My son is four and a half months old, and we haven't travelled with him. I don't imagine this is too uncommon, as most sane people would probably prefer not to. But an emergency with a family member has come up in Ontario, so we leave in 6 days, for a 4 day trip. I never imagined travelling with Clark, but now that the reality is here, it's horrifying. There are many reasons:
1.) Packing - What the heck am I supposed to bring? And how much of it? Will it all fit? What if he is in a puking/peeing mood, and needs 100 changes of clothes? What if I bring 100 changes of clothes and he only needs 4? I hate bringing stuff that I won't end up using, but I also hate not bringing enough, or forgetting something that is essential. And how are we supposed to be able to carry around a child, a car seat, a car seat base, a stroller, a gazillion bags and suitcases, toys, blankets, nursing pillow, tickets, id, so on and so forth. I just know that something will either be dropped and lost or put down in a moment of panic and forgotten(I'm just hoping it's not the baby.)
2.) Plane Ride - If we were only going to be on a plane for an hour, I would think it would be no big deal, but our flight is 4 hours long. Add to that the fact that I get motion sick, and that as I am a new mom, I am not used to the fact that 100 other strangers will be subjected to my child screaming at them for indeterminate amount of time. I cringe when he cries in public, feeling like people are judging me. Not to mention my baby is ACTIVE. He likes to roll around, stand, have us walk him around. His schedule is sleep, eat, and play for 1.5 hours. How is that going to happen when he has to stay on either my husband or I's lap the entire time? And how will I manage that if I'm trying not to throw up all over him? And don't even get me started on the take off and landing. The doctor advised us, "Well, just feed him, and he'll be fine." Excuse me, have you met my child. He is the pickiest eater already. If conditions are not ideal, he does not eat. He cries. And if it's breastfeeding, forget it. He has a stronger neck and back then my arms will ever be. And soothers? They stay in his mouth for approximately 0.001 seconds before they become a projectile that lands 10 feet away.
3.) Sitting in the airport - This did not occur to be until my husband mentioned it. It's a 45 minute drive to the airport. And then at least an 1.5 hour wait for the flight. That's 2.25 hours BEFORE we have to go on a 4 hour flight. Then, we arrive, we have to wait for baggage, and then a ride to the hotel, which in total is probably around an hour to an hour and a half. In total, just to get there will take us about 7.5 hours. This is the worst news possible. I admit it, I do not breastfeed in public. Not ever, it's something I just can't become comfortable with. So how is this going to work? I know my son. He will not sleep well, and will thus eat more frequently then he is supposed to. So I will probably end up having to feed him a minimum of 2 times, more likely 3. Might I mention if I try to put a nursing cover or blanket over his head while he eats he will tear it off and scream at me for an hour? How dare I separate him from the outside world while he eats? And I definitely can't bottle feed him 3 times in a row-not only will I be risking harming my milk supply(it's been a struggle to keep it, as it is), I would be so engorged I would probably end up drowning everyone on the plane with me, not to mention mastitis has come to visit me several times before, and I definitely don't want to give it any reason to come back.
4.) Car Ride - Then to make matters worse, our destination is not the city we arrive in. No, it has to be 2.5 hours away. Luckily my sister arranged it so when we arrive we stay overnight in a hotel and then do the drive, but that still doesn't save us from the horror that is a car ride with my child. He has to eat before he goes in so that he will be happy. But then you've got a max of 30 minutes where he will stare out the window, or play with his hands. Then you have to do everything you can to entertain him-toys, books, songs, whatever you are desperate enough to do. Then he starts screaming, and you just have to let him until he sleeps, while blaring a CD of sleep music for him. Then, you can never stop driving. If you see a hint of yellow light, you speed through it. Because if you dare stop, or even try to slightly slow down below 60 km/h, you are done for. He will wake up instantly, and he will wake up mad. Then you've got to pull him out, attempt a terrible feeding and start again. Basically, a disaster all around. It usually ends up with everyone exhausted, angry, frustrated and in a bad mood for the next 24 hours. And the longest car ride we've done so far is only 45 minutes. So you can see why I'm concerned.
5.) But the worst, the absolute worst is the coming home. We have the 2.5 hour ride to the airport. Then we have the wait in the airport. Then we have the plane ride. Then we must disembark and wait a year for luggage. Then we have a 45 minute drive home. We also arrive at night, which means my husband will need to go to bed immediately as he will have to get up early for work. Horrible, horrible, horrible.
