My Journey

No not my weight - that must stay down - forever, FOREVER. LOL

I had the best start to the weekend ever. DH took DS1 off to tennis whilst I packed up the goodie bag to take to Jodies. My theory was that if I packed enough enticing food and games and toys for the boys, then they would leave us alone for at least 5 minutes to have an adult conversation. I put in sandwiches, sausages, fruit (nectarines, grapes, watermelon, rockmelon), fruit bars, cheese sticks and little muffins. And I super filled a bag of toys to keep them entertained for hours. Or so I thought. It always takes a visit to another house to make me realise how talkative, inquisitive, exhasperating my two boys are. Jodie was the most gracious host and did not make me feel like we invaded her home (which we did) and we had a great time. I am so grateful that she invited us into her home, in the midst of her own eventful week (she can fill you in on this) and we spent quite a few hours talking, looking at baby stuff and more talking. And oh, if you ever go there for a meal, pre-order the baked potatoes - yummmm, though it comes with a word of warning, it is very hard to stop at six. ;D

When I drove out the driveway I thought I would have a nice peaceful drive home as I was certain my two would be asleep by the time I turned the first corner and I could drive the rest of the way without listening to Aladin for the millionth time. I could not be more wrong. Only 10 minutes in and DS1 started complaining of having a sore stomach. Sore to the point where he started screaming and crying. Then he would calm down and start to fall asleep before it all started again. I pulled into a servo to get some lemonade hoping it would cause him to burp and perhaps release some gas but that didn't work. I rang DH and made arrangements to collect him and head to the Dr's. I am not normally a panicked person but the sounds coming out of this young child was almost more than I could bear. By the time we reached the clinic DS2 had fallen asleep so DH and DS1 headed in. 5 minutes they were back with instructions to go to North Shore Hospital Emergency to request an apendicidis check. So off we went and OMG was emergency busy. 5.00pm on a Saturday and all the sporting injuries were in. A busted arm courtesy of netball, a broken wrist courtesy of soccer, and a broken ankle courtesy of rugby. That's it my kids are playing chess!!

We were taken out of the main waiting room pretty quickly and into the childrens emergency waiting room. After a few questions and prods and instructions to get a sample we were left alone. For 4 and a half hours. 4.5 hours of reading stories. 4.5 hours of keeping DS2 (who is 19 months old) entertained by competing in a "who can jump higher contest". 4.5 hours of being asked "can I eat something soon please" to which the reply was always "we need to see a Dr first to see if it is OK". 4.5 hours of numerous trips to the toilet as T.O.M. hit unexpectedly and I was unprepared (isn't it always the way). Anyway I digress, I was never more proud of my boys as they played, read, and actually behaved themselves so well during this time. After 4.5 (that .5 is very important!!) hours had passed and the Dr had not yet come to see us, DS1 had not complained of pain for more than 2 hours and I made an executive decision that we were going home. I explained to the Nurse that I felt DS1 was OK now and unless the urine sample we sent in had something wrong with it we were leaving. She checked the form and said it was all fine - thanks and have a good night.

Please don't get me wrong. I am extraordinarily happy that I have access to a good hospital, and nurses, and doctors. I just think there is something amiss with the system that allows only 1 Doctor on, in the childrens emergency section at a time. By the time we left our section was very full and after I advised another mother her cardigan was on inside out we said goodbyes and wished them luck. I think they were in for a long night. We, on the other hand, headed straight for McDonalds (for the boys of course - we ordered pizza LOL) and went home for a very late night.

So that was the down bit. The up bit was getting to enjoy every second of todays Autumn weather. What a cracker. 23degrees. Sunny. Little bit of wind. The perfect day to go to the beach for a brisk walk, hit the shops for some wool (DS1 loved the crochetted rug at Jodies and placed his order for one in Buzz Lightyear colours), put together a flat pack IKEA shelving unit and watched the Australian Grand Prix. Yep it was a top day :D

*** Edit

Blogger has been playing up for me lately and I am finding quite a few blogs that I read I am unable to comment on. Sometimes I can't comment at all and sometimes I can only comment if there has been a comment left already. It is really strange. So if I have your email address you will see my comments there until Blogger settles down.

Posted by Margaret on Sunday, April 02, 2006 at 8:55:00 pm | Permalink