Long Night

Did you all notice how long last night was? It was the longest night of the year. Actually I just slept through it, it seemed like any other night. I remember three nights that each competes in my memory for the longest night of my life.

Longest night number one was thirteen years ago. My daughter was in labor with her first child. Things seemed to be progressing pretty well and her husband and I were hoping for a birth in a few hours. Then everything just sort of stopped. It was late night. My daughter got drugs and slept very fitfully. The straight-backed chairs in the room were not very comfortable. The floor was hard and cold. My girl labored on and we waited and waited and waited. I went out to the nurses’ station to complain. We got here before all these other women and they have had their babies and gone home. It didn’t seem fair. Finally, after more than 50 hours of labor, my daughter gave birth to a healthy, beautiful baby girl. I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.

Longest night number two was four years ago. It was about midnight and I was visiting with a girlfriend who was spending the weekend. My husband came walking into the room and said he thought I should call an ambulance because he was having a heart attack. That night we sat in his emergency room cubicle on little stools with wheels. It is very hard to get comfortable on a rolling stool. Eventually it was determined to be “small heart attack.” I came home about 4A.M. knowing he was stable and would probably be fine. He is still fine, but that was a very long night.

Long night number three was two years ago. The beautiful baby born in longest night one was sick. She was very anemic and the doctor said to get her to Children’s Hospital now. The fear of what might be wrong was overwhelming, but we all tried to put on a brave face in front of each other. Her mom and I spent the night in her hospital room. She was receiving blood transfusions and IVs. She had to be prepped for a colonoscopy and drink a jug of obnoxious stuff that made her gag. Finally an NG tube had to be inserted so that she could be properly prepped by morning. We were all scared and very tired. Daylight was a welcome sight. She was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. Medicine has brought all her symptoms under control. She is healthy and happy. It was a very long night.

What was your longest night?