Donate blood

I donated blood today after a hiatus of four years. I guess that having young children does that to a person. I didn't have an appointment, so it was a long wait. Sparkle and Glitter did a decent job of waiting. There was a station set up with coloring books and crayons, but the kids got bored of that rather quickly. They had some cookies sat with me. Then they went outside for a bit. We also took quite a few trips to the bathroom and the water fountain. I found that getting a drink of water was a good way to pass the time and hopefully thin out my blood enough that it would flow easily.

I requested an outside bed so that Sparkle and Glitter could be next to me while I donated. They pulled up chairs, and Sparkle held my hand the whole time. She was surprised by how cold my hand was. I asked the phlobotomist to show the girls how big the needle was. Glitter decided that it was about as bit as one of her darning needles (only hollow). Sparkle said that I scrunched up my face when I was poked. I still really dislike that part. At least I didn't clot and started flowing well from the beginning. All those trips to the water fountain really helped. The girls were surprised at how dark the blood was - almost black in the baggie.

The girls learned some tidbits of information. They wondered how much blood would be taken. I told them one pint. The girls then showed off their co-op memory work, remembering that one pint is the same as two cups or 16 ounces. The girls also found out that one has to be at least sixteen years old (with parental consent) to donate blood. Then they got to figure out how many years it would be before they could donate. After seeing the needle, Glitter decided that she didn't want to donate, even when she was old enough.

After getting cookies and juice, I drove us home. I was disappointed that there were not raspberry shortbread cookies. Those are my favorite after-donating cookies. This is a really poorly organized bit of writing, but I don't care. It's my thoughts recorded, and that's about all I'm capable of now.

Apparently after I got home, I wandered aimlessly around the house for a while and then lay down on the sofa and fell asleep for three hours. At least that's what Sparkle says. I am quite disappointed that no laundry got done while I was asleep. The kids forgot and had to do it when I woke up and reminded them. On the other hand, Sparkle did make lunch.