Traveling Across Country with Baby

Though this is belated, I figure I should give you a head's up about the traveling on a plane with a baby thing...except I can't. Honestly, I don't think I can give you any help or tips.

I'm not bragging or trying to be a horrible human being when I say Kiddo is perfect. I mean, really. He made everyone around him happy. Other than the expected meltdown when he was completely zonked or teething - he was a total trooper.

He laughed when the plane took off. He laughed when landing. The flight attendant said she'd never seen a better baby in flight. He was smiling and happy the entire time. He smiled when he met his great aunts and uncles. He smiled when he met his cousins. He smiled when he met complete strangers. In fact, he flirted shamelessly with older women EVERYWHERE WE WENT (He even had separation anxiety when his new girlfriends of five seconds left him forever - complete with pathetic whimpering.).

He did teethe.

There were several nights he barely slept because his teeth were coming through...and VIOLA! He now has a total of 6 teeth (4 came in up top ALL AT ONCE...ick.). That part was rough.

The meltdowns in the carseat when he was exhausted and just wanted to snuggle with his mommy were rough. Those happened...at least once a day which considering how much driving we did daily, was a minor miracle.

He even did well with the complete strange babysitter during my cousin's wedding and reception. Kiddo was a perfect baby.

And that wasn't lost on people. I mean, he got noticed. His sweetness was noticed. And I had to tell everyone over and over: All babies are not like this. They aren't all this sweet and charming and perfect. Don't be fooled into thinking you'll have one like this - you might, but don't count on it.

Christian's family has a history of inspiring other people into having children because his family has such sweet babies, and then, well, these people get screwed. I guess there was a rash of babies wherever his parents lived after each of their four children was born. Ha.

So yes, Kiddo was a doll and lovely with everyone however I wouldn't want to travel with a baby again. Why? Because it's still rough on even the most cooperative of babies. Their routines are all jacked up. They get constipated. They get exposed to a thousand bagillion germs on the plane. They have to suffer being confined in a car seat way more than they'd ever care to. They have no idea when they're supposed to sleep. They have no idea when they're supposed to eat. Everything is all goofy and the result is crankiness on the part of either the parent, the baby, or everyone involved.

So yeah. Kiddo is perfect...or it was a minor miracle we came out unscathed.

Bi-coastal Baby Travel

Well I have like 5 post lying in wait (thank phone blogging and teething babies!). Now I finally have an hour or so to get some stuff out there and this one is sort of important, because I may or may not have access to internet for the next week or so.

You see, I'm going on a plane.

With Kiddo.

To Pennsylvania.

This week.

This guy in a small metal tube flying through the air... oh boy!

Jelly? Yeah. I thought so.

I am so excited to get out of California and visit family that I made a check list WEEKS AGO of all the things I'll need to have packed in order for me to survive traveling with an almost 9 month old. Weeks ago. And then I read it off to my mother and husband on separate occasions to make sure I didn't miss anything.

I tried Kiddo on Cheerios so we could have baby plane food.

I'm not leaving until Monday, but yesterday I packed as much as I could to make sure I had enough space... and well, just to pack.

You see, this is a big trip. It's 5 hours just flying time, not to mention the check-ins, security lines, and gate wait. Add to that the drive down to LA and the drive from the Pittsburgh airport to my aunt's on the other end and it gets gnarly. To mitigate the waits and keep Kiddo comfy, we're going to stay in a hotel in LA and then start our journey across the continent the following day.

Like I said, exciting, but also... well. Kiddo is almost 9 months old. He's an active little guy. He's messy. He's excitable. He's talkative. When he's at all hungry or tired, he can be a real bear. This is not the kind of thing most people like on a plane. I'm hoping he'll be in a good mood, smiling and laughing the whole way.

Oh, and I also hope he poops on Monday - not Tuesday our flying day. Yeah. Pray for "No Poo Tues." Seriously. Pray.

Fire, A Move, and The 7 Week Old

The last few days were crazy. I moved from the Bay with a 7 week old baby back to my parents' house.

On Friday both sets of parents arrived to help us box up our tiny Jingletown loft apartment and load it between a trailer, pick-up, UHaul, and compact. Much of our possessions ended up in boxes in any order - so we'll be experiencing Christmas every day!

