughing and staring at each other, then watching her favorite tv show. After freshening up, she was wheeled back to the labor room at around 10PM.
So here I am now, 12 midnight and about to fall asleep when I received a call. If labor does not progress tonight, CS will be performed at 5AM.
So here goes another can of cola...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment