I Suck At Going To The Hospital

There are days where I wish life mirrored television. After all, in the television world, pregnancies look like a piece of cake. A woman gets pregnant. She has a few crazy cravings. Nine months later, the baby is born. Easy. Viewers rarely see the part where there are complications with the pregnancy. I think in the television world, dying children is taboo.

Needless to say, I wish yesterday were like television. Yesterday, my pregnant wife (Karen) and I went to the hospital. Now, I suck at going to the hospital. During the start of the afternoon, Karen called me while I was working at the office. Normally, I would probably be ecstatic to receive a call in the office from Karen. Heck, I would be ecstatic to receive any phone call in the office because no one ever calls me.

Unfortunately, this call was slightly anxiety-causing. Karen had mentioned how she needed to go to the hospital because she had noticed some bleeding... which for a pregnant person is not exactly good news. Of course, after receiving the news I quickly gathered my things and immediately left the office.

I probably gave myself an ulcer yesterday. I work in Marblehead, which is near Salem. For anyone curious, people in Marblehead (and Salem) drive like my grandmother... if I had a grandmother. I don't know why they drive very slowly, but they do. I'm sure you can imagine how frustrating it is to drive at a snail's pace when you are trying to pick up your pregnant wife to bring her to the hospital.

Needless to say, I was not too happy until I got to the highway, in which case my lead foot basically hit the pedal to the metal. Had I been driving a Toyota, I would probably have gotten into an accident. Just kidding.

Anyway, I picked up Karen at her work and the both of us then drove to the hospital. Obviously, I had to drive a little slower than Toyota-speed now that Karen and our unborn baby (currently named Jicama) were in the car.

And naturally, at the hospital we waited... and waited... and waited for what seemed like an eternity. It's funny how that works. The things that seem so imperative to you (like my pregnant wife having bleeding issues), don't often seem so imperative to others.

This is a side note. I think one of the things that our health care system lacks (across the board) is expectation setting. The same can be said of a lot of things too, like the our awful subway system, politics, whatever. You name it, there is probably a lack of expectation setting in regards to it.

When Karen went into one of the exam rooms, the nurses simply hooked her up to a monitor. They didn't mention anything else. We just sat there for a good hour or two... watching television (and for anyone curious, we watched "The Drs"... there's not a whole lot of quality television in the afternoon). All the while, I kept thinking and worrying about... well... my bleeding pregnant wife. Had someone told us that they needed to monitor Karen for an hour or so to gather data, then I might have been a little more at ease. But by not mentioning anything, I think it only added to my already high stress level because I was just left to wonder about things. That's just my opinion.

Don't get me wrong. The medical staff is courteous and they were great when it comes to answering questions. The problem is just... the actual providing of answers. Answers are only provided when asked. That's great and all, but how is someone to know which question to ask in the first place. My first inclination is not going to ask "so how long is Karen going to be strapped to this machine". That's all I'm saying... expectation setting. (It's like our awful subway system. When a train is having switching problems, don't keep me in the dark and simply tell me the train has been disabled due to switching problems. Tell me when the next train is scheduled to arrive. Expectation setting!)

Anyway, I know I'm going off on a tangent. Heck, I'm starting to sound like a grumpy-gus. I'm simply getting old and cranky these days. And truth be told, I would not be surprised if I broke down soon... both mentally and physically. I can already feel the tenseness in my neck and back which has been building for a while. My body is breaking down and I can feel the exhaustion coming.

After losing our son (Braden) some time ago, the lack of control frustrates me. With Karen's current pregnancy, I've practically taken over most of the household chores. I've given Karen all the pillows we have to help her sleep better. I sometimes just don't know what else I can do to help with our current unborn baby. It's frustrating to have Karen experience bleeding because you know there's nothing you can do about it. The helpless feeling irks me.

Regardless, the doctor did eventually come to check out Karen... naturally while I went to grab a bite to eat. But according to the doctor, Karen and the baby are fine. So that's good news. The doctor simply thinks that the cerclage may have stretched or pulled at the cervix, thereby causing the bleeding. Apparently, that was a possibility of having a cerclage done. (Again, it would have been nice to known that ahead of time... expectation setting.)

Needless to say, it was a relief to hear that everything is good. Unfortunately, I may have been a little too wiped out when I saw my friends (Marc, Kelley, and Andrea) later that night for our usual "Lost" gathering. While Karen rested from the ordeal (doctor's orders), I went and hung out.

Marc made chili. I think it was an Alton Brown recipe. The chili was delicious. But hanging out with them was a good way to relax and unwind for a little while.