honesty is the best policy?

ever since i was a kid, i can remember my mom saying "honesty is the best policy"...it's a lesson i hope to teach as a soon-to-be mom as well. but then again, there are exceptions to the rule--i learn more exceptions every day.
yesterday one of those exceptions came up...chad knew, my dr. knew, but i just went along with my theory on honesty, and jeez did it bite me in the butt (or somewhere nearby).

we went to drop off my 24 hr. urine sample. i must say, i had a little pride in dropping it off. it was quite an adventure figuring it all out, and i felt like, all in all, i had done a good job. a job well done. i had missed only 3 'catches' (out of 20, that's about 80% accuracy) all of which for very valid reasons:
-one of which, mentioned in a previous blog (there are some things i just won't do in the shower), -one of which, i was at the acupuncturist (away from home for an hr, of course i had to pee---the lab didn't want me to use a separate jar b/c of contamination, so i just left the jug at home--i was not toting that big jug with me, let alone answering questions about it)
...one (and may i say final) of which...well lets just say was due to strict dr.s orders., to induce labor, regardless of how awkward and somewhat commical it is at 40 wks pregnant. they say chad's body contents contain prostaglandins which are very good at helping thin the cervix. the same substance that contains prosaglandins also contains protein which is what we want to avoid in the urine in the first place. so i figure, i need to avoid the immediate sample that is likely tainted with this foreign protein (i thought the lab would this have thought this was with good forthought on my part, if they had known).

anyway...i felt the need to be honest with the lab tech as we dropped off the sample, so i told her (somewhat proudly) "i only missed 3 catches"...she wasn't quite as impressed as i expected. she looked a bit concerned, and said that she'd let them know and see if it was a problem. i figured, certainly it would not be a problem, & if it were, i would certainly be able to pead my case and win their approval. after all there were about 15 other catches that i had gotten.

chad couldn't believe i actually told them i missed some, & couldn't understand why i needed to be so honest with them, when it didn't matter and could actually screw it up. i said that honesty was the best policy, and it wouldn't screw it up. he then reminded me of other cases (which i won't get into here) about my honesty being a little too much.

anyway...i received a phone call yesterday from my dr.s office saying 'bad news, they wouldn't run the urine sample b/c they allegedly didn't receive 100% of the urine, and that they really need 100% of the urine...rules were rules, and i'd need to repeat the 24hr. sample. i felt like i was being disciplined
'you're in trouble/ urine trouble' they both sound suspiciously the same.
i called my dr. to plead my case---"i really did my very best" and went on to explain the 3 missed catches.. she chuckled a little with me, and said she unfortunately had no bargaining room with the lab & that the lab protocol really doesn't understand 'life' and it's best that they just not know about the 'missed catches'...she they disregarded my sample and didn't run it b/c i had told them it wasn't complete. my only choice is to repeat the 24 hrs, and this time not tell them about any 'missed' catches. all that hard work, right down the toilet.
i just wonder if any of those lab techs has toted their 24 hr urine sample jug to an appointment with them or tried to make a catch when they are relieving both bowel and bladder at the same time. and would they try to make sure their urine is free of any foreign protein. jeeze.
i complained to chad about yet another 24 hrs of this, and especially the middle of the night shanagins. he did feel the need to tell me again about the whole, 'honesty may not always be the best policy' thing, but he redeemed his slight 'i told you so' theory, with his ingeniousness. (have i said how great he is lately). he found a cooler just the right size for the pee jug, and filled it with just enough snow to keep the sample cold enough, though allowing the top of the plastic rim to not get cold, all while having the convenience of having the jug next to the shower and out of the fridge. he is putting that phd to good use in more than one part of his life.

now i've just got to figure out what to do about my 3pm acupuncture appt. i'm certainly not good at 'holding it' if i've really got to go (see previous blog), but really don't want to tote the cooler with me either.