Busy day

[ailbhe]

Just after nine, Emer and I collected Linnea and her friend from his house, and we all four marched smartly to the train station. We got a train to the town centre, visited the toilets, and then walked to the river to find the cinema. (Disability fail number one: the escalator was out of order and there were no staff on the ground floor to operate the key-access-only lift; summoning staff from elsewhere with bells and buzzers wasn't as effective as getting someone going up the stairs to ask someone to come down. However, the person who came down was great).

At the cinema, I went to get water - and discovered that it was cheaper to buy the special kids' snack deal than just water, so we each got popcorn and a bottle of water and a little chocolate bar. Then the same guy who operated the lift showed us to our seats, which is an unusual extra service for which I was very grateful.

We were going to see The Princess and the Frog. First off, it was too loud for Linnea - her ears aren't used to that kind of volume at all, and she spent a long time with her fingers in her ears or her hands over them. Secondly, she was ok with the two deaths in it, but the bad magic really, really, really, REALLY, really bothered her - she screamed at least once and asked to go home several times, but I held her on my lap (suboptimal for my dodgy hips, but there you go) and she was, in the end, glad to have seen the film, and she enjoyed the happy ending with the good magic and the dead firefly turning into a star.

Afterwards (Disability fail number two: The emergency help cord in the disabled loo was tied up out of reach so that no-one could pull it) we went outside and I sat on a bench to allow my hips to recover a bit, and then we got a train. Throughout, all the children were models of good behaviour and cooperative safety-minded obedience.

Which was just as well, because when we were getting off the train the two older ones hopped off ahead of me, and I was standing in the doorway with my crutches on the platform to make sure Emer got off ok as the doors closed, and just as she got past me the doors closed on my hips.

So I hauled myself off the train, sort of, and sort of fell. But slowly. So I didn't fall straight down a 6-inch step (might be higher, didn't measure) onto my belly, but slightly slowly, first onto my feet but unbalanced and with really useless hips, and then gradually around and onto my back - Linnea actually caught my head as I fell so that it didn't hit the tarmac, which I barely noticed at the time but now find shockingly presence-of-mindish. I have no idea how I got out of the crutches and didn't end up cracking an arm or a shin on them, but I did.

I lay still to gather my wits, and had some Braxton-Hicks contractions, which happen when I'm in pain or dehydrated or very stressed, more so than at other times. And the children all backed up away from the platform edge and against the wall, which was totally sensible and brilliant of them.

Much to my surprise, the driver or guard got out and asked me if I was ok. I said I didn't know. He asked if he could help me up and I said no, not yet, because I didn't know if I could stand yet. After a bit I asked him to help me turn onto my side, which he did. Then the guard or driver got out of the other end of the train and asked if I wanted an ambulance.

Top tip: If you want to alarm a train driver while you are lying on a platform with your crutches scattered around you and your arms around your noticable pregnant bump, say "It's ok, it's just contractions, I think." They really didn't find that as reassuring as I did, apparently.

But I managed to persuade them not to send an ambulance.

After a bit I asked for my crutches and the guard gave me one and Linnea's friend handed me the other, and the children all went ahead to the safest bit of the platform, by the foot of the stairs, where there's a bench, and I followed very slowly after. I couldn't actually lift my feet off the ground, so I dragged them along using the crutches much more heavily than usual. After I sat down for a bit the BH really wore off, and Emer let me drink some of her water, and I shook like a leaf and they said Ambulance again, and I carefully explained that going to hospital with three children, not all of whom were my own, would not improve my day at all, and that what I needed was to go home, and the ambulance couldn't help me there. I really really wanted a cup of tea, and the ambulance people couldn't give me one of those, either. They saw the logic of that in the end but took my name and address and phone number so that they could file a full incident report.

At some point I phoned Rob and once they knew he was coming they were a lot happier, but I still had to say "I really think you should go and drive a train or something," to stop them watching me. There were workmen in orange suits on the opposite platform and they went over and I am certain they asked them to keep an eye on me, because after they had gone and I stopped sitting on the bench (designed for people much taller than I am, requires a fair bit of leg use to stay upright on) and lay down on the ground with Emer's coat for a pillow, one of the orange-clad workmen crossed over and just... casually leaned against a nearby railing. He asked twice if someone was coming for us.

The children, I repeat, were marvellous. When we'd been waiting for Rob about three minutes Linnea's friend said "Why is he taking so LONG?!" but other than that they didn't complain at all.

Rob came and helped me up the steps and across the bridge, and then into the trike, and sitting in the trike was great. It's a low seat designed for child-height people, so it put no strain whatsoever on my hips in any way and made me feel much much better very quickly. We picked up Linnea's friend's father and little sister en route and then my friend and her two children, so arrived at the house six children and four adults, so I just sat on the garden bench in the sun (perfect height, no hip strain) while people brought me tea and painkillers and settled the children and set up the garden chairs and parasol, and Rob went back to work, and then we just vegged and drank tea and those of us who were hungry ate and those who weren't, didn't.

And then they all went away and Rob came home again and our dinner guests arrived and Rob finished cooking and we had a lovely dinner.

Dairy-free vegetarian lasagne, salad, dairy- and soy-free icecream, mixed berries in clafouti, and oat cream. It was lovely. And because we had someone to share it with, we opened a bottle of cider we'd been given a while ago.

Then they went home too, and I went to bed and had a nap, and Rob put the girls to bed, and I bet that right now he's asleep on Emer's bed, fully clothed, with her arms locked around his neck like a vice.

I must go on my blistered foot (oh, yes, I need new shoes) and wake him up. Poor Rob.

Comments

[serene]

Oh, my dear dear heart! So glad you had the children to look out for you, and that the fall wasn't worse, and and and thank heavens.

[aquaeri]

That does sound like an unpleasant fall, but yes, Linnea was astoundingly awesome and the children all great. I'm glad you got home safely.

[sidheag.livejournal.com]

Only you could possibly write about this with such emphasis on the good parts of the day! I hope you haven't got too many bumps/bruises/extra stretched ligaments as a result of the trainfall.

[ailbhe]

Honestly, the trainfall was lousy, but the rest of the day was SO GOOD! I was particularly impressed with (a) the quality of the film, and (b) the children, and (c) the dinner, and (d) the nice guests who were nice to the children.

I am a little concerned about the ligaments; lifting my feet from the floor has been considerably more difficult since. We shall have to wait and see.

[hilarityallen.livejournal.com]

I understand Linnea's problem with sound - I find most cinema films ridiculously over-loud and uncomfortable.

I hope the ligaments aren't damaged, and that you're OK.

[dorianegray.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a horrible happening, coped with with all possible goodness by all concerned.

I hope you feel better soon, and are not too badly damaged.

[ailbhe]

Linnea actually CAUGHT MY HEAD. And Emer loaned me her water bottle and her coat. And the child who wasn't even MINE hung around patiently and handed me my crutch. They were INCREDIBLE.

I'd cry, but it wouldn't help. Children are, and I mean this truly, awesome.

[hfnuala.livejournal.com]

The competency of kids within their world is just amazing.

[the-changeling.livejournal.com]

OMG!!!! You did so well. I know you won't hear that, as you'll just be thinking of how great the kids were... but you were too!

[ailbhe]

I think kids are naturally fairly competent unless taught not to be; my friends don't teach their children not to be :)

[ailbhe]

We were not planning on cinema snacks but without a second adult it was just too difficult to carry them all the way there. There was a nearby newsagent but their smallest bottles of water were 750ml which isn't really a good child-size, and only one of the three children doesn't *always* leave... souvenirs... in the bottle when they drink.

[ailbhe]

I had forgotten it - we go to the cinema very seldom indeed. But I will try to remember earplugs for her next time.

[trinker.livejournal.com]

oh! I'm a bit embarrassed not to have thought of the scary "bad magic" parts when I was warning you about tricky bits in the movie. Glad you thought it was worthwhile, though.

And *so* glad your fall wasn't worse. Aiee!

[ai731.livejournal.com]

This.

[gloriap.livejournal.com]

I'm very relieved it wasn't worse for you and that the children were so competent and helpful. You are a remarkable woman to have recovered so calmly. Many of the women I know, young, old, pregnant or not, would have "succumbed to the vapours." You did so well.

I, too, am glad it was no worse.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

I totally agree. Anyone else would be saying "THE DAY I FELL OFF A TRAIN." Ailbhe, I admire you *even more*.

*sends soothing vibes*

[sfred]

It sounds as though you all coped admirably with the more dramatic bits of your day.

I read with interest about what works and doesn't work for your hips, because mine are becoming less easily manageable by the month (hypermobility stuff) and my trial-and-error exploration of what works involves a lot of error.

