1. Large suitcase with clothes for the both of us
2. Diaper bag containing bottles, wipes, diapers, burp cloth, toys, formula, bowl, spoon and baby food
3. Car seat
4. Car seat base
5. Umbrella stroller
6. Purse
7. Pillow to use as an arm rest during the flight
8. Baby blanket
9. BabyQuestion: Know what's not easy to cart around by yourself?
Answer: Large suitcase, diaper bag, car seat, car seat base, umbrella stroller, purse, pillow, baby blanket, and baby.
Luckily I was able to manage with the help of lots of people along the way, but it wasn't without a LOT of stress and anxiety.
Once we made it to our tropical destination, after an hour and a half-long flight of straight turbulance, I was able to relax in the comfort of my aunt's house. Until Piper had a blow out in her diaper. I was passing her to a relative to hold when I noticed what I thought was black "ink" on her back until I quickly realized it was poop. Nice.
After that, things were going smoothly. We visited with aunts, uncles, cousins, distant relatives, and friends. Everyone was ooohing and ahhing over Piper (as they should!) and she was her sweet, happy self. Because there was so much going on, Piper never really did take any substantial naps, but it was fine because she was having so much fun being adorable!
That is, until, we arrived exhausted at our Best Western hotel room. We shared a room with two of my aunts. I was pleasantly surprised at how clean and nice the accommodations were and how inviting the queen bed that I would have all to myself looked. Piper had a little pack-n-play provided by the hotel to sleep in next to my bed. Since we had been up since 5:00AM and it was now 9:00PM, I fed her, changed her, put her PJ's on and put her to bed. I crawled in to my nice, comfy bed and promptly went to sleep.
At 1:30AM, Piper began to cry. Normally at home I would just let her cry it out, but since we were sharing a room with my two aunts, I picked her up, gave her a bottle for about 3 minutes and she went back to sleep.
At 3:00AM, P Dawg started crying again. Once again, I picked her up out of respect for my aunts (cursing under my breath that I didn't get my own room) and as I was going to make Piper a new bottle, dropped the container on the floor, spilling ALL of the formula that I had on the floor. Not in a nice little pile, but as if it blew in the wind making a 4-foot smear on the tile and carpet. Now what?! Now I don't have ANY food to feed my kid. WTH was I going to do? What else? Rock her to sleep in the pitch black bathroom while sitting on the toilet seat. That only took an hour. I finally put her back down at 4:00am.
5:00AM rolls around and Piper starts crying again! WTH dude?! I pick her up to find her soaking wet as she had peed through her pajamas... for the first time ever. Her pack-n-play sheets were wet as well. Since I didn't have the forethought to pack another set of pajamas for a 1-night trip, I didn't have anything else to put her in. I changed her wet diaper for a dry one and put her in bed with me to try and keep her warm. She fussed quietly for a few minutes, but then fell asleep. I was so stressed about having her in bed with me, that I couldn't for the life of me fall back to sleep.
6:00AM and BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP the effing alarm clock in the room starts going off. Piper immediately pops her sweet little head up and says with a big smile on her face, "goo goo, ga ga!"
Translation: "Good morning! I'm up! Let's play!"
Put a gun to my head.
Have I mentioned that while all of this went on during the night, my aunts never made a peep? I have no idea if they were pretending to sleep through it all or if they really did. Either way, I should have just let Piper cry it out the first time and we probably would have had a good night's sleep.
Anyhoo... the night sucked and the morning was off to a rough start, but things eventually fell in to place. I was able to get to the store for formula before she had a meltdown and we made it to the funeral just in time for... Piper to fall asleep and sleep through the whole thing. Which was such a relief - poor little nugget was tuckered out!
The funeral was beautiful - funny and touching and sad, but a wonderful send off for my sweet uncle. May he rest in peace.
That afternoon all 55+ of us went to brunch after the service and Piper was a little angel. She ate her peas like she had never had something so delicious in her life and then decided to show off her public speaking skillz by babbling at the top of her lungs. Luckily Nana was there to rescue Mommy so I was actually able to eat lunch in peace.
After brunch we headed back to my Aunt's to rest before going back to the airport. Piper finally took a legit nap and I was able to enjoy my family and laugh along with them to all of the funny stories and memories people had of my uncle. It was a good time and I was grateful I made the trip - even with the difficulties.
Our flight home was uneventfull - the flight was smooth, Piper played and was a good girl, and we even arrived back in Dallas 40 minutes early!
Overall it was a good trip and I'm so happy we went. Just for future reference though, here are some helpful tips for traveling alone with a baby:
1. Pack twice as many clothes for the baby as you think you'll need. I only brought 1 bib (it was disgusting after 1 day) and 1 set of pj's and they were peed on. Plus, it was hot there, but cold here, so pack for both. Luckily I had warm clothes to dress Piper in for when we arrived back in Dallas where it was only 50 degrees (it was 95 in Harlingen).
2. Pack diapers like you're going to change the baby every hour. I had exactly enough diapers for the trip, but any more accidents and I would have had to buy a whole new batch and then cart them around too.
3. The pillow for the airplane is key. I use it to put under my arm since she's on my lap and it makes a huge difference. Plus, once she got tired of her toys on the plane, the tags on the pillow became instant entertainment.
4. Food. Pack like every meal will be her last meal. I way underestimated her food intake and even if I hadn't spilled all of her food on the floor, I'm pretty sure I would have to go to the store and buy more anyway. I miss nursing.
5. Remember these trials because they will be (and already are) funny. Life is short. Shit happens.
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| She Sleeps |