What made it even crazier was on Sunday morning we were woken by our fire alarm at 6:50 AM. Confused and concerned, Christian got dressed and went outside to confirm there was a fire in our building and it wasn't just a malfunction of our apartment's alarm. In just a few moments he returned and was picking up things.

Christian: There's a fire in an apartment inside the gate.
Me: Do I have time to pee?
Christian: yeah, but hurry.

I can't believe this was my concern, but it was. I figured once I got the baby out I wouldn't have access to a toilet for hours. Of course, I was thinking of the worst case scenario...

As it was, I got kiddo out and made a beeline to the car where I nursed him. I was so thankful we breastfeed. Trying to get a bottle of formula ready in that situation would have been difficult if not impossible. Kiddo had no idea anything was amiss. He was wrapped in a warm blanket and quite content to nurse as usual.

We sat there in the cold car watching as the firetrucks arrived and the firemen went about their business. Even though adrenaline was pumping through many that morning, the firemen themselves were quite calm. It was sort of reassuring to see the easy purpose that drove their actions. Meanwhile Christian grabbed the few remaining items from our apartment and put them in the trunk. The only thing left was our mattress, which he couldn't possibly carry himself.

About an hour later, the firetrucks left and we were able to return to our loft. A minute later my in-laws arrived with breakfast, and we loaded the mattress. Before we took off Christian checked the apartment that had been on fire. Based on the burnt power strip and debris outside the crispy place, Christian was pretty sure it was an electrical fire. I was just thankful it hadn't spread to the rest of the building (though I had the reassurance that our things were basically all out of our apartment anyway).

Once everything was loaded up, my mother-in-law and I took the car with kiddo, while my father-in-law towed the trailer and Christian drove the UHaul. We were a caravan of varying speeds.

The ride was pleasant, with kiddo quiet when awake, but asleep much of the time. We only stopped twice - once to change and nurse him and a second time for lunch (and of course change and nurse kiddo). At about 3 PM we arrived and everyone started unloading what would be used (leaving the rest in the trailer for storage) while I nursed kiddo.

By the end of the day I was incredibly exhausted...and still couldn't sleep. I'm still sort of in shock from everything, but such is life. I hoping this is will truly be a new beginning for us, but we'll just have to wait and see. Life is unexpected...especially for us.

Pregnancy Urinary Trek Part 2: 101 North

On Saturday I made the same long trek back home that I made over a week before. I rode in the car from Buellton to Jingletown. As expected, it took a bit longer than expected. We started at 9:30 AM and I didn't get home until 4:30 PM.

And I thought that without shoe shopping I'd be able to make the trip a little faster. Of course I wasn't counting on motorcycle shopping.

Our first stop was the Atascadero Harley Davidson shop. They have clean bathrooms, my in-laws know the owner, and sometimes there are free goodies (especially on a Saturday). As it was, there was coffee and some kind of pastry available had we wanted it and fresh movie/carnival style popcorn. We used the potty and looked around at the different gear, bikes, etc. My mother-in-law got a bag of popcorn and we were back on the road.

I lasted a pretty long time before I broke down and needed another bathroom. So in Salinas, I thought we were going to stop at a Mickey D's or some other similar fast food place. My father-in-law used to drive truck back in the day, so he has a habit of picking the kinds of stops truckers would choose (in other words, not the places a prego lady would). We stopped at the Chevron station across from the Mickey D's. Needless to say, I would not recommend using this bathroom as a prego lady.

Not too long afterwards, we made our third stop in Gilroy which included lunch - at some place "real special" (think: Talladega Nights). Of course, just to be safe, I book ended lunch with visits to the water closet.

After lunch we hopped back on the road north and didn't stop again until Christian called asking for us to pick up a piece for his bike. So we stopped in Santa Clara at Cycle Salvage which involved sitting in a hot truck for about 20 minutes (no way I was going to pee in that bathroom).

Once back on the road, I waited for as long as I possibly could to use a toilet...which was until we got to Union City. This meant a quick stop at the In and Out for a potty break and a cup of ice water.

Only a few miles later, we stopped at Christian's new work (East Bay Motorsports) so I could use a potty (again...of course) and have Christian check to make sure the part we picked up would work. Of course, we

ended up looking at motorcycles and gear. We also hung out with Christian for a few minutes in between jobs. Even though I wanted to get home as soon as possible, seeing Christian after a week of being apart was a bonus.

A few more minutes in the truck and we were back to the loft in Jingletown. I had hoped my return trip would be shorter, but oh well. I guess shopping and toilet stops are intrinsically linked. Yep. Third trimester roadtrips are always twice as long.

Pregnancy Urinary Trek Part 1: 101 South

The reason this post is so late is because I turned a 4 hour drive into a 7 hour one. My father came up last night, and then this morning we drove from Oakland, making our way slowly to Buellton. Needless to say, I had to make some stops along the way.

Stop #1

First we stopped in Gilroy. We got enormous fountain drinks and pastry type snacks (mine was nearly a quiche while my dad's was something sugary that I can't even hope to eat right now) from Panera. And of course, I used the bathroom.

Stop #2

My dad wanted to check out Ross for some shoes he really likes (that supposedly they carry) so we went into Ross and looked around. Discovering nothing, but having spent a good bit of time, I needed to use the potty again before we left. Luckily, nextdoor was a Target. Targets are pretty good about keeping their bathrooms clean, so I waddled inside and used the potty while my dad wandered around.

Task complete, we continued our journey southward. Unfortunately, my dad needed to get gas in the car which meant we needed to stop a little sooner (again) than I was hoping. In any case, we decided to stop in a shopping area in Salinas where there was (coincidentally) a gas station, restaurants, and a Ross. Hmm. Imagine that! Well, we got gas, then checked this second Ross for these mythical shoes (alas, no luck). By this time, we decided we should probably get some lunch (and of course, use the potty).

Stop #3

Well, not too far from the Ross was a Famous Dave's. Since I've had a hankering for BBQ like...my entire pregnancy, we high-tailed it over there. I used the potty before lunch. Ate lunch. I used the potty after lunch (are we seeing a trend yet?). When I got back to car, the remaining of my bucket drink from Panera was warm and gross. I switched to my water bottle (a necessity to avoid Braxton Hicks even though it would mean I needed to stop again).

Stop #4

We made it as far as King City where I had to stop. We took the first promising exit and noticed there were about a thousand choices. I thought, well let's go to Starbucks. No one will go there... I chose poorly. There was a line at the counter (10 people). There was a line at the bathroom (2 people). I glanced around the bathroom line and asked if there was only one bathroom. The man at the front of the line said there were 2, and the woman in line said there was a line. Almost as soon as she said this, the man said "But you're pregnant so you can go ahead of me." The woman looked up and gaped at me in horror. "I'm so sorry! I didn't even look!" She was mortified. Then she went on in a whisper, "It's a lot of pressure, huh?" I nodded and smiled. "Yep. Pretty much." Well, my dad also had to use the bathroom, so he had to wait. The result? I was not waiting in a second line to get a drink, only to need to pee again and have to wait in the line again. We left.

Stop #5

Well, I thought I could wait longer, but my dad wanted to stop at the single rest area on the 101 south, so we did. It was an easy off and on the freeway so it made pretty good sense. I was thankful for the speed the stop allowed us. By this point we didn't have much further to go, but my dad did have to make a stop in San Luis Obispo to get a very specific wedding present. So close and yet so far!

Stop #6

This was the most complicated stop yet because Google took us a weird ass way to get to the place we were going. Google. Ugh. We did however get there, my dad bought what he was planning to buy and then decided he wanted to check out this very crunchy grocery store, New Frontiers. This was fine, except of course, it meant we were taking even more time. I was getting cranky. I was zonked. I needed a nap. I used the potty one last time and instead of getting another drink, we pushed through the remaining 50 minutes of driving or so to Buellton. Once at my parents' place, I peed yet again, put my feet up, and drank some ice water.

The nap came a little later.

Thus is the tale of my 7 hour drive from Oakland to Buellton. I'm sure my stops next week driving back home will be just as many, and hopefully just as clean. :-)