What a Trip!

My husband is a planner. If we are going on a trip - even just a 2 hr. jaunt - he plans. Days, or sometimes weeks, in advance he has the route mapped out and potential restaurants and places to stop tucked away in the corner of his mind... and on a sheet of paper for my benefit. He checks the weather and considers traffic. I, on the other hand, am the type who gets in and goes! Hungry? We'll find somewhere to stop along the way. I admit, it's nice that he's a planner. My methods aren't always the most responsible and reliable... especially with a baby (almost TODDLER) in tow!

If you had read my last post, you would know that we had an appointment at Children's Hospital for Eloise on Friday. There's been concern about one of her soft spots closing too soon. As you can imagine, Cory has been planning since the appointment was confirmed. That mostly just consisted of checking the weather... and wouldn't you know, having had such a mild winter so far, the heavens were to open up and dump on our area the night before the appointment!! At the last minute we decided to book a hotel room near the hospital. It's a 2+ hour drive and we didn't want to risk losing our appointment if the roads were bad (or risk our lives!). Since the snow wasn't supposed to start until after midnight, we devised a plan:

Cory gets home from work.
Eat dinner.
Feed Eloise.
Play.
Bath Time.
Get El ready for bed.
Nurse.
Put her in the car seat.
Pack the car.
Drive 2+ hours to the hotel... while El slept.
Park.
Cory would check in while El and I waited in the car.
Cory would unload and get the pack & play set up in our room.
Cory would make sure everything was ready for us to just lay Eloise down to keep sleeping.
Cory would come get us and we would go to our room... and LIGHTS OUT!

Sounds like a good plan... right?
I thought so.

Then... we drive into the stifling city. I am a country girl. I live on the outskirts of town... but my town has only, like, 5 stop lights and 1 bus that runs during the day - and that's basically for the old folks who need a ride to the grocery store. When we drive close to the city, I get claustrophobic! And of course... there are lights... EVERYWHERE. Apparently headlights aren't sufficient. So guess who is awake as soon as we breech city limits? Luckily she wasn't fussy... but by that time it was after 10PM and Eloise is normally sleeping like a baby at that time!

We wind our way through the streets where people are standing (shaking from the cold) on street corners, waiting for the bus.

We pull into our hotel... where we notice that the parking lot is GATED. And a sign tells us that it's VALET ONLY. Crap. Our plan is starting to unravel - which actually started with Eloise waking up! Cory greets the valet guy and we start to unload the car... our bags, El's bag, the pack & play, my purse... and of course, Eloise. I, by the way, am in sweat pants with sweet peas spilled on the leg from Eloise's dinner earlier that evening... and I am also sporting my CLOGS. Not "croc" type clogs... but nice shoes that you'd wear with jeans or dress pants. And my hair was a mess from trying to sleep in the car and not being able to get comfy with my pony tail in the way!! Meanwhile, as we are standing at the counter checking in, there are fancy people passing us by. I thought we'd be staying at some half decent hotel... where I could quietly slip into my room unnoticed from the parking lot. I wasn't expecting to be standing in a lit-up lobby with people in suits and dress shoes!

Anyway - off we go to our room, which was on the 4th floor, luckily at the end of the hall - hauling all of our crap. Eloise is wide awake, though very tired. We didn't waste any time getting things unpacked... and then--not 2 minutes from walking in... the phone rang. WHAT!? Who would be calling us? Crap! So Cory answered the phone... only to find out that as we were trudging through the hotel... looking like misfits with our pea-stained sweatpants, book bags and messy hair (OK, that was mostly just me).... I had somehow dropped Eloise's hat on the floor. Or perhaps, she had tossed it on the floor (as she doesn't like wearing a hat indoors). Luckily a hotel employee brought it to us - so we didn't have to go out in public again!!

Fast Forward a few minutes ----> we get our crap together, and since Eloise is up, I decide to try to nurse her back to sleep. Oh dear goodness. The minute I try to lay her down... she freaks!! SPAZZ-CITY! So I hold her and try to rock her. There isn't a rocking chair... but I rock anyway. She doesn't cry anymore... but she won't sleep. Cory lays in bed... but of course, he can't sleep because Eloise and I aren't settled. I rock and walk and "shhhh" and sing. El won't sleep. I finally decide to lay her in bed with us (Hooray for a King Size!)... and yet again, she freaks. Oh my gosh. So I get up and hold her, swaying and bouncing. My arms start to cramp. The girl isn't that big... but 20+ lbs gets heavy after awhile! Finally, she starts drifting and I decide to take a chance to lay her down in the pack & play. BIG MISTAKE! She starts screaming! I can't really blame the girl. She has never slept anywhere (except at nap time) other than her own crib. Cory tells me to let her cry. So I get in bed. But I just can't stand the thought of her disturbing other people in other rooms. So I get her again... and commence the rocking and swaying. Finally, I take another chance, but this time I prop myself up in bed with 3 pillows and hold her. Hallelujah... she falls asleep! Except I am stuck in that position - afraid that she'll wake if I move!! I don't have any blankets on me except for my feet... and did I mention that we forgot to adjust the heat? I was cold! And to top it off... when the heat DID decide to kick on... it was a LOUD... CLICK! And then WHHHIIIIRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!! I just knew that it was going to wake Eloise up. But it didn't. Phew.

