Speed Racer

I had made my peace with the idea that I was going to be confined to the Labor and Delivery unit of this hospital for approximately 4 weeks. Over the weekend, my nurse asked if I'd been down to the cafeteria or outside to the courtyard at all? I explained that my doctors had told me from the beginning that I was not allowed to leave the floor. She kept bringing up the issue every time she came in my room. I wanted to tell her to stop rubbing it in!

Later that day, one of my OBs came by with the daily line of questions and quick exam. He was about to leave the room when my nurse popped in the door and said, what about letting this lady have a wheelchair ride?? She even went on to say how well things were looking and that she thought it would be good for me to have a change of scenery. My OB looked pretty hesitant. I have to admit the idea was exciting but I didn't want to push my doctor out of his comfort zone. Finally he said if I was up to it, he was okay with it and left before I could say anything.

The nurse offered to call a volunteer to take me on my outing but I knew I wanted to wait for Greg. Greg had just left to run some errands so I called him and gave him the exciting news hoping he would hear the urgency in my voice, finish his errands faster and hurry back! While he was gone I contemplated all the places we could go. The problem was that I didn't know the hospital very well, all I'd really seen was the L&D unit, I came to the conclusion I didn't care where we went just as long as I was out of this room!

When the nurse pulled the wheelchair up to my room Greg looked even more excited than me. It was a pretty deluxe chair. As soon as I sat down Greg took off speeding down the hall! The nurse laughed but I was sure she was going to stop him and revoke my privileges. Even worse, I thought one of my doctors would see me and order me back to bed. I told Greg to behave, I didn't want to get in trouble before we had even left the unit!

Getting into the elevator was a challenge. Greg bumped the chair (and me) into the walls and struggled to make room for the other visitors. A man and a woman waited patiently then got in the elevator with us. The woman looked at me and asked, "Are you in labor Dear?" I answered with the first words that came to my mind, "No, I live here." She looked confused. It seemed like she wanted to respond but the elevator doors opened and Greg pushed me out laughing hysterically.

Greg is a very good and cautious driver, in a car. I never would have guessed he would be a speeder when it came to driving a wheelchair (what will he do with a stroller??). This led to lots of questionable looks as he sped his 81/2 month pregnant wife through the cafeteria. I felt a little self conscious, like maybe people thought I was really hungry. We had a little snack and then Greg told me he wanted to take me to the aquarium. I didn't know how far away the aquarium was but Greg assured me he knew a short cut.

There was no short cut, just more of Greg's speeding! The aquarium was beautiful and located in the middle of a room full of windows. Even though I have a window in my room it doesn't get a lot of sunlight. The warm sun felt amazing on my skin. It truly is the little things that can make such difference here in the hospital! I made it back to L&D in one piece but not without more speeding and a minor crash into a Ronald McDonald statue. It was a very exciting outing :) I had such a good time with my hubby. I love hanging out with him and he never fails to make me smile.

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