Today is Day 11 in the ICU, and I'm starting to feel like I live here. (Yes, I know that I'm being a little hyperbolic. There are parents who spend months here. They are pretty much rockstars in my book, because I'm already daydreaming about grabbing Bean's IV pole and making a run for it. But then there's that oxygen tank...) So, in an attempt to keep looking on the bright side, here's my list of the 10 Best Things About Living In The ICU.
10. I can drink as much coffee as I want without feeling guilty. Because when you sleep in a room filled with beeping and IV alarms and people wanting to bathe your child at 4:00am, you totally deserve that Frappuccino. Right?
9. There's an unlimited supply of free jello. Okay, so I don't actually like jello all that much. (If a food bounces, it's really not meant to be eaten.) But this could be a big plus for someone.
8. Hhhhhmmmmm...not really sure what to say here, but I need a #8. The 9 Best Things About Living In The ICU doesn't sound quite right. Let's just pretend my sleep-deprived brain couldn't count all the day to 10. (See, my sleep-deprived brain can't even spell the word way, so how can I expect it to count?)
7. It feels a little spy-ninja-esque to need a secret code to get in and out of the unit. (Although it might be a little less ninja-like to show up at Starbucks wearing the giant orange tag that lists Bean's code. Not saying that I did that or anything.)
6. The food
5. What extrovert doesn't want to meet a new friend every 12 hours? I have to confess, sometimes I wish some of my new friends would stick around longer or at least come back every day. (We've had 18 different nurses since we've been here.) On the upside, after eleven days we are getting to the point where some of our old friends come back to say hi, and that's pretty fun. The nurse who was here on that awful 4th of July night came to visit Bean yesterday. (I'm really amazed that he voluntarily came into the same room with me again. He has to be convinced that I'm a little cray-cray.) He was lucky enough get a high five and a wave from Bean instead of the evil eye that she's been giving most people in scrubs.
4. There's an amazing team of medical professionals taking care of my Bean. Every morning, her room fills up with people who stand around discussing her care. Even though I might not love the demeanor of every single doctor, I have felt 100% comfortable with all of them from a medical standpoint. The attending doctor this week is board certified in pediatrics and cardiology. I'm not sure exactly what that involves, but I'm pretty confident it means she's incredibly smart.
3. Someone else does the laundry. I <3 this one. I wake up in the morning, take a shower, and then pop my sheets and towels into a big blue bag. When I'm ready for clean linens, I just ask for more. If only it worked this way at home...
2. I think both nurses and teachers tend to be an itty-bit obsessive, because these nurses have done so many things to make my former-elementary-teacher heart so very happy. I had one nurse who started her shift by wiping down the entire room with disinfectant wipes and then cutting the IV labels into perfect squares. I promise I only told her once or twice or 17 times how much I loved her.
1. Every day we spend here, Bean's heart is getting stronger and stronger. When we go home next year in a few days, my sweet girl will be healthier, more energetic, and oh-so-much pinker. And that makes every single long day or rough night totally worth it.
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