I logged on to this old blog and was surprised that it still existed! I can't believe that it has been so long since I've had a "story to tell". Well, that's not actually true, there have been lots of stories since that last post while I was packing up the old apartment. So that this doesn't become an update from the last several years, lets just assume you follow me on some sort of social media, or perhaps know me in real life (shocking I know), and you have at least a basic understanding of where I am in my life right now: still happily married to my best friend, living in our own little house in P.C., working at a middle school, and expecting our own little bundle of joy any day now. This blog was designed as a place for me to "tell my stories", so, onto a story!
Once upon a time (2 weeks ago) a very pregnant Ginnie went to the doctor for her weekly checkup. The ultrasound was done and it was on to the lab for vitals and the type of sample that is given in a small cup. Turns out, my blood pressure was elevated, so I met with the doctor, had to lay on my side for 15 minutes, and they checked the BP again-still elevated. So across the hall from the doctor I went, into the newly opened labor and delivery center at the hospital and into triage room 1 for fetal monitoring, more labs, and frequent blood pressure checks. Everything calmed down nicely and I was released with orders for a 24 hour urine collection (TMI, I know) and a very large orange container with lid. I was to bring the container back to the hospital lab the next day (Saturday) at 2:30.
So, I spend the next 24 hours at home with my orange container and the next day, head back to the hospital with the container in a cooler of ice to deliver to the lab.
David drops me off at the main entrance while he goes to park the car. I enter with my little brown cooler full of ice and very full orange container and inform the front desk receptionist that I have a sample to drop off at the lab. She quickly informs me that she doesn't know where the lab is (though I feel like her knowing useful facts like that would make everyone's lives easier) but that she'll call them to let them know I have something for them to come get. She gets on the phone, and wouldn't you know it, there's no answer at the lab. She calls someone else and they inform her that you cannot currently get to the lab from the main hospital entrance and that we'll have to enter through the ER. She then lets us know that we can't get the the ER from where we are either, so we'll have to get back in the car, drive around the corner, and try all of this again! At this point, David has parked the car and found me standing and just a little irritated that apparently the main entrance of the hospital is a joke at this point, because you can't get anywhere from there! So, David takes the little brown cooler and we walk/waddle out of the hospital, into the parking garage, up a set of stairs, and back to the car. We drove around the corner, David drops me off at the ER entrance, and he's off to park the car. I give this receptionist the same information-sample for the lab. She looks very confused, so I break it down further, that it's a 24 hour urine collection and that I was sent there from my OB. She asks: "so you had orders for that?" At this point, my thought was "No. I just found this orange container and thought it would be a fun time to collect all of my urine and bring it by!" But instead, I responded politely "Yes" with a smile. She then tells me to go down the hall, turn right, then left again, and I'd be at the lab.
I texted David that I'd go ahead and drop it off, and meet him back out front because I was just ready to be out of there! Off this very pregnant lady waddles with a little brown cooler and a very full orange container. I come to an intersection separated by elevators, and I don't know which RIGHT turn to make. So there I stand, looking for a sign directing to the lab, and here comes a nurse! I was so excited to see someone who I just KNEW could help me. And she did! She was first concerned of course that I was looking for labor and delivery, but then offered to take me to the lab. She took me down the first right, then we turned left at the 3rd hallway, turned left again, then I was abandoned by my new nurse friend with clear instructions to follow the hallway with no turns to make it to the lab.
Down the hall I meandered with my cooler. I'm pretty sure that I was in construction worker only territory, and got some pretty strange looks, but no advice/direction/help, as I traveled down the winding white and plastic covered hallway that smelled like fishsticks. And then finally, like a beacon of hope, I saw a sign "LAB". There was just one issue, this was real lab. This is not where patients were supposed to be. There was no waiting room. No receptionist behind the class. Not even a bench in the hallway. I was standing amongst closed doors with lights turned off! Now, I realize it was probably just the hormones pumping through my tired, hot, and very pregnant body, but I was ready to cry. The tears were building in my eyes and I was trying my best to blink them away. I heard a door open and shut and heard music coming from it! Not knowing which door down the hall it was, I just stood in the middle of the hallway saying "excuse me!" very loudly until somebody arrived! A kind lady came out and I all but threw my very full orange container at her! "I have a 24 hour urine collection that I need to turn in!" I practically shouted. She very calmly took my little brown cooler, probably concerned that I was some crazy lady off the street and we walked into an office where she took out the orange container, emptied my cooler of ice and water, and told a very official looking lady what I was delivering. The Lady in the Lab Coat looked up over her glasses at me to ask if I had orders. Again, my reaction was to say no, but instead I explained everything once again. She told the Very Nice Lady to take me down the hall and to make sure they had my orders entered into the system. So off we went, VNL and very pregnant Ginnie now carrying an empty little brown cooler. Into the office of Sassy Lady Who Was Mad To Be At Work On Saturday. SLWWMTBAWOS asked me again if we had orders for the urine, and I'm pretty sure she was real close to calling security. At this point, very tired and frustrated Ginnie opens her mouth, and what comes out is a soliloquy! "I went to work on Friday, then to the doctor at 10:00, and I had an ultrasound, and my blood pressure was high, and I had to lie down, and my blood pressure was still high, so I went across the hall to labor and delivery, and I was in triage room 1, and Desiree was my nurse, and my blood pressure got better, and the lab work was fine, and they gave me this orange container and told me to collect my pee for 24 hours and to keep it on ice in a cooler and to bring it here and give it to the lab today at 2:30 and that's what I did!" SLWWMTBAWOS was not impressed. She asked where the orders were. At this point VNL chimed in with "lets look in the computer!" Turns out, they weren't in the computer, but had been printed and were sitting on her desk, as which point I was told I could leave.
So off I went. Meandering down the fishstick hallway, back around a bunch of turns while I followed signs directing me to the right for ER or the left for Main Entrance, and I finally found my dear husband, who had never gotten the text because I didn't have cell phone service!
And that's it. We left the hospital, had a late lunch/early dinner, and drove off to visit friends, with an empty cooler.