I know what everyone except my husband thinks when I talk about this. They think I'm so dramatic, and as my family says(who are traveling with us), "It won't be nearly as bad as you think." How wrong they are. I'm 120% sure that it will be a hundred times WORSE then what I'm thinking, and will scar both my husband and I for life. In fact, I predict this will lead to no vacations until he's 5 and we can leave him with someone for a week and go to Mexico and lay on a beach together and pretend we were how we used to be. People without a child really do not realize how much a baby changes everything. Anyway, believe me, you will hearing about how the trip goes when we get back(expect the worse news possible.)
Friday, December 31, 2010
Saturday, December 25, 2010
When Your Son Makes You A Liar
Clark had his four month vaccinations about a week ago. I dreaded it since the day he got his first vaccinations. Watching him scream after being stabbed, the fever for two days, the fussiness for a week, and the messed up sleep schedule. Oh, the dread.
So when his vaccinations came around this time, I made my husband come with me. And for days before, I went on and on about how horrible it is, and how he was going to hate his life for days(I booked it on a Friday this time so my husband could help me on the weekend.) So, my husband was suitably terrified when the appointment came up.
And that is where it got weird. He barely cried. I mean, of course he was unhappy when he got the actual shots-but then he stopped crying immediately, and was his normal,happy self. He was fine the rest of the night as well. And slept through the night. The next, not a peep out of him. I'm pretty sure my husband thought I was insane, or at the very least, a huge exaggerator It was embarrasing!
Not that I'm complaining about the fact that he was fine after-that was great! It just is very confusing for me now-I never know what to expect! And, now my husband will never believe any of my horror stories. Personally, I think Clark did it on purpose I swear I could see him laughing at me. Expect the unexpected, right? Now if only he would do that in other situations, like for example, when I talk about how I hate how badly he naps. Maybe he wants to prove me wrong there, and start napping for hours on end?
So when his vaccinations came around this time, I made my husband come with me. And for days before, I went on and on about how horrible it is, and how he was going to hate his life for days(I booked it on a Friday this time so my husband could help me on the weekend.) So, my husband was suitably terrified when the appointment came up.
And that is where it got weird. He barely cried. I mean, of course he was unhappy when he got the actual shots-but then he stopped crying immediately, and was his normal,happy self. He was fine the rest of the night as well. And slept through the night. The next, not a peep out of him. I'm pretty sure my husband thought I was insane, or at the very least, a huge exaggerator It was embarrasing!
Not that I'm complaining about the fact that he was fine after-that was great! It just is very confusing for me now-I never know what to expect! And, now my husband will never believe any of my horror stories. Personally, I think Clark did it on purpose I swear I could see him laughing at me. Expect the unexpected, right? Now if only he would do that in other situations, like for example, when I talk about how I hate how badly he naps. Maybe he wants to prove me wrong there, and start napping for hours on end?
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Nap Time Horror
When we found out I was pregnant last year, my husband and I decided that he should hold off on taking as much vacation time as possible until the baby was born. This proved to be immensely useful to us when my son was born, as I was in the hospital for an entire week, and of course, my husband didn't want to leave me or my son for even a minute. He still had another week left to take though, so we decided to wait and see. In my mind, we were waiting to see if I would get sick and thus need him to be home. As he tells me now, he was waiting for me to have a nervous breakdown. Turns out we were both wrong, and neither thing happened(though I think there were some weeks when it was pretty close to the breakdown).
So last week was the week we decided my husband would take. There were a couple of reasons we decided to do it. My husband works outside, and December is freezing and also his busiest month. Thus, it makes sense that he would like time off then. But the main reason was our son's naps. Our son is an awesome nighttime sleeper. It is a rare night he doesn't sleep 10 hours straight, and it's been like that for quite a while-though it does change with vaccinations, teething, etc. But for some reason, he would not nap anywhere but on me.
He has no problem whatsoever with sleeping in his crib at night. He goes down without a peep. Added to that, sometimes he wakes up in the night and we can hear him babbling to himself, and then eventually he puts himself back to sleep. But ever since he was born, he would not nap anywhere. Believe me, we tried. We tried a bassinet, a bouncer, a swing, his crib. We even tried the floor(he can play on it, why can't he sleep on it, right?) He would scream and scream and scream. And for the first while, I tried. I really did. But I was so sleep deprived and freaked out, and I ended up crying constantly and refusing to do it. So I just held him. All day long. So when discussing my husband's vacation time, we decided between the two of us, we could crack this nap problem. So we started the Friday afternoon of my husband's last day of work. The first 24 hours included long bouts of sobbing on mine and the baby's part, yelling on both of our parts, screaming on his, and exhaustion with all three of us. It was one of the worst days of my life. And the next day was no better-worse if anything. Now he wasn't sleeping at night, and he was napping 10 times a day, because of how little he was actually sleeping at his nap times.
