They took a pint. One pint is equal to two cups. More blood loss than this in childbirth and midwives consider it a hemorrhage and are breaking out the life-saving medicines. Donating blood is a significant act on our bodies. As I waited for the procedure to begin and asked how much they would be taking, I realized I had not eaten much that day and started to get a little nervous about how my 5'3" 115 lb frame would handle the loss. I spaced eating. What a dummy! I probably nibbled here and there leftovers from my toddler or other children but it was just a busy day where I had neglected to eat well.
Well nourished women can withstand a normal blood loss of about a pint in childbirth and go on as if nothing happened. Slightly anemic women with busy homes and other children to care for often take weeks to feel normal after blood loss in childbirth. The Red Cross requires about 8 weeks spacing between donations to allow the body to recover. This is almost as long as midwives treat the postpartum period and how long most surgeries take to recover from.
I am a total and utter morning person, but I woke up the next morning (12 hours after donating blood) feeling like I could sleep for days. I begged my smallish children to let me sleep for a few extra minutes. No dice.
I decided to give myself the standard midwife prescription that we ask mothers to prepare after giving birth to speed recovery.
Bone Marrow.
I dragged myself into Whole Paycheck - I mean, Whole Foods - and grabbed a bag of Marrow Bones and some veggies to make a nourishing broth. Here is one of my favorite funny clips about Whole Foods to get you in the mood:
As I navigate the murky waters of divorce and feel generally balanced, happy, accepting and ready for a new future, my blood shortage took me physically and emotionally a step or two backward where I found a return to my personal divorce-survival rule of not making eye contact with anyone in public lest a conversation or human interaction start.
I give off the "DON'T APPROACH ME, I'M AN INTROVERT" vibe really well. It's getting harder and harder to pull this off as I feel more and more healed and ready to step out socially. But my depleted blood state tossed me right back into that "safer" isolated emotional place today in public. Implement: No Eye Contact (NEC). A DEFCON 5 day.
As I loaded my bounty onto the belt in the check out line, an older gentleman behind me broke through my DEFCON 5 and said,"What are you using those marrow bones for?"
The voice inside my head said, "Mr., You seem really nice and harmless and all but I have not given you eye contact and therefore not given you permission to acknowledge my existence, are you really talking to me? CAN'T YOU SEE THIS DEATH STAR IS AT A DEFCON 5?!?"
I was polite and divulged to him that I donated blood for the first time and it kinda took the wind out of my sails and hoped a soup with bones would do the trick.
He pressed in asking me questions about how I planned to prepare the Bone Marrow and had I considered making a spread, and did I know gourmet restaurants charge $30 an ounce for a pate that I could easily make at home with my bag of bones, etc?
I was more shocked at why he bothered to ignore my OBVIOUS DEFCON 5 that I was intrigued and listening to what he had to say. He had immediate credibility.
Maybe I'm not doing a good job with the DEFCON system when I'm feeling anti-social. Maybe he used The Force on this Death Star.
In all actuality, the work on vulnerability I'm doing in area of Brene Brown is showing outwardly. After donating blood, and feeling empty and lethargic, I had four irritating hours strait of Brene Brown between a workshop and my monthly book club. Between losing half of my blood volume and feeling drained from self-reflection, my Death Star defenses are rendered useless. Gone. Gonzo. Not a chance of coming back, especially walking around short of a pint of blood.
Whether I like it or not, strangers are talking to me - in the grocery store, at the gas pump - and I'm responding and ready to have human connection. Maybe wholeheartedly and consistently for the first time in a long time. It's good! Because what came out of it yesterday is a new and quirky pate to try and share with you and a feeling of connectivity with another human being that I will never see again.
I smiled and relaxed as I thought of trying a gross pate made out of marrow, feeling it work in my body and telling you all about it.
Because I was already through checkout, I loaded groceries in the car then returned into produce for the herbs he suggested. Walking around a pint short of blood started to feel better just from a little human connection that I fought and resisted going in there.
I'll post the Bone Marrow Pate separately.
Ciao!
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