My Hospital Birthday

    Today I turned 29 and lets just say that i never thought a birthday spent in the hospital would be one of the most memorable, but let me just rewind a bit and fill you in as to why I'm here. 
    I'm currently 31 weeks pregnant, but at about 28 weeks I started having some serious flucuations in my blood pressure and blood sugars. My blood pressures reached as high as 180/131 and my blood sugars as high as 185. I was also showing early signs of pre-eclampsia with proteins in my urine. The doctors would get me stable and send me home and within a few days i'd be right back in the same boat. After several return trips they finally decided it was in my best interest to remain hospitalized unitil the baby was born - that happened on May 16th. I didn't know what to think. Sure i've been hospitalized for a few days in the past, but this is a couple of months - my due date is Aug 4th - so you can just imagine my apprehention. Still, I knew it was coming. The doctors had put me on strict bed rest weeks earlier, and I had not been able to keep to it being that i'm a single mom and I live alone. My parents have tried to help but they are gone and out of town alot which left me to fend for myself despite my doctors orders, and to top it off, I developed a panic attack disorder which was dangerously effecting my blood pressure,  but back to my birthday . . . .
      Since I have been in the hospital I have made some wonderful friends with the nursing staff. It has made my stay here pleasant vs. just tolerable. Almost everyday a young man from dietary comes to visit and i came to find out his birthday was one day before mine - June 1st. I was excited to share my birthday with someone i just made friends with. I got him a card and cut him a big slice of rum cake - my mother made it for myself and the staff - and he was so genuinely appreciative that i remembered his birthday when I was the one in the hospital. When the next morning came, I told myself that I wasn't going to think about my birthday much. It is was, after all, just another day, but by late morning one of the OB nurses came in holding a multicolored gift bag. She had remembered me saying that I liked Crystal Light and was getting burnt on water or diet soda and that I also like to write, so she went to Walmart and bough me a couple of nice journals and four different flavors of Crystal Light that should easily last through my stay. I was touched that she thought of me on her off time. By afternoon three of the OB staff nurses came in and sang happy birthday to me and they too had a bag in hand. Inside was a book of Sudoku Puzzles and some beautifully patterned wild cat hand bags. Inside the card was the signatures of the OB staff. I wanted to cry happy tears. It really felt in that moment that God was really shining down on me. To have gone through so much adversity, and from feeling totally alone to completely loved is truely the best gift of all. Behind the nurses was a staff member with cup of sugarfree candy and happy brithday balloon. I gave them each a hug and told them how much it meant to me. By late afternoon, a nurse who was an old family friend came in to bring me a beautiful set of emerald green earrings that she had crafted herself. She remembered a converstation we had about beaded jewelery and how much i loved it.
      It was quite a day to say the least. Of course some family members called, which was expected, but to see people who just a few weeks ago barely new me express such generousity was so eye opening. I realized that this would be a birthday to never forget and to reflect on in the future when times get hard. I know now that we can find happiness in all situations if we are inviting and open to positive experiences.