S Day + 2

Onwards and upwards is the theme today!!  Shawna was finally able to get some good sleep last night!!  Still only in about one hour increments due to the nurses being too good and so on top of their games that they are in here every hour on the hour...geez, we're so unlucky to have great nurses!!  We had a real doozy today who basically had no shame in telling us her life story throughout the day, but I better be careful about what I share in case she catches word that I'm blogging and reads that I'm bashing her.  I can't make these nurses mad at me as they are the ones largely in charge of keeping my wife and unborn child alive and well.  She was, actually, extremely nice but when she's cheering Shawna on while sitting on the toilet telling us we can have a "Pee Party" you start to get a little annoyed.  Now I can see what may have driven one of her six children to have six periods of incarceration...see what I mean, she did tell us her life story!!!
Speaking of peeing.  Yep, I'm still peeing ice cubes due to the temperature in the room but Shawna was able to get out of bed today, numerous times, to try and pee and take a shower.  Let me tell you, it's much easier to bathe a 31 year old than two boys ages 2 and 4.  She doesn't complain about soap in her eyes, talk excessively about her "crank", splash water at me when she got mad at me, fight over what toys she wanted to play with, or make me carry her soaking wet body back to the living room only to ask for numerous treats and fight with her brother about whether she was going to watch "UP!" or "Bob the Builder." 
Yes, she was able to TRY to pee on the toilet...which does mean the catheter was removed!!!  Remember, celebrating small victories.  Not only was that removed this morning, but the epidural was as well.  She was able to be switched over to other pain meds as well as some other types of anti-puking meds from our wonderful nurse, Jill (she's not the "Pee Party" lady.  In fact, she just came back on (Jill) for the night shift and I almost gave her a big, bear hug).
So lots of firsts on our way back to normalcy today: allowed to try to get out of bed and pee, shower, and eat some solid food.  I had to make a trip to Haverford to meet the owner of the house that has been graciously given to us to stay in for the greater part of September, and on my return Shawna was proudly eating one cheerio every ten minutes.  Problem was, though, as the day went on Shawna felt worse and worse which the nurses figured was going hand in hand with her inability to produce any urine when trying to pee.  This was confirmed when, finally, tonight they put another catheter back in to release her bladder and she topped out at almost 24oz.  Wow, I knew my wife was good at a lot of things but never did I know she had that kind of a bladder.  The nurses were very impressed as well!!
We saw, once again, the kindness of people today.  As mentioned, I made a trip to the house that has been opened for us to stay in for September.  Really, someone is just basically moving out of their home for us to live in it!!  Who does that?  People are GOOD!  Or this morning, as I stopped in the hospital shop and asked the lady where they buy their coffee (it's really good...WaWa) because I wanted to bring some back to Michigan and she sneaks me a whole plastic bag full of it, free of charge! 
It was a bit eye-opening on my drive to Haverford as I had to drive through West Philadelphia.  Anybody remember Will Smith as the Fresh Prince of BelAir?  Yes, the theme song and all during the opening to every show "West Philadelphia, born and raised, on the playground is where I spent most of my days....".  Well, those scenes are exactly what West Philly is like.  It was actually really cool but definitely a bit different than inner-city Zeeland, MI! 
Or what about Shawna getting a facebook message from someone volunteering their lawn care service to take care of our lawn for us! 
Or, if you read last nights post, I mentioned the Insomniacookies business that exists out here to deliver to Penn students.  Guess what, weird when I received a call this afternoon from the Insomniacookies delivery boy saying he has a delivery for us!!  Sure enough, a box of warm cookies.  So, that actually got me thinking, if I mentioned a massage business, or roofing business in tonight's blog, would we get massages or a new roof put on our house tomorrow?  Hmmmm....

  We continue to receive texts, phone calls, and emails from you all that keep our spirits up and are greatly appreciated.  Even a gift bag full of goodies and games was delivered to our room today from the gift shop.  You all are wonderful. 
We're looking forward to Shawna's parents bringing the boys out tomorrow!  Although we're not convinced they'll enjoy being out here as much as they enjoy being back home with the grandparents!!

Over and out from Philly!!

CHOOSING JOY

-Jeff

P.S. Sorry, but I'll be less graphic with anymore body function blogs.