After awhile, I started to doze... and then Eloise would shift and move. I don't know how I did it, but I managed to get her into the bed between us without waking her. But then... both Cory and I could only sleep for a few minutes at a time because we were paranoid that we may roll onto her. How do people sleep with their babies in their beds? I will never understand that and am so thankful that we never started that habit!!! A little after 2AM, I couldn't hold it anymore. I HAD to go to the bathroom... I was afraid that El might roll off the bed... but she was far enough in the middle that I figured it was OK. So I got up. But since I didn't want to turn on a light - and wasn't too familiar with the room, I had to go grab my phone to use as a night light. Wouldn't you know... Eloise woke up. CRAP!! Seriously. CRAP. She was fussing... poor girl. Poor mama. I cuddled her back to sleep... and was finally able to lay her back on the bed so I could go to the bathroom. RELIEF, I tell you!

Off and on through the night... the heater would blast on and wake us up. If Eloise woke up, I would lay her on my chest until she fell asleep again. Of course, I had on a necklace... and she would lay RIGHT on the charm... and all I could think was that we were going to be taking her to Children's Hospital, and she is going to have this crazy mark on her head from my necklace! But luckily, she didn't lay on it long enough to make a dent. Phew, again!

Around 6 AM... we were all up. Cory got up and looked out the window to assess the snow situation. I'm not joking... there was only a dusting. YES... a dusting. We were a bit frustrated after our sleepless night... but, better safe than sorry. That's all we could tell ourselves at that point!!

Cory got showered while Eloise and I hung out.

Then I showered... and enjoyed a brief moment of peace.
Too bad I couldn't have napped in there!

(Yes, that is a nursing pad on the table... but don't worry, it was unused!)

Cory went to see about breakfast... we could go eat in the hotel for $10 a person!! Or he could walk over to Starbucks and grab a couple of muffins for $5. We chose the latter.

Our appointment was at 10AM... but since Eloise was all out of sorts, we just wanted to get outta there and get going! Cory called and they were able to see us at 9:30AM, so we got all packed up and headed out! Luckily we left early enough that we were able to make it through traffic. Sometimes when you live in the country, you forget how long it can take to get somewhere when you're driving in the city. So many cars and lights! YIKES! We made it to a great space in the parking garage... and had a few moments to kill, so Cory got in the back and read to El.

Meanwhile, we both have been stressed about the outcome of the appointment... and also topped with the lack of sleep... we were just exhausted!!

Anyway--we went into the hospital and found our area. The "Mouse" area... which was nice because Eloise LOVES her Minnie Mouse... and that's what they had decorating some of the spaces. We filled out paperwork and talked to the receptionist/clerk person. And, I just have to mention... when she was asking for Cory's Social Security Number... he practically shouted it! She had to quiet him in the middle of it... and she kind of chuckled. Cory's face was priceless as he realized what he'd almost done by saying the number out loud! Then a few minutes later, the lady asked for El's S.S. Number... and Cory started to say it out loud (and I mean LOUD) again! The lady shushed him and said, "Gimme that!" and took the paper Cory had it written down on! And she jokingly scolded him and told Eloise that daddy was trying to ruin her life before she even turned one! It might sound harsh - but she was really nice and was keeping the mood light. We needed it!

We went off to the waiting area... where they give you one of those round beeper type things that light up and buzz when your turn is called. We were only there for maybe 5-10 mins before it was our turn to go back. El got weighed and measured... then we went to another room and waited only a few minutes before we saw the doctor. That's service!!!

She asked us questions, looked over Eloise and measured her head. We asked her questions.. yadda yadda.... and finally, she looked at us and said, "I believe you have a perfectly healthy little girl."

**BIG... no... HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF!!**

Eloise does have a prominent ridge where the suture above her forehead is growing together. And we should keep our eye on it that it doesn't get any bigger.... but otherwise, she is just fine!!

We wanted to do the Happy Dance! And yes, perhaps we were a little overly-paranoid-first-time-parents. But we didn't want to even take a chance that anything might be wrong... and if that meant taking her to Children's just for them to tell us she is healthy... then so be it! We praise God that she is OK! And after being at the Hospital, we pray for those other children and babies we saw who were in the middle of their own medical issues.

After making our way back to the car and settling in, we drove the 2+ hours home... Eloise and I fell asleep... and though I could breathe easier after hearing the Good News... it wasn't until we pulled into our very own driveway that I felt like I could truly breathe again!

Thank you so much for your comments and emails of encouragement... and most of all for your prayers! They mean so much to us... and even though we may not know you personally, we are so appreciative for the support! If ever there is a prayer concern that you may have, please email me so that Cory and I can lift it up to our Heavenly Father! Every prayer counts. It really does.