As per maternity ward policy, DH was required to leave at 8pm. He kissed Eli and I goodbye, and left me lying in bed nursing Eli.
I started to feel the tiredness hit me. What a day.
I woke with a start as Eli slid out of my arms onto the edge of the bed. I immediately scooped him back into my arms, horrified at what had happened. How could I have let myself sleep?? Another few inches he might have been off the bed. I held him close for a moment. He was calm and happy, dozing in my arms. I climbed carefully out of bed and put him in his bassinet.
I turned to climb into bed and was aware of a sharp pain in my left hand. I looked down and to my surprise saw my hand and fingers dripping with blood. In my panic I'd knocked the IV tube out of my hand. It was gushing.
I hesitated for a moment before determining that this was an excellent reason to press my call button! Unfortunately they were less than responsive. I tried again awhile later, and even tried looking out the door to see if I could find a nurse. Eventually Jane showed up - it was past her shift finish time, but the night staff were evidently off doing goodness knows what. I said "Busy night?" and she replied "Nope!" with a glance down the corridor that told me all I needed to know about what the other staff were (or weren't) doing.
The blood was gushing so badly she had to summon another nurse to help. They got me patched up though and all was well.
I climbed into bed and lay facing my baby. He stared at me. I stared back at him. Eventually I realised I should sleep while I could, so I closed my eyes. Then I opened them again - yep, he was still there. Ok. I went to sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment