On Tuesday morning I got locked in the bathroom at home. The door handle just wouldn’t release the little bit that sticks into the wall if you get my drift.

I’m at home alone. Ben is away at a conference. No sign of the neighbours.

My first thought is “I’ll be ok. I’m in the bathroom so I’ve got water. I can keep warm”. My second (and every subsequent) thought is ‘Holy crap!!!! I’m stuck in the bathroom. How long will I be here for? Agggghh!!?!??!”.

I saw my options for getting out as –

- continuing to try to open the door by jabbing it with anything I can find in the bathroom
- yelling for help and hoping someone in the neighbourhood hears me
- hauling my 30+-weeks pregnant body out of the second story window and trying my luck with climbing down the pipes and bricks
- waiting at the window to see if someone walks along the street (which is a good 50m from the bathroom window) and calling out
- hoping work would wonder where i was and call Ben, who might be concerned and call my parents, who eventually might come over
- waiting for Ben to come home the following evening

I realised I couldn’t rely on one single strategy, so I engaged in a rotating series of all of them (except the climbing out bit, which seemed a bit extreme even in my semi-hysterical state!).

I thought my best bet was someone walking along the street so I didn’t want to leave my post at the window to keep trying the door. As if yelling out “help! can anyone hear me?” didn’t feel ridiculous enough, I decided to make this sign with nail polish on the back of a tissue box. And I hung it out the window with the chord from the venetian blinds!!! Ingenious. Perhaps not something Macgyver would do.

Finally it was some serious working of the door handle with bobby pins and nail clippers and an attempt to put it back together that led to my eventual freedom.

And I was only an hour late to work. Where I was greeted by my *supportive* workmates who are still laughing!