As if the news coming out of New Orleans these days isn't scary enough, the stories dealing with hospitals -- neonatal intensive care units in particular -- are downright horrifying. As with any intensive care units, NICU's depend on electricity. When it goes, things can go bad in a hurry. Mary and I read reports all week about NICU nurses needing to hand-bag premature babies because ventilators weren't working. Fans needed to be aimed at beds to keep them cool in un-air conditioned 90+ degree heat -- Will, in contrast, was always in a precisely controlled warmer bed -- and, perhaps most distressing, parents were evacuated and told to meet up with their babies later in the week at hopsitals out of state. It was hard enough leaving Will's side for a few hours each day to go to work; I can't imagine being able to leave him in those conditions.

From stories like this one, it sounds like things are getting back as close to normal as possible right now. Just when you think your own situation is nearly unbearable, you are reminded that things can always be worse.