Hospital happenings

So, this post is a while in coming, but I haven't had the patience to sit down and type whilst recovering. Since I am now back at work, my patience level (or my need for distraction) has increased.

As I sat on a gurney in pre-op well before seven in the morning, wearing an inflatable purple hospital gown and chatted with DH, I saw a short man pass outside my "room" a few times. He looked familiar but I couldn't place him, likely because I don't see too well when wearing my glasses. Finally, he poked his head around the curtain and we determined it was Dr. M, DH's urologist! He asked why I was there, etc. Then, I told DH that he should tell Dr. M our news. DH responded, "He doesn't know?" Somehow, in his ignorance, DH must think that my pregnancy is being talked about in doctors' lounges all over the Twin Cities. Of course, Dr. M was very happy for us, but was ever so slightly smug at the idea that it really is just a matter of time as long as there is some sperm. Ah, the ever hopeful urologist.


All of my nursing staff was excellent, but the nurse that came on at midnight was an IF sister. My surgeon and I had discussed having someone come in to monitor the baby after the surgery, just for my peace of mind. I knew that it was kind of iffy that a doppler would work at just over 10 weeks. But there was no way I was leaving that hospital without some sort of reassurance the baby was ok. I didn't want to have to go into bitch mode and get "insistent," but I was prepared to do what I had to do. The first thing I told my day nurse when I arrived on the post-surgical ward (just done the hall from the birth center, conveniently) was that I expected to have someone try a doppler. She tried to explain that it wasn't ordered in the computer. Between groans of pain, I made it clear, it had better get ordered. By the time the afternoon shift came on at 4:00, apparently a notation had been made and the nurse called over to L&D and was told they were really busy and full of babies, but would send someone over at some point during the night. No one seemed nearly as concerned as I was that the time kept slipping away.

At midnight, Nurse B came on the scene and came in introduce herself, check my vitals, and all that jazz. Although half asleep, I mentioned that I was still waiting for L&D to come. She asked me if this was my first pregnancy and I told her yes and that it was quite a while in coming. She high-five me and asked, "IVF?" I said, "No, we're actually one of those cliches that happened the month prior to starting the birth control pills." Then, she told me that she had done ivf three times before having her twins. She told me she understood how I felt and was off to call L& D right then because "they shouldn't have that much to do at this time of night." Not sure what she told them, but someone arrived within thirty minutes.

Nurse B made sure to poke her head in after the L&D nurse finally left and make sure I was ok with the results. I couldn't thank her enough. She chatted with me a bit about our infertility diagnosis and the clinic I had been to and told me that the anxiety never really went away for her entire pregnancy. Then, she left me to sleep. I feel like I got my very own IF angel who was watching out for me.