Highlight of my week: Giving Blood

Prepared to save lives.

I am seriously not trying to be a martyr or proclaim how awesome I am, but this week I took my butt and the twins tiny butts down to the blood bank and gave blood. When I was in college there was always a blood mobile on campus so I would donate there, creating a habit for cranberry juice and snack food. This was the first time I had been to an actual blood bank. And the first time I had ventured to donate while caring for kids simultaneously.

So I casually stroll in with two infants and a mission. I can be a contributing member of society and can function with all of these tiny people outside of the walls of my home. I just fed Itty Bitty and Big J so I knew I had about an hour before the proverbial shit hit the fan (knowing full well that with my luck it could be possible for real feces to hit a fan). After going through all of the paper work and oh's and ah's of people realizing that I have twins, I finally get to a chair.

The twins were content in the stroller and I realize that no matter what for the next 10-15 minutes I HAVE to sit here. It was so awesome. They start taking my blood and I am feeling good. My nurse asks me if I want anything to drink and I tell her to keep the cranberry juice coming. It was sort of like being on a lounge chair in Cabo, but inside, with children and no vodka in my cranberry juice. The whole time I am chatting it up with the guy next to me and his daughter. They were donating for their twins in the hospital and I was sharing some of my baby horror stories with the new dad. Itty Bitty was cracking up at all of the different nurses and new sounds and sights and in turn Big J was laughing at her laughing. It was really a good time. I felt like not only was I saving lives but I was sufficiently showing this father the ups and downs have having twins. Ten quick minutes later I was done with my donation and the nurses started unhooking me, then I passed out. I have never passed out when giving blood, or ever, for that matter. Passing out is weird. Apparently I was only out of it for a minute but I had the craziest most involved dream. Not being a drug user, that is what I imagine acid feeling like. I came to not remembering that I had responsibilities or hands...

I spent the next two hours negotiating with nurses that I was fine and needed to go. K-Dog was at summer school, but the child is better off there than in my care on most days. Honestly I did not try that hard to get released. It just kept getting better. The majority of the nurses all wanted to hold a baby, and forbid me to, so I had a team of babysitters while I continued on my cranberry juice and cookie binge. While I cannot guarantee that your local blood bank will be as awesome as mine, it really couldn't hurt (only a pinch, and the possibility of passing out and having crazy acid dreams) to try it as a quasi-babysitting service. According to blood donating policies I cannot go back until mid-August, which is silly to wait because I have lots more blood ready to go. Come mid-August I plan on being there under the guise of saving a life.

DONATE!!! Find your local blood bank here.