Yikes

So my friend Michele, who was due to have a baby five days ago got a call from the hospital this morning bright and early at 4am. They told her to be there at 7am and they would induce her. It's now 3:30 pm and she is still waiting for a bed to open up! When I went over there this morning to pick up her little girl, Kaylee, the place was a freaking zoo. There was nowhere to park and there were swarms of cars circling the lot trying in vain to find a spot. There are a good 20 or 30 "stork" parking spots for women who are 34 weeks or more pregnant and every single one was taken. Michele's husband, Heath, told me that they've run out of room in the postpartum unit for ladies who have delivered and are being sent to other areas of the hospital for the remainder of their stay.

How the hospital could not have anticipated and planned for this baby boom is absolutely beyond me. Every woman delivering at Tripler has also been going there (or Schofield, which is part of Tripler) for her prenatal care. Don't they track how many people are due at any given time? And doesn't everyone know that there's always an uptick in expected babies after a brigade gets home from a deployment? There are seven ladies alone in Andy's company who are having babies around this time.

Anyway, I certainly hope I don't have to be induced! I'll definitely be keeping my expectations of my hospital experience significantly lower, too. I now have visions of giving birth in a hallway somewhere, or maybe outside by a dumpster. lol