And then, we could see the light at the end of the tunnel. On the third day, he actually slept in his crib. For 10 minutes, but it was at least some improvement. And by the end of the week, we were so happy with ourselves. He slept every nap time in his crib for approximately 30-45 minutes. Which isn't long enough, as he was still seeming tired after, but we figured, he will settle into sleeping in there and eventually will start to sleep longer.
So when my husband went back to work on this Monday, I gave myself a pep talk. I can stick to the nap schedule! I can do this! And the first nap went beautifully. I rocked him for approximately 30 seconds, and then into his crib, and he slept for 45 minutes. I was so smug. I cleaned the kitchen while he slept, got so much done. 'This is the life!" I told myself. And then the tooth came.
See, I had been telling everyone for MONTHS that my son was teething. He would drool and drool and drool and bite EVERYTHING around him. And no one but my husband believed me. Even our doctor told me I was crazy because he was only 9 weeks at the time and that apparently is way to early to start teething. But I knew. And lo and behold, after his nap on Monday morning, my son woke up screaming bloody murder. I ran in there, horrified, and there, in his screaming, open mouth was a tiny white tooth on the bottom. He then proceeded to scream for the next 6 hours. I am not joking. My husband had the WORST day at work, and then came home to a stressed out wife, and an angry baby. And he refused to go in his crib again. And the next day as well. We had reverted to the first weeks-both me and Clark crying and exhausted. I couldn't believe that all that work my husband and I had put into fixing his bad habit had been ruined by this tiny tooth! Seriously, what are the chances on that? Why couldn't that tooth just wait a couple more weeks until he was completely in his routine?
So for now, back to the nap time horror show for me. Hopefully he gets this worked out, otherwise as soon as January hits, my husband is going to end up taking more vacation...
So last week was the week we decided my husband would take. There were a couple of reasons we decided to do it. My husband works outside, and December is freezing and also his busiest month. Thus, it makes sense that he would like time off then. But the main reason was our son's naps. Our son is an awesome nighttime sleeper. It is a rare night he doesn't sleep 10 hours straight, and it's been like that for quite a while-though it does change with vaccinations, teething, etc. But for some reason, he would not nap anywhere but on me.
He has no problem whatsoever with sleeping in his crib at night. He goes down without a peep. Added to that, sometimes he wakes up in the night and we can hear him babbling to himself, and then eventually he puts himself back to sleep. But ever since he was born, he would not nap anywhere. Believe me, we tried. We tried a bassinet, a bouncer, a swing, his crib. We even tried the floor(he can play on it, why can't he sleep on it, right?) He would scream and scream and scream. And for the first while, I tried. I really did. But I was so sleep deprived and freaked out, and I ended up crying constantly and refusing to do it. So I just held him. All day long. So when discussing my husband's vacation time, we decided between the two of us, we could crack this nap problem. So we started the Friday afternoon of my husband's last day of work. The first 24 hours included long bouts of sobbing on mine and the baby's part, yelling on both of our parts, screaming on his, and exhaustion with all three of us. It was one of the worst days of my life. And the next day was no better-worse if anything. Now he wasn't sleeping at night, and he was napping 10 times a day, because of how little he was actually sleeping at his nap times.
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| "Little old me? I would never refuse to nap!" |
And then, we could see the light at the end of the tunnel. On the third day, he actually slept in his crib. For 10 minutes, but it was at least some improvement. And by the end of the week, we were so happy with ourselves. He slept every nap time in his crib for approximately 30-45 minutes. Which isn't long enough, as he was still seeming tired after, but we figured, he will settle into sleeping in there and eventually will start to sleep longer.
So when my husband went back to work on this Monday, I gave myself a pep talk. I can stick to the nap schedule! I can do this! And the first nap went beautifully. I rocked him for approximately 30 seconds, and then into his crib, and he slept for 45 minutes. I was so smug. I cleaned the kitchen while he slept, got so much done. 'This is the life!" I told myself. And then the tooth came.
