Is the Wednesday curse broken?

Today was uneventful. For the first time in a couple of weeks nothing happened on a Wednesday. I woke up like I do every morning to a nurse waking me up to give me medication at 6:30am-ish after finally getting to sleep following Baby A's nightly gymnastic routines (now playing at: 11:30pm, 1am, 3am and 5:30am). If her activity during the night is any indication of her life on the outside, I foresee many sleepless nights in our future and the potential need for a leash when she becomes mobile.

Baby A not arriving today makes me a little sad.  First, Gwenda, my mom, was wrong! How did that happen? She's always right. I guess "Celebration Weeks" (the week that starts September 7th on Dave's birthday and ends with mine on September 16th with a little wedding anniversary thrown in for fun on September 10th) isn't quite over yet, but I really thought today was the day. Second, I am getting tired of calling her Baby A. I can't wait to finally call her by her real name.

I am currently taking bets for her birthday. Her estimated due date has always been October 28th, but if you guess anytime close to that I will be very disappointed because I don't know if I can live here for that long.

In addition to the news that Baby A would not be arriving today, I received the great news that my platelet count had rebounded. Last week, I was diagnosed with thrombocytopenia - a big fancy word for low platelet count. It wasn't astronomically low, but low enough that they were concerned that I would be unable to have an epidural due to the potential for bleeding into my spine (no, thank you!). I was thrilled with this news because a) I can still have an epidural and be present for her birth (versus general anesthesia where I would be asleep) and b) decreased frequency of blood work. The vampires were checking my blood every two days, but now they can go back to the routine of every four days.

Art with Hal
Being on the unit for the first time on a Wednesday meant I finally got to go with the heavily advertised (there is a sign on the wall when you walk in the unit and a couple of little posters here and there, heavily advertised alongside washing your hands for this unit) "Art with Hal". Who is Hal? He is a lovely gentleman who has been an architect of 50 years who has a love of all things art, including random foreign films with strange soundtracks, which he shared with me (the soundtrack, not the film). He volunteers for two hours a week on the antenatal unit. He used to volunteer on another unit, but was basically filing papers and wasn't able to share his love of art. He has also been married 3 times and has a nephew that works for "America's Got Talent" acquiring and screening the talent that goes in front of the judges. As the only attendee today I had Hal's full undivided attention, which I think he realized I required with my serious lack of art skills. He starts of by having you pick a picture you like from a pile of about 200. I am very indecisive these days, so this took quite some time.  There are lots of abstract and unusual pictures, but I finally settled on one of birch trees because it looked colourful and easier than some of the other pictures. I then got to trace this picture onto fancy art paper. After that he pulled out all the water colour pencils and water colour paints of various colours. I would like to take credit for my picture, but I will admit, Hal did about 50% of it. He did invite me back next week, if I was still on the unit, to do some more painting and try some different technique. I guess I wasn't that bad of a student. I failed to tell him about the rule of Wednesday's, so he might be disappointed that he doesn't get to help paint my picture next week.

Here is my art. He wouldn't let me take a picture of the original picture for comparison as "art does not need comparison". It's now going on the art wall in the unit


Mouse-Pig
Speaking of art, there are a lot of interesting pieces of art on this floor. My favourite is the picture I have dubbed "Mouse-Pig". There are two "Mouse-Pig" pictures hanging in the antenatal unit - one outside of the room I was originally admitted to on August 17th and the other in the little nook I affectionately call my hiding nook. I go to my hiding nook to sit when I get sick of looking at the walls in my room so I have had a lot of time to study this piece. "Mouse-Pig" is a sassy little hybrid between a mouse and pig who seems to love oranges. I enjoy this piece a lot. I might even miss it when I leave. Maybe I should ask Hal if I can draw "Mouse-Pig" next week?

No more cookies in bed :(

After I got back from 2 hours of "Art with Hal" and dropped my masterpiece off to the Unit Clerk so she could find a place for it along the art wall, I found my bed made with freshly cleaned linens and a note in response to my note. It's an ongoing joke with a few of my nurses that I will escape. I would never actually escape because I fear what might happen if I head out onto the mean streets of Toronto and have a PRI. There are no call bells on the streets, so help would not come quickly. The furthest I wander most days is down the main level to wander around Indigo and stop at Second Cup to treat myself to a small coffee and a massive chocolate chip cookie. This excursion usually occurs after lunch, once the parade of medical practitioners is complete or near complete. Yesterday, my nurse came in as I was finding cookie crumbs in my bed and shirt. I guess she found a few more in the bed when she changed my sheets and decided to let me know. I thought it was quite funny. I love the humour of the nurses of this unit. They are always up for a chat or a joke, but I guess I should stop eating cookies in bed.


Birthday Guesses and Pictures of the Evil Placenta

There has been a lot of mystery surrounding Baby A's due date. As of today, I have yet to schedule a C-Section date. The wait and see approach seems to be the route we are taking right now.  Feel free to leave your best guess as to when the next PRI might take me into the OR to have this little stinker.

Also, how likely would my OR team be to let me take a picture giving the finger to my placenta? I feel I deserve to after all she's put me through.

I am off for now to enjoy the rest of this normal Wednesday. Let's see what tomorrow brings, likely more eating cookies in bed and staring at "Mouse-Pig" but you never know.