Friday Update

I am officially the easiest antepartum patient, per the resident on call this morning. I mostly keep to myself here and try not to bother anyone. I know that other women in antepartum are big babies, whining about every little thing and as far as I know, I'm the youngest one here. I find that funny. How is it that some of these women are much older than me but are demanding much more of our nurses' attention? Technically, I have never been away from home this long but I try to look at it as good training for when Nick and I finally get our apartment.

But maybe I'm luckier because it's possible these other women don't have a support system as strong as mine. Between my mom, Nick and my grandma, I have everything in my room that I need to survive. That's the biggest piece of advice I could give anyone. Have your loved ones bring you everything you need to feel as normal as possible. I have pictures, my own bath towel, clothing and even my own pillow, which makes all the difference. I also have a fully stocked fridge and snack pile, so when the kitchen closes at 6:30 PM I can still snack if I'm hungry.

Sometimes I still struggle with my loss of independence. I have to rely on everyone else to bring me what I need and I'm so used to being able to do it on my own. Just the other day my phone charger broke and I cried on the phone to Nick because I wasn't able to get my spare and would have to wait until my mom could bring it up to me. It's easy to get "down" while being stuck here but I try to think of all the good things to be happy about. In fact, reading Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, has really given me insight on how to get through this. Morrie, who is dying, stresses that you should enjoy being taken care of and that it is not embarrassing or scary. I know I'm not dying but that piece of advice is so true. Most people were never nurtured as much as they needed or wanted when they were young so this your chance to soak it up. Food for thought.

One thing I could get used to: ordering my food in the morning and having it delivered to me. Now I'm off to dominate my scrambled eggs and bagel. ;)