On the Upswing

I sat in the room waiting for the doctor to come back and tell me what was going on.  It felt like hours, but was more like 15 minutes.  The doctor walked in and I stood up.  “We fixed it.” She said.  They had to remove a clot that was preventing my wife’s uterus from contracting and that was what caused the hemorrhage.  All was well on that front. A few minutes later they rolled my wife back into the room. She was pretty heavily sedated at this point and there wasn’t much more excitement the rest of the night. 

I woke up the next morning and was pleasantly surprised to find my wife awake and feeling moderately better. I walked down to the NICU to see the girls and sit in on Doctors Rounds. After the experience the night before when my wife asked for an update on the girls, I was determined to give the best damn report possible. When the doctors came around I was ready. I asked questions, took notes, rattled off a few words I’d picked up from my wife over the years.  I had it covered no matter what question I got asked when I went back to the recovery room. 

On the way back in I ran into my wife’s nurse and thanked her for everything the night before. I also asked her, as a nurse, what info she would want to know if her kids were in the NICU and her husband was giving a report.  She said, “Well, why don’t you tell me what you know.” I started rattling off my notes and after a minute or so she looked at me and said, “Umm, yea that pretty much covers it. Are you in the medical profession?” I was flattered and told her that I wasn’t, but that my job as a Project Manager has made me really good at getting up to speed on topics that aren’t exactly my trade.  With that I walked back into the room and gave my wife the report… With no incident this time! By the afternoon the day after the girls were born my wife was doing well enough to make a trip to the NICU meet the girls.  Things were finally starting to look up.  I was really looking forward to the reunion…and was pretty sure I’d be crying again.  

Next Post: Crying Over Spilled Milk