Playing the "Baby" card

Lest you think there's no amusement in our lives as of late, I thought I'd share our funny from last night.

We've both been getting lots of phone calls lately; friends checking up on us, offering services, just saying hi, etc. Often, these calls come from numbers I don't know, so when I got a second call from a number in Missouri (the first had been ignored, as we had been in the middle of a meeting with some doctors), I answered it, figuring it would likely be someone I knew. As luck would have it, as I answered, Dr. Chen, Brandt's surgeon, showed up to talk over the surgery, which meant it really wasn't a good time to be on the phone. With any ordinary friend, I could just give a quick "Hey, can I call back later?"...but telemarketers are a little harder to defer.

Just like they're trained to do, he dove right into his script, at a polite, unhurried pace, but without pausing to breathe so I could get a word in edgewise. And it was a long script. Apparently, I won some sort of trip sponsored by a hotel we stayed at back in September. Whee! Eventually, as I really needed to get off the phone to talk with Dr. Chen, I decided to just stop him in his tracks by "pulling the baby card".

Wade was very interested to figure out that "beebee broyer"
has fingers, toes, ears, and a mouth, just like him!

"Sir, this really isn't the best time. I'm in the hospital with a week-old baby, and I can't really talk."

"Oh, congratulations!"

I realized immediately what he thought, and it wasn't quite the effect I was hoping for, so I tried again.

"No, he's in the hospital for surgery on his heart."

The awkward silence was deafening, so I knew I had finally accomplished what I was trying to. After letting that sink in, I added, "So obviously, this isn't the best time. Could you just call back a little later?"

There was another long hesitation as he tried to figure out how to maneuver around the curve ball I'd just thrown into what he thought would be an ordinary call. "Sorry, ma'am, but I really can't run a sales pitch on someone who's just told me something like that. You have a good day."

And, you know, I did have a good day! Pulling the baby card with that much skill just makes the rest of one's day go perfectly.

Looking better already! It's been neat watching the tubes
disappear one by one.

But on a more serious note, today's update is a very good one! Brandt has been progressing in leaps and bounds, and by ten this morning, had most of his bling removed! His breathing tube was removed at about 6:15 this morning, and his pacer wires and drainage tube were both taken out after we got here, maybe around nine. The central line in his neck was taken out shortly after that, because they've cut way down on the number of medications that they're putting into him.

He finally woke up enough for a decent feed just after lunch, as well! He took an ounce, which is half of his normal feeds, and seems to be a very happy camper for the time being, just laying there all content, looking around through his puffy little eyes (his face, hands and feet are pretty swollen from excess fluids from the surgery). The hope now, is that we'll be out of the ICU and on the main floor either some time this evening or early-ish tomorrow!