Anyway, we were (or I was) tracking this storm all weekend and we heard DC was going to get hit with sustained winds of 50-60mph for about 24 hours with gusts of 80+ starting late Monday into Monday evening. The Feds closed Monday and Tues and we ensured we had the essentials – diapers and baby food! My how things change with a baby. We were all set for the storm and due to the forest with massive trees behind us, we decided to sleep in the basement Monday night to be safe. We ended up losing power at 9:15pm and it got cold QUICK. Evan was in his pack-and-play in the basement, but woke up around midnight for whatever reason. I think he was confused and to make matters 10x worse, our house alarm started going off. Despite having NO power, and oh yeah, this alarm has never been activated sine we moved in May 2011! No idea how that even happened, but Evan was then wide awake. It literally sounded like a fog horn going off for five minutes straight. Jeff scrambled with a flashlight to try to disarm the alarm, but ended up cutting the wire because we had no idea how this thing was hooked up and connected. Evan ended up sleeping on the air mattress with me, and Jeff was on the couch. It was just SO COLD. My toes were numb and his nose was frozen. I felt terrible for him. We then woke up around 2am (best guess) to our Fios box beeping. I guess after losing power, the battery remains intact for a few hours and the beeping lets us know it is about to die. So once again, with a flashlight, Jeff dissembled the box so we could TRY to get some sleep. Evan was up a few times and I soothed him by feeding him. I remember thinking this kid must be frozen and warm milk sounds good.
We were up for the day around 8, and I decided to run to McDonalds for coffee (an absolute necessity). Our power was still off, and before I took off, Jeff lit a fire to keep everyone warm. The basement dipped to 66 degrees (felt like 50), the main floor was 64 and the upstairs was 62. Heat rises?? Anyway, we quickly got the basement to 74 degrees but didn’t have a ton of firewood. I go to McDonalds (and noticed all street lights worked, everyone seemed to have power but us) and the drive through line was insane. I stuck it out, only to deflate when the server prefaced her greeting by stating “cash only”. I demolished my purse but came up short. Worst part was, I had to sit through the remainder of the line as there was no other way to leave. I decided to go to the ATM in the 7-11 next door, then physically go INSIDE the McDonalds to get coffee and breakfast because at this point I was famished. I walk into McDonalds and the preface this time was “no coffee”. YGTBSM. I decided to get us a hot breakfast, then go BACK to 7-11 for coffee. One hour later, I was home.
I still have a decent stash of frozen milk aka liquid gold (100+ ounces), so our main concern was to salvage it. We had no clue when power would be restored, so we decided to pack up a bag for Evan, load a cooler with the milk and tons of ice we made in preparation for the storm, and head to Jeff’s brothers house in Fairfax. We also got to see his nieces which was an added bonus. We left the house at 12:15 and stayed at Johnny’s for a few hours. Jeff checked his VM and realized our neighbors called MINUTES after we left to tell us power had been restored as they saw us take off. Ugh! It was fine though, it was nice to see the family, but I wish we could have forgone the hassle.
Ever since our power has been restored, I have been watching the news and looking at pictures online of the devastation in NJ and NY. My family came over to this country and settled on Long Island in areas where the storm massacred communities. I can’t hold back tears when I watch or read the stories from mothers who lost their children, or people who cannot reach their families or friends. Jeff tells me every night to turn it off but I feel soooo helpless and really wish there was something I could do to help. It definitely makes you put things into perspective (McDonalds story = NBD) and make you soooo grateful for what you have. I sometimes question why we have to go through this whole medical process with Evan, but I usually remind myself that we have one of the happiest kids in the world, he is so loving, full of smiles and laughter, EXTREMELY healthy, and suddenly this roadblock isn’t such a big deal.
On that note, we are back to normal in the Gill household, and will do our 5th saline fill tonight. We are almost half way there with 7 weeks until surgery. Can’t come fast enough. Evan has been extremely healthy this whole process, knock on wood he stays this way. We haven’t experienced any other major setbacks and hope for smooth sailing until December!
What is this!?!
Storm remnants
Staying warm by the fire
Why aren't my legs moving?!?!
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