Waiting Rooms

Fortunately Abby and I have had to spend hardly any time in waiting rooms during Ellie's care.

On Sunday, as we waited for Abby to be transferred to Yale, my mother, brother, and I had to spend some hours in the waiting room at Yale. If you have the chance, find another place to wait.

The policy in the NICU is that only one visitor is allowed at a time and must be accompanied by a parent during the visit. This leads to shuttling of visitors in to see the baby and a bunch of folks waiting, a lot. Since some of the kids are in the NICU for a long time, the visitors have been in this room a lot and are not shy about getting comfortable. Very comfortable.

At one time last Sunday in a room that is 10 by 20 feet there were:

3 people on cell phones, speaking three different languages,
3 crying babies and their families,
1 woman eating an enourmous portion of Chinese food while talking on a cell phone. In a small room we all could taste the fried rice and probably could have survived on the food falling from her mouth as she spoke, and
One drunk guy who decided that he needs to hear the final round of the Masters over the room full of people and maxxed out the volume. I am still wondering what is there to hear in golf?

Fortunately Abby was admitted soon after the volume went up and we got out. If you are in a hospital for a long while, look for alternate waitng rooms. They are there and worth your time to find them.