[snorkel-maiden.livejournal.com]

Your children are splendid. I very much enjoyed watching them have thoughts, and then articulate them; that must be an amazing process to see all the time and to be at least partially responsible for! I'm glad that your day wasn't worse in the ways that it could have been, and thank you again for dinner :D

*hug*

[ailbhe]

Really, really careful sitting helps - we've borrowed a child's chair from the Meeting House because it's *exactly* the right size! - and shoes with incredibly expensive orthotic inserts (sadly I don't have those right now but I plan to), and crutches, and a support belt that basically ties my hips together.

[ailbhe]

Gawd, it is so boring to have vapours. I've done enough being incapacitated by stupid stuff, I'm much too bored by it now.

Bed rest, in particular, is the most boring thing in the world.

[ailbhe]

It's sometimes kind of painful to see them with thoughts more complicated than they can express, especially to stupid grownup parents. Turning thoughts into communication is hard.

But they are Teh Fab and really interesting people to spend a day with :)

[juliet]

I have orthotic inserts that should be incredibly expensive except for where I got them from the NHS. (some years ago, at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Oxford) Might that be an option? It will, of course, doubtless take bloody ages to get referred etc etc etc though, so paying for them might be the more practical route.

[ailbhe]

It's not worth it for the NHS for me since if I'm not pregnant I'm not bad enough to warrant it (even though they do still help). But it might be for yoyoangel.

[merryhouse.livejournal.com]

I am SO IMPRESSED by the head-catching thing.

[cyan-blue.livejournal.com]

Hugs, and glad the children had such good presence of mind!

[annifa.livejournal.com]

Yikes, what an adventure. Yay for the kids though. Well done them. Hope you can take it easy for the next few days.

xx

[trizia.livejournal.com]

Oh you poor love. *hugs* Despite the awfulness of it the children really were brilliant.

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

wow, glad you're okay! and you do have awesome kids.

[ailbhe]

*hollow laugh* Rob's new job starts on Monday; this means he's been in wind-down mode for the past two weeks, so I've had more housework etc (except yesterday itself, because I did it today instead), and have to prepare the kids for the fatherless part of the day being almost 50% longer than it was before *and* the available spending money decreasing significantly. Taking it easy isn't so much on the agenda at the moment.

[juliet]

My knee & hip stuff (partly hypermobility-related, esp in the case of the knees) has been massively helped by physio. Might be worth asking your GP to refer you, if you haven't already? It's been bloody hard work, but it has actually paid off (despite what I may have thought when I was attending knee-classes twice a week & it didn't seem to be making a difference -- it is a long slow process).

[divulge.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear you're okay, and hope it hasn't caused any longer term damage. Your children sound amazing :)

[mrs-redboots.livejournal.com]

How very horrid for you; I'm so glad you're all right. My poor daughter was made to spend the night in hospital after I'd driven her into a ditch, despite being, I suspect, a lot more fine than you were!

[(Anonymous)]

Sounds awful. Hope the driver and guard who got out apologised nicely for shutting the doors on you - they are supposed to be looking to see if everyone's off!

Ambulance might have been okay though - they wouldn't necessarily take you to hospital, just check you over. I fell over down our road when about 37 weeks pregnant with Buttercup (carrying Violet, so couldn't even stop myself) and people appeared and had called an ambulance before I even knew quite what was going on. The paramedics were very nice and helped me home and cheered the children up, and cleaned up all my cuts and grazes, and waited for my mum to arrive before saying goodbye.

Hope it hasn't made the rest of the pregnancy even more uncomfortable.

[sfred]

[Very belated reply]

Good-for-me sitting is one I'm getting to grips with. I tried a 'comfortable chair' for one session of Yearly Meeting and it was agony; low wooden benches with somewhere to put my feet even higher were much better.

Support belt sounds like something worth investigating for bad days.
Thanks!

[sfred]

Asking for physio is now top of my to-do list; thanks!

[ailbhe]

I use a child's step when sitting on an adult-sized chair, eg at the dining table. And for the loo.

The support belts I find most useful *with* a pregnant bump are a bit like http://www.lafeenoire.com/ekmps/shops/lafeenoire/resources/image//HLTH-HUG%20A%20BUMP%207%282%29.JPG but with three sets of straps, which fasten with velcro.

[sfred]

Given that I'm not pregnant, maybe I should just try wearing very tight jeans?

[ailbhe]

I tried small-enough-to-be-supportive jeans but ended up feeling worse, as they cut off the circulation in my bum and legs when I was sitting down, so I got more cramps, which made my funny walk worse, which made the whole thing worse. I think a support belt with only the under-bump bit would work even if you didn't have a bump, though - your physiotherapist, now you're going to get one, should have different kinds to try.

[sfred]

I will ask. Thanks.