Alison & Ado's 1st Blogoversary - Blog Bash

My friend Ado started a blog while Hayden was in the hospital last year.  Her blog got me through some rough times with a lot of laughs.  This week she is celebrating the 1 year anniversary of her blog TheMomalog.  To celebrate, all friends who blog are invite to post a favorite post from their blog.

My favorite post is "Top Ten Reasons You Know You've been in the Hospital Too Long".  It entertained me to write this and it still entertains me to read it.  I was exhausted and an emotional roller coaster after being in the UCSF pediatric ICU for 6 weeks practically night and day.  But I figured out, through writing this blog, that if I could just make myself laugh through this ordeal...somehow find some humor in it all, we would all survive.  And we did :)  Hayden finally came home on July 11th, 2011.

As a post script, I would say that UCSF Children's Hospital is the most amazing place.  Their staff is the reason that Hayden is alive today.


Top Ten Reasons You Know You've Been in the Hospital Too Long:
10.) you are on a first name basis with all doctors and nurses in your unit....as well as the janitors and admin staff

9.) you feel totally comfortable silencing alarms on the various machines your child is hooked up too....he looks fine and is sleeping.

Hayden sleeping with his Giant's jersey.

8.) you no longer hear the alarms on the machines your child is hooked up too because you've finally gotten 10 minutes of peace and are fully engrossed in a book that you haven't had a chance to read in a week.

Display from one of the machines Hayden was hooked up to.

7.) you feel completely comfortable barking at the resident during rounds (i.e. in front of 15 other doctors) because he does not communicate well.

6.) you feel completely comfortable complaining to the cheif of the department of said resident about his horrible communication skills

5.) you recieve apology from said resident and preach to him like his is a kindergartener about how good communication is the key to success in any profession. (Julie Althoff - Hayden's kindergarten teacher- would not approve of his commmunication skills either.)

4.) you start telling the nurses and doctors what to do and feel completely comfortable and commanding in your medical knowledge even though your degree is in Political Economies of Industrial Societies (but your sell textiles to the healthcare industry! )

Hayden taking his first step walking after 3 months in bed on a ventilator.

3.) you forget what you say to who and when you said it

2.) you forget what day it is

and the top reason your know you've been in the hospital for too long is....

1.) you have run out of space on the walls to decorate and start decorating the ceiling!!! Hayden's Room Remodel Complete!

Hayden's friends brought posters, pictures,
and balloons to decorate his room.
Hardly a speck of bare wall was showing at one point.