I think I must have stepped on a crack in the sidewalk, spilled salt, opened an umbrella in the house AND passed a black cat, because the past 24 hours have been the worst!!

I had fierce contractions last night, and taking the Procardia didn’t help. I then tried the Terbutaline, but 2 hours later, they still hadn’t slowed down or decreased in intensity. I didn’t want to go to the hospital, so I decided to lie down in bed, and took an Ambien to help me fall asleep.

While we were reading, Tim startled me just as I was placing an orange-flavored LifeSaver into my mouth, and I swallowed it whole. It got stuck in my throat, and hurt like HELL. I could breathe and talk, but it was STUCK. Tim tried to thump my back in between my blades (he was just a tad freaked out), and I tried coughing it up, drinking water and eating a grape. I was panicking and finally, Tim had the idea to make me some hot tea to melt the candy down so I could actually swallow. It worked like a charm.  My throat feels bruised whenever I eat something, but other than that I am fine.

However, in the midst of this, Tim ran right into the side of the couch and banged his knee so hard that he was bleeding. It was already starting to welt, so I played nurse (not the naughty kind, more’s the pity!) and cleaned, bandaged and iced his wound. His knee wasn’t swollen today, but it is very red and will leave a mark for awhile.

BUT WAIT! There’s more.

At 6:30am, I received a phone call from my little sister. She was hysterical and I couldn’t understand ANYTHING she was saying, except the words, “Mom’s not breathing!” Eventually, I found out that mom had gone to the hospital last night for a severe migraine, and the stupid nursing staff at the hospital overdosed her on one of the medications. The medication caused a seizure while she slept and her heart stopped – LUCKILY only for a few minutes before my sister found her. Apparently she was ice cold, stiff and blue. My poor sister! I can’t imagine finding my mom that way. An ambulance came, and finally my mom threw up and was breathing again.  Tim drove me down to San Jose to see my mom (this time at a different hospital – THANK GOODNESS!).  

This experience has soured my outlook on the medical system in San Jose, because it took 3 hours before a doctor came to see her, even though we asked about 7 times, and a total of 6 hours before they gave my mom any medication for the pain she was in! It has, however, made me extremely grateful for the amazing staff at St Helena Hospital; they are much more efficient.