| Pansy - and a toothbrush |
It’s been almost a week now since a self-righteous cabbie had a “slip of the pedal” and rear ended me while I was stopped at a red light.
At first I didn’t really think too much of the incident because it wasn’t like it was a high speed car crash or anything, and in all egotistical honesty, because it’s not uncommon for me to live in waist expanding yoga pants and baggy sweatshirts, day and night, and then to fail to run a brush through my hair or sweep a toothbrush across the fuzz on my teeth in the morning before dropping my husband off at the train station, I was catastrophically mortified by the fact that I had to actually get out my car looking like a rumply mess of knocked up haggardness at one of the busiest intersections in the city during morning rush hour.
Once I arrived home however, and my adrenalin started to subside, I realized that my neck hurt a bit and that I had a throbbing headache. I googled “pregnancy + car accident” and was sent into immediate waves of panic and fear because after any sudden impact or jolt during pregnancy, there is a risk the placenta can separate from the uterus.
With trembling fingers, I phone my OB. I live only about 45km from the Toronto hospital where I am being followed for this pregnancy and the nurse insisted I head over for immediate assessment. That would have been fine if it wasn’t at least a two hour drive through rush hour traffic to get downtown and I wasn’t a quivering ball of frazzled nerves and a potential hazard to other drivers on the road at this point.
What to do? What to do? Go to nearest local hospital that, to the best of my knowledge, is staffed with grumpy chimps, or travel two hours through rush hour with a quivery bottom lip and unsteady footing downtown Toronto to a hospital that has a reputation for world class health care, technology that isn’t from circa 1943 and competent staff?
I haven’t exactly had pleasant experiences at our local hospital and have yet to meet an emergency department staff member that isn’t a heartless and cold asshole. Take the Neanderthal for example, who had to x-ray my ass for a bowel obstruction a week after a crash c-section and the death of my baby and insisted on reminding me that I have no children, or the time when my naughy bits became a satanic fire breathing pit of hell that urinated razor blades of infectious bladder organism and I had to wait 5½ hours for a doctor to prescribe antibiotics for relief. The worse though, was when I had to wait 6 hours in a busy emergency waiting room on a Saturday afternoon and miscarry my second baby in a room full of people who witnessed me turn blue in the face from hyperventilating and crying. Eventually, in the privacy of an exam room, after blood work and ultrasound I was finally told that, “officially, I was no longer pregnant,” without even a hint of a face softening spasm of compassion.
Despite harboring a lot of resentment towards that hospital, I felt like I didn’t have a choice in the matter after the car accident but to go back there. It was close and my husband was stuck on a train commuting into the city, and I was alone and had to get myself to a hospital right away.
Surprisingly, it really wasn’t an overly unpleasant experience, mostly because the triage nurse was gracious and gossamer and a little kindness goes a long way. Despite the fact that the bathroom in my room had an unidentifiable puddle of wetness on the floor and whoever was in the room before me forgot to flush the toilet, mostly, I was lonely. It didn’t make sense for my husband to leave the city and come and be with me because I would have been transferred downtown Toronto (where he works) in an emergency situation anyways, but dammit, I’m a pansy, and I bore easily and I was scared and I wanted someone to bring me a toothbrush.
This incident has been a bit of a wake up call that we have no one here who can help us if something happens to me or the baby while Mark is away at work. Rush hour prevents any sort of break speed ability for Mark to get home quickly, and I have a heaving pregnant belly that could very well burst into labour with the same cervix dilating intensity and frequency of contractions as when I was pregnant with Ava.
What do people do in situations like this? Labels: Pregnancy |
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Karla,
I couldn't imagine being in your situation and not having anyone around to depend on.. so unfortunatly I don't have the answers you so desire. But I will say try your best not to worry. Although I can't believe that that queen of worry is telling you not to worry! But in all honesty I know that worrying makes any sitaution seem much worse then it is. I apologize for babbling and not really making a whole heck of a lot of sense!
You are continuing to be in my thoughts daily. I hope in some small way that helps.
Hugs!
I have been in your situation three times actually. But... I have no answers. I've always been rather 'independent' of sorts.
