Tales of TCH: Part the Second

So Nyx progressed well today. She finally woke up around 1:30 in the afternoon. She's obviously incredibly confused. Her eyes dart back and forth and she tries to breathe, gag and cry. The tubes down her nose and throat make those things impossible.

They were able to remove her chest tube and wean her down to support breathing on the ventilator. Unfortunately, she's so blitzed on morphine for the pain she isn't able to breathe on her own. They gave her a few trials today but after half an hour or so she'd get too tired to breathe and would just, well, stop. And that's not good. Standing there, watching your kiddo turn bluish because she's not breathing is rather unsettling. She'll spend the night on the ventilator and we'll try again tomorrow.

We're not sure how many more days/nights she'll spend in the CVICU. Once she's breathing on her own and eating, they'll be able to move her to the main floor which means we can room in with her. Until then, this is where we'll be, camped out on Tower 17 and 18.

Tonight we weren't able to get a room in the Ronald McDonald house so we're roughing it in the CVICU waiting room with a handful of other similarly stranded parents. Honestly, it's not so bad. Dave and I were able to grab two of the recliners available for sleeping. They sure as shit beat the tiny couches and chairs.

The downside? I have to travel from the 17th floor to the 4th floor every three hours tonight to pump and leave my milk at the NICU reception desk since the Milk Bank is closed after five in the afternoon. The up and down wouldn't be so bad if the elevators weren't on lock down from ten until six. What does that mean? Well if I want to go anywhere beyond the 17th and 18th floors (the ones my CVICU parent badge clear me for) I have to go all the way down to the first floor, get off the elevator, wait for a security guard and have him send me up the floor I want.

Sounds tedious but simple, huh?

Yeah. Not so much. Just trying to get to my 10:30 pumping session nearly had me blowing a pupil. First I hopped on at 17 and went down to 1. I grabbed a tag from the front desk, got back on the elevator and had a security guard beam me up to 4. Except I didn't go to four. I ended up on 3 and then zoomed up to 10 where the elevator suddenly stopped and sat idle for nearly ten minutes. Finally it dropped straight down to 1 again. I get off and the security guard apologizes for putting me on the elevator currently on the fritz. Gee, thanks.

So I get to four. I pump. I drop off my milk. I get back on the elevator and hit the first floor but I end up heading up to the fifth. WTF? A random guy hops on with me and we get to ride the elevator all the way up to the 16th floor, stopping at every single floor, of course. But the doors don't open. We just sit and wait and then move. Uhhh, what? And then we hit 16 and drop like a rock to 1.

I hop off and race over to the second elevator bank. (Only certain elevator banks reach specific floors in the tower. To get to floors 1, 3, or 16-21, you have to use the express elevators. To reach 1, 3, 4-15 or 16, you have to use a different set. Yeah. I know. It's ridiculous.) I jump into the first elevator, swipe my badge, and hit 17. But I don't get a green light. The doors close. I wait. The doors open. The security guard gives me a curious glance. I explain my predicament. He scans his badge and I rocket up to 17 where I get a new badge so I can get up to 18 see Nyx again.

As I'm leaving the 18th floor after a quick visit with my kiddo, another mommy from the CVICU starts racing toward me and shouts at me to hold the elevator. She'd been stranded on the 18th floor for nearly an hour waiting for a familiar face because her badge crapped out on her too. Apparently the elevators here need an old priest and a young priest.

Speaking of priests, don't hold your breath for one. Seriously. We asked for a priest the night we arrived and still haven't seen one. But rabbis? Can't swing a cat without hitting one. My mom is pretty miffed about the lack of support from the Church. She's already been on the phone to the bishop, her priest and deacon in search of answers as to why no one has come to see our kiddo. She and Dad have decided they'll find a church tomorrow, grab a priest and drag him over here.

Yeah. Mom and Dad are here. Dad drove in from Artesia last night, got to E-town super early this morning, slept for a bit, and then hopped into the truck with Mom and made the drive to Houston. Dave and I don't know what we'd do without the support of my parents. Mom came down to help us before Nyx was born. Dad and my siblings came down after Nyx was admitted to the NICU at St. Jo's. Mom stayed with us until Nyx was discharged. She cooked, kept house, and did laundry so Dave and I could spend our days at the NICU and not worry about real life poo. And now they're here giving us emotional support. We know how incredibly lucky we are and are so thankful.

So anywho. Long update tonight. I'll post tomorrow with another update on Nyx. Until then, we'd appreciate any good vibes you can spare for the kiddo!