Medical Confusion

I woke up to my phone ringing. With an exhausted yawn I reached over and picked it up. I had to blink a few times to be sure I was reading the caller ID correctly. It was my doctor's office. Why would they be calling on a Saturday? Or was it Sunday? Either way I was sure it was a weekend. They should be closed.

"Hello," I asked.

"Is this Kaylyn," the perky lady on the other end asked.

I yawned again, wondering how any adult had enough energy to sound like that this early in the morning, "It is. What's up?"

"I'm calling to remind you of your appointment scheduled today at 1:30. Will you be coming to that or would you like to reschedule?"

I frowned and sat up, mumbling about being confused. Trying to make sense of the situation I looked very closely at the advanced clock on my husband's bedside table. The clock was programmed to display the time, date, day of the week, and temperature of the room. Today was Tuesday.

"Ugh," I groaned, "Where did the weekend go?"

"I understand," the lady sounded amused, "Do you need to reschedule?"

I opened my mouth to snap at her for finding my confusion funny but then I stopped. With all this Covid stuff going on and being cooped up all the time it was no wonder I was struggling to keep appointments. I probably wasn't the only one either. She likely spent all day having this same conversation with other confused patients who had no idea what day it was. I took another glance at the clock. 10:43 am. I had time to get ready.

"No," I finally sighed, "I'll be there."

"Okay. We'll see you today at 1:30 then," I now realized it wasn't as early in the day as I thought but I still found her perkiness annoying while I was this tired.

"Yep, thank you," I said and hung up.

"Who was that hun," Daniel came in carrying our daughter.

"My doctor. I have an appointment today at 1:30," I explained.

He nodded, "Okay, can you help me get the kids lunch before you go?"

I nodded, "I hope this Covid thing ends soon. At least when they have school I know what day it is."

He nodded, "I agree."

"Mama," Haley stretched away from her father as she reached towards me.

I smiled and held my hands out. She was fifteen months old and always wanted me as soon as I was up. She knew Mommy awake meant milk and a break from her two older brothers.

"As soon as she's done I'll come help you get lunch on the table," I relaxed against my pillows as my beautiful girl latched on and began drinking. The relief was almost instant as the pressure in my breast began to ease up.

Daniel took a moment to smile at us before he left to make sure the boys weren't getting into trouble. Without school to separate them for short periods of time they got into a lot of mischief. My grandmother said it was like having twins. Separate them and they're perfect angels. Put them together and whatever trouble one doesn't think to do the other one does. Haley loved them but they drove her up the wall on a daily basis.

"Hi pretty girl," I cooed at Haley, "Are you staying out of trouble this morning?" I hoped she was. She behaved better than her brothers did but then again she was still a baby. She hadn't hit her terrible two's yet. I prayed her brothers got through their phases before she did but I wasn't counting on it. Elijah was in his thunderous three's and Ryan was in his ferocious four's. I don't think they liked being home all day every day any more than we adults did.

She smiled for a moment then focused back on her morning nursing session. I could feel her little arms wrapping halfway around my rib cage. The small hand on my back rubbed up and down. Even without applying much pressure she still managed to ease the tension in my back just a little. I wasn't sure if her father had taught her to do that or if she'd just remembered how to do it since birth. Then again she could just be trying to give me a hug.

My mind wandered back to when I was pregnant with her. She'd hated the Braxton Hicks contractions squeezing around her. So did I. It didn't matter how many nurses or doctors said it was just mild discomfort. It felt like my guts were being squeezed to a pulp by the Incredible Hulk. There was nothing mild about it.

Of course I had tried to ease them by massaging out the tension in the muscles. Her little limbs had reacted by trying to play with me while I was doing that. One day I had felt a Braxton Hicks start and before it could hurt too much her little hands were digging against the muscles from the inside, rubbing small circles and forcing the walls around her to relax. After that the false labor pains didn't bother me that much because she kept stopping them herself.

When the real labor started I knew it was the real deal. Her massages did nothing and the first contraction lasted for fifteen minutes. She had kicked and squirmed and eventually just went still once she seemed to realize she couldn't just make it stop this time. She was born almost twelve hours later and has proven how smart she is ever since.

Looking at her now I couldn't help but be grateful. She was born before all this quarantine stuff started. I didn't have to get tested for Covid and my husband and our best friend, Joan, were allowed to be there for the birth. I hadn't had to go through that alone. I felt bad for the mothers who now had to because of the Covid pandemic. A few times it took everything in me to just keep hold of my husband's hand. His comforting presence was the only think keeping me from punching the nurses. I remember wanting to but I still can't remember why I wanted to. Maybe I should feel bad for the nurses too. Us women can be mean when we're in labor and being surrounded by strangers didn't help.

Now I hoped this would all blow over before she started school. Elijah had been excited to start school when he turned three but one week before he was supposed to start classes the schools had all shut down to wait out the pandemic. It had taken a couple weeks of explaining to both boys that the sudden stop in school was not to punish them for something. Ryan had begun crying when he was told the bus wasn't coming for him. He thought he'd been bad or something. I didn't want my little girl growing up thinking that not going to school was normal. I also wasn't keen on the idea of homeschooling three kids on three different levels.

I sighed as I realized my thoughts were racing all over the place. It was a good thing that doctor appointment today was with my therapist. I needed to unload my stress again. Also it was good to be sure what day it really was, at least for a day or two.