I guess looking back, I just didn't think about it or worry about it. I figured I'd deal with everything as and if it came.
Karla: Try not to worry you will just have to get yourself to the hospital as soon as possible. Do you have 911? Could you call and have an abulance come and get you. I wish I had some advice.
Hey on another thought there is always Crazy Nancy! (WINK)*
*Totally kidding on the nancy part if you could not tell
If you know a neighbor that can drive and is home you could set something up with them.
You could get someone like a family member or close friend who isn't working to move in.
If you are really worried you could call an ambulance.
If you are less worried you could get a cab.
And if you are not worried at all you could get a bike messenger to carry you on his or her back to the hospital.
Diguise yourself as a package for the last one..
Panic!
No, just kidding.
I would say if you have no relatives or close friends that can help you at the drop of a hat, (and how many of us really do?) I would almost say that you find someone you trust and offer to hire them as a driver as needed. Either that or a neighbor or whatever.
Not so sure about the bike messenger, though... ;)
what about crossword lady,s husband did she not offer that kind of help when you were pregnant with Ava?
I'm really glad you went to the doc, just to be sure. You can NEVER be too sure!! See, already a wonderful momma :-)
As for being in town alone, do you have any type of support system close at hand at all? Seems like a dumb question, seeing as you drove yourself to the hospital. I wish I had an answer for you, but I don't :-(
Hmmm... sounds like a bit of a predicament. I don't have any advice, but I expect that when the time comes, the pieces will fall into place and you will find the strength you need to get you where you need to go.
I have to say this I hate the Neanderthal. Every time I recall that story I want to hunt that a-hole down and strangle him...is that bad? LOL
We have the same problem here with Makily. The local hospital is really afraid of her and they have no clue, I honestly had to spell some of her past surgeries to one of the nurses there once.....i kid you not. I understand your not wanting to go to your local hospital completely. The last time we had an emergency situation we went to the local until she was stable enough to be transferred to the one in Orlando an hour an a half away. I will admit the local knew just enough to get her stable for transfer. I pray this will be the case with you if the situation arises.
My hope is that you will go into labor with Mark by your side and have the dream labor and delivery you want and so deserve. Praying for you and your little one.
www.caringbridge.com/fl/makilyangel
If you have to, call the ambulance!
I also live w/ no one around to help out like that, one reason we had our first by scheduled induction. But if I was in trouble, I'd definitely ask a neighbor for assistance or call 911.
I would call an ambulance. It is my experience that they are among the nicest people to help in a scary situation. They will bust through rush hour traffic, and take you to the best hospital for the given situation.
Living in the country has the same obsticals as city living. There is little traffic, but hospitals are far away. Either place, an ambulace will get you there in a hurry.
I am happy to hear everything is going well :-)
I have poured over both of your blogs for quite some time now and I wish you all the best with this pregnancy. I've definantly said more than a few prayers for you. I'm glad this lastest hospital visit went fairly pleasent for you!
amberldean.blogspot.com
What about your crazy neighbor lady? Surely she's home a lot...
Have you got friends around? I know that my mom lives nearby, but makes herself astoundingly unavailable at times. Therefore, the first person I'd call in an instance like that would be Julia.
I have found that even though I have people around me, I still panic about what to do in an emergency. Even in the age of cell phones, people are remarkably hard to get a hold of when you need them.
My second tremester miscarriage was awful. I actually made it to the ER, but they shut me up in a room and left me there, all alone.
If that wasn't bad enough, when it was all over, the nurse who came in to 'help' was extremely pregnant, didn't want to be, and seemed to be the most tactless and stupid person I had ever seen.
Really, if I had been older and wiser, I would have done everything in my power to have her fired.
Could you have a consult with your OB about this? They might have something they could 'connect' you too. Volunteer drivers, or something.
You don't need any more worries!
Judy - www.judyh58.blogspot.com
Are there friends living close by that may be called upon. Don't be afraid to ask.. I bet they would be very willing to have their phone numbers available.
And don't be afraid to call an ambulance if needed.
Not a bad idea to have some sort of plan of action.
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Anonymous : October 09, 2006 
