Evacuation

On Thursday, Sept 22 at 3:00am, we loaded up the car and headed to Tyler, TX. Tyler is about 200 miles from our house - the trip took 17.5 hours!!! Me and Jayla barely made it. It was excruciating. We were hot, we were tired, we weren't moving and couldn't risk using the A/C in case we didn't find anymore gas along our route, Jayla was still confused as to why she wasn't in an incubator in a hospital, I threw up, Jayla pooped 8 times and managed to get it on everything in the backseat of my car. I had poop under my fingernails by the time we arrived in Tyler!!! We weren't allowed to eat or drink anything that day. My husband wouldn't stop for food and there were no bathrooms along the evacuation routes. It was horrible. But, we eventually made it.

So, Jayla basically spent the first week of life outside the NICU in Tyler. It was great because I did have a support system there. We evacuated with friends and stayed at their parents' house. There were plenty of people to help out with Jayla, including my husband. I was almost thankful for the evacuation. Otherwise, I would have been at home by myself.

The trip back was not as painful - 3 hours + 15 minutes, door-to-door. Granted, we stayed until Tuesday where most people returned to Houston on Sunday. We just weren't taking anymore chances.

So, there you have it. In the first month of Jayla's life: the city of New Orleans was destroyed and thousands of people moved into the Astrodome - 1 block from the hospital where she lay (made commuting for us alot harder!), she endured 27 days in an intensive care unit, and she was a part of the largest evacuation (and most painful) in history due to one of the most powerful hurricanes ever! Pretty eventful...