See, I had been telling everyone for MONTHS that my son was teething. He would drool and drool and drool and bite EVERYTHING around him. And no one but my husband believed me. Even our doctor told me I was crazy because he was only 9 weeks at the time and that apparently is way to early to start teething. But I knew. And lo and behold, after his nap on Monday morning, my son woke up screaming bloody murder. I ran in there, horrified, and there, in his screaming, open mouth was a tiny white tooth on the bottom. He then proceeded to scream for the next 6 hours. I am not joking. My husband had the WORST day at work, and then came home to a stressed out wife, and an angry baby. And he refused to go in his crib again. And the next day as well. We had reverted to the first weeks-both me and Clark crying and exhausted. I couldn't believe that all that work my husband and I had put into fixing his bad habit had been ruined by this tiny tooth! Seriously, what are the chances on that? Why couldn't that tooth just wait a couple more weeks until he was completely in his routine?
So for now, back to the nap time horror show for me. Hopefully he gets this worked out, otherwise as soon as January hits, my husband is going to end up taking more vacation...
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Family
I know not everyone is lucky enough to have family live close by(all of our immediate relatives, on both sides of the family live within 30 minutes of us, the majority within 10), so not everyone might have experienced this. Usually, when family invites us over or asks us to go somewhere with them, I am so excited. The reasons are threefold.
1.) I'm getting out of the house, and it's not for grocery shopping or a diaper run! Woohooooo!!!!
2.) I get to spend some quality-ish time with my husband!
3.) There are other people to hand Clark off to, when I want a break, or simply even to get to hold my husband's hand!
But then it happens. The green-eyed monster hits. Why, might you ask? Because other people are getting to have fun times with my son. I know, it's really insane of me. I look so forward to getting rid of him, so to speak, and there I am, jealous that other people are getting to play with him, or hold him. I swear he gets cuter when we go out. And he, for some reason, acts better too. It's like he's secretly thinking to himself, "This will make her feel bad for wanting to get rid of me. I'll show her." I've talked to my husband about this phenomenon and he agrees. He feels the same way I do when we're out as well. And don't get me wrong. We appreciate our family so much. They have been incredible to us, so generous and helpful.
Isn't that irony for you? It never happens at home when he's screaming for no reason at bedtime and keeps us up for three hours later then he normally does(last night, anyone?), but as soon as we are at someone else's house and they have my adorable son, I immediately want to steal him back and kiss him all over. You know, they talk about when babies eventually get separation anxiety, but they never mention when it hits the parents. I don't know, maybe it's easier when you live far away from family and actually have to pay for babysitters(as my husband said, if that was the case, we would never leave the house/go out to eat). Maybe it's just us to, and no one else is this obsessed with their child. He's just too darn cute to ever want to hand over! Next time I'll have to try to dress him uglier. Who am I kidding? What baby outfit could possibly me ugly?
1.) I'm getting out of the house, and it's not for grocery shopping or a diaper run! Woohooooo!!!!
2.) I get to spend some quality-ish time with my husband!
3.) There are other people to hand Clark off to, when I want a break, or simply even to get to hold my husband's hand!
But then it happens. The green-eyed monster hits. Why, might you ask? Because other people are getting to have fun times with my son. I know, it's really insane of me. I look so forward to getting rid of him, so to speak, and there I am, jealous that other people are getting to play with him, or hold him. I swear he gets cuter when we go out. And he, for some reason, acts better too. It's like he's secretly thinking to himself, "This will make her feel bad for wanting to get rid of me. I'll show her." I've talked to my husband about this phenomenon and he agrees. He feels the same way I do when we're out as well. And don't get me wrong. We appreciate our family so much. They have been incredible to us, so generous and helpful.
Isn't that irony for you? It never happens at home when he's screaming for no reason at bedtime and keeps us up for three hours later then he normally does(last night, anyone?), but as soon as we are at someone else's house and they have my adorable son, I immediately want to steal him back and kiss him all over. You know, they talk about when babies eventually get separation anxiety, but they never mention when it hits the parents. I don't know, maybe it's easier when you live far away from family and actually have to pay for babysitters(as my husband said, if that was the case, we would never leave the house/go out to eat). Maybe it's just us to, and no one else is this obsessed with their child. He's just too darn cute to ever want to hand over! Next time I'll have to try to dress him uglier. Who am I kidding? What baby outfit could possibly me ugly?
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