And then the planets aligned…

Ever had one of those days where it seems like the planets are out of alignment?  A simple task becomes an epic journey of cascading obstacles, and despite your best efforts, you seem to go nowhere until the planets align?  Today was like that. 

I had my 18 week morphology scan, and had struggled to get an appointment.  I had struggled to get someone to come along for moral and practical support, which I’d need especially as I had my toddler with me.  I struggled to get a park and find money for the meter, but that was all cool, because at the last minute 2 friends came along with kids in tow so there was 3 adults, 3 kids, and it was all kind of fun.

I gave my referral letter the reception, at which point it became clear that the name on the request form was wrong.  Completely wrong.  So legally, they explained, they couldn’t do the scan.  Lets call the hospital and get them to correct it, I suggested. They gave me 2 phone numbers to call on my mobile.  Both numbers were engaged, continually, so after 10 minutes of trying I asked them to try faxing with a cover letter to explain. They did this, but there was no response from the hospital.  Time was ticking away, the kids were running rampant,  but things were still ok.

“What if I get my GP to do it?” Good idea, they concurred, so I called.  The receptionist at my GP’s clinic said they’d do it.  I relaxed.  The clinic called back with a few questions, which culminated in the news that they couldn’t do it unless I came in to see the doctor first.  That was clearly impossible, so I said I’d keep trying the hospital.  It was still engaged. I called my GP again to see what number they had for the antenatal unit, and they gave me a different number.  I called and got through! 

I was finally on the line with the hospital who could hopefully fix the name on the referral so i could go for my scan!  I was happy. “Please hold the line” they said, so i waited.  And waited.  After 10 minutes on hold I was despairing that I’d ever get to speak to anyone, to even find out if they could fix it.  The parking meter was about to run out, the kids were running out of food, and my phone wasn’t going to last much longer.  Reception wouldn’t let me use their phone, and i just felt so defeated that I started to cry. 

The receptionist offered me tissues, made some enquiries behind the scenes, and let me use the phone.  This time I got through straight away and spoke to a person who said they’d received the fax and were sending it now with the correct patient details. I was ecstatic!  It was an hour late, but the scan was going to happen.   We moved the cars and sat down to wait with a new sense of optimism.

After a while I checked with reception but the fax hadn’t come through.  It seemed the hospital was trying to send the fax on the phone line.  I looked at the fax letter they’d sent the hospital and noticed they’d supplied the phone number by mistake.  The receptionist was embarrassed and apologetic; she agreed to call them back to correct it.  She was put on hold for 10 minutes.  Lets fax them to fix it, I said; she was now being very helpful.  After a while they informed me they’d go ahead with the scan, as the referral was imminent. 

I was going to get my scan!  True to their word, I was called in 10 minutes later although the referral still hadn’t arrived.   One friend took the kids outside for a walk, the other friend came in with me to see the baby.  

Baby was moving and measuring well, it was such a relief!  The measurements indicated the baby would be 19 weeks 2 days gestation, which was exactly my count, although officially I’m only 18 weeks since  they changed my dates.  The scan went perfectly well and was over in 30 minutes.  Afterwards, I heard the receptionist on the phone to the hospital explaining that there was some problem with their fax machine, so could they please email the referral.  It still hadn’t arrived!  But I was done, the planets had aligned.

In the toilets I met another girl, trying unsuccessfully to put her nose ring back in.  She was having one of those days too, as the machine supposed to x-ray her wasn’t working.  She’d had to take a taxi there, removed her jewelry and now her nose had closed up.  She tried and tried, but couldn’t get the nose ring back in.  The machine was unfixable, so she had to reschedule her x-ray.  I guess the planets were out of alignment for many of us today.