When I was getting ready for work Monday night, I really didn't think I would not be leaving the hospital for three days. The snow and ice storm that ensued Monday night into Tuesday morning kept me stranded at Baylor All Saints for 60+ hours. Although it was a less than desirable situation, the people I was with made it more than tolerable :) The temperatures dropped into the teens Monday night, and I knew I was going to lose about 3 hours of sleep if I tried to drive home Tuesday morning, and then return to work Tuesday night. So, I, along with about 5 or 6 other women I work with, stayed in hospital rooms for the day so that we could sleep and come back onto the unit that night.
Our accommodations, while not the Four Seasons, were not terrible. Andrews Women's Hospital was only built in 2008, and the rooms are actually quite nice as hospitals go. I had a hospital bed, while my roommate (for both days it turned out) slept on the Murphy bed that folded out from the wall. This stowaway bed, usually used by our new fathers to sleep on while our new mothers are up all night with their babies, has been notorious for looking terrible when the dads make it. Alysa, my roommate, however, went to nursing school, and therefore understood the importance of mitered corners. We both joked about the fact that this was the first time either of us had used that skill in our professional nursing career. Glad we spent two weeks on that in clinicals.
Alysa came prepared to stay over, so we had some of the essentials, but the rest we went and bought in the convenience store. Amy and Michelle roomed two doors down from us, and luckily supplied us with makeup. We wore hospital scrubs that night, some of us with no underwear, not to mention any names :). Others of us pulled a boy scout move and turned their underwear inside out. Desperate times.
By the end of our second night, it was apparent that we were not going to be able to make it home Wednesday morning either. Second day sleeping at the Baylor-d Texan provided much better sleep. The third night, we were out of underwear and sock options. We had to resort to mesh panties from Postpartum and those rubber-bottomed socks that they give moms so they don't fall. Let's just say that was not my most comfortable night at work.
Here's the good part about the whole experience. They gave us free meal vouchers for our entire stay pretty much. Although hospital cafeteria food isn't gourmet, it was at least food. And they kept me with a diet coke in hand. The second morning when we went to the staffing office for our meal provisions, they were nice enough (we thought) to give us a little toiletry bag. Upon inspection of said freebie bag, it happened to be : a mirror, a baby comb, hand sanitizer, and lotion. Hm. Can't really say that helped very much. All in all, I felt like Baylor was very accommodating to its employee's needs and I am thankful that I made it home safe today. I don't go back for 5 days and I'm not sure I will even leave the house!
Special shout outs to all the girls that stayed over with me. I think the NICU owes us a big kiss. And an extra special thanks to Julia R., who was our secretary both nights since we had none. You guys made this a fun week, despite all the chaos.
