Thursday, April 26, 2007

This trip to my friend P's house has not been a typical trip. It wasn't suppose to be. I came to be a support for her during surgery. No plans for movies, games, or our normal fun.

It started out at 11:30 pm last night. I had a Get Together and left after it was over. It was a late drive. I wasn't sure how it would go, but I made it. I had a book on tape, but it didn't really help me to stay wake. I had to stop twice to take a break.

When I got to her house last night at 2:30 pm, the children were both awake. They believed it to be time to stay awake. After nursing my son a bonus feeding, he proceeded to cry and carry on when I put him in the travel crib. I ended up going out to my car to get the bouncy seat. J loves it. He finally quit crying. E still had wide eyes. She fussed and didn't want to go to sleep. I gave her two books and told her she didn't have to go to sleep, but she needed to stay in bed. I, however, felt quite strongly about sleeping and closed my eyes and was out. A while later, I roused to see both children sleeping. Since they had finally succumbed to sleep, I continued on in my slumber.

The children were gracious enough to sleep until 8:30. Then while I was getting ready to nurse J on the bed, the bed rail came off and the mattress and box spring fell to the floor. I pried myself off the crooked bed and proceeded with nursing my son on the other bed. Just as I was finishing up with my son, I noticed my daughter fooling around with something. She took it to the bathroom, and I heard rustling. When she came to where I was - upon my request, I saw she had a pest trap stuck to her hand. After I wrestled the thing off, I had to go figure out how to get the sticky stuff off her hand. It was quite coated. Four cleaners later - soap, alcohol, nail polish remover, and mineral spirits - her hand was glue free, and she was admonished to not touch things she finds on the floor.

Some time that morning, I hefted the mattress and box spring off the frame, reattached the side rail, and hefted it all back together.

I wanted to have us all ready to leave by 10:00. I got E some Cheerios and milk to start her off, while I began gathering everything we would need. I put together a bag for E and a bag for J and a bag for me. I made E oatmeal and fed it to her, so I didn't have the big clean up job as when she eats on her own. I had put off getting my own oatmeal and had to shovel it down my throat so we could get going.

We made it to the P's house with time for my daughter to become acclimated before I left her there. She really wouldn't do well at sitting in a waiting room for a couple of hours. So, she got to play while I got to sit.

I was there for support for my friend, as this surgery was very hard for her to allow. But she made it there. She walked through those doors and stayed.

She was suppose to come home today, yet I sit at home while she is still there. She made it through the surgery just fine, but it was the waking up and recovery that was the problem. It took her longer than normal to come around and understand where she was and why she was there. She also had trouble staying awake, even if she in the middle of a conversation. She ended up staying over night. As much as she might want to come home, she just might be safer at the hospital.

After I thought my friend was good hands, I collected my children from their caregivers and headed back to P's house. It was past dinner time and we still needed to eat. McDonald's it was. And finally the kids were in bed, and I could take a moment for myself.