A Case of the Mondays

Yesterday we had a day filled with the ennui of Act 2 of the preemie drama.  After Friday’s great news, Anna and I have slowly deflated, letting out some of the extreme tension we have been feeling.  Anna felt suddenly nauseous yesterday, so she took a nap rather than go in and expose Henrik.  After her nap, she felt fine, which makes us think that it may be a psychosomatic reaction. 

I went in to see Henrik after work.  It was one of those days.  It was 45 degrees, heavy mist, and a traffic snarl in the Medical Center.  When I arrived at the NICU, the two nurses on duty were in jump suits.  Jumpsuit Man marched over to tell me that Henrik’s nurse had stepped away, but would be back soon.  These two were part of the NICU Travel Team that goes out to the babies where they are and tries to bring them back.  He may be fine at that job, but his bedside manner was zero.  He was brusk and rough.  When our nurse came back, she was a bit overwhelmed by the situation.  I don’t know why there were not more real nurses there, but if I get my hands on one of those satisfaction surveys that Anna always receives, I’ll give them a piece of my mind. 

I asked the nurse if I could hold Henrik, but she said that I would have to wait since it was 5:45 pm, the policy is that you hold for an hour, but another policy is that you can’t be there during shift change at 6:30 pm.  I was there at 5:30, but she was not.  I was taking in the off-putting performance of Jumpsuit Man.  I told her that I was there at 5:30, but she was not there, and that I could not wait until 6:30 to start because I had another son to read bedtime stories.  To her credit, she relented and let me hold.  She might have seen my eyes turning red or my ears starting to smoke, I don’t know, but she made the right call.  What I’ve come to understand implicitly since the adrenaline began to abate on Friday is that we did not start over at 0 days when Henrik arrived on Nov. 18.  We started at 97, and now are at 119.  I felt like I was battling with Pizza Nurse all over again. 

The good thing is that Henrik finally hit 2 lbs yesterday, but he still looks like a Frogman with his long arms and legs, loose skin, and the cpap, which looks like scuba gear.

Pulling out a computer to write is a good way to get your own seat on the bus.  It’s 36, wet, and windy this morning.  I’ve never seen two sustained cold snaps so close together and so early in the winter season.  At least we don’t have ice fog like they had at the Baylor-Texas game in Waco last weekend. Talking about the weather calms me, like Anders doing a letters puzzle.  Anders finished a meal last week and asked, “Is this satisfactory?”  That more syllables than years for Anders!