The final countdown

3 more work shifts to go. Not that I'm counting or anything! Last night was one of my call shifts and of course, I was called in. When we started doing these mandatory call slots this summer, I knew what was going to happen. When I was early-mid pregnancy and felt great, they'd never call me in, but when I was in the third trimester uncomfortable, waddle stage, I would. And I was correct. I think the evening charge RN felt bad about calling me in because she hemmed and hawed for 2 hours with multiple phone calls of "I don't know, maybe we'll be okay, I'll call you in 30 minutes". I just wanted her to make a decision. And when I got there, I'm not sure why she was having any question to call me or not. Oh well.
I took care of a girl last night that was a frequent flier during her pregnancy. She was a week further along than me, and lived at the mission with her 18 month old son. It's really easy to be judgemental with patients like her and I'm not exception, but with her I felt bad for her. She'd come by "cab-ulance" in with pain, and finally they figured out it was gall stones. I had her so many times that she'd come through on the cart and say to me "I figured you missed me so I came to visit". She'd alway have her poor son with her, and he was always in a dirty diaper, never had shoes on and was frequently filthy. So I'd get her a couple diapers, wipes, some crackers and juice, call for pain medication and get her a cab fare back to the mission. I'm not sure exactly how she ended up homeless, quite possible a string of bad decisions, but I kept thinking about how scary it must be to have a child, pregnant with another and have no one for support. She was hooked up with everything she could and she was working with the mission people to get work after she delivered so she could get an apartment within a few months. She delivered the day before, so when I went in to check on her, she first commented on the size of my girth, and then told me she'd come visit me to see how I was a patient. Maybe I'm a sucker for her act, but I really hope she gets back on her feet.