How do you travel with a baby? In the car is no big deal, but I'm starting to toy with the idea of traveling with Daddy. DH travels every week flying out on Sun and home on Thurs. Before Peanut, I traveled with him quite a bit. For the first year of our marriage, I went with him one week out of every month. We also used to add in some leisure trips each year. In some regards it's easy. Travel is cheap for us. With the miles and hotel points, we can travel for very little money. So we're able to do some things that we may not otherwise do. The best thing about the travel perks was when when we cycled out of state. So DH's travel schedule helped us get our little Peanut.
Anyway, I'd like to take Peanut and travel with Daddy and then incorporate a week of vacation, but I have no idea how to do it. Here are my questions.
Is is best to get her her own airline ticket or hold her? She's a really easy baby, but we'd be on about a 3.5 hour flight.
What do you do about a car seat? Do we take ours with us or do the car rental companies rent them? Will they have rear facing seats?
If we're taking a cab from the airport, I suppose our own car seat is necessary, but how on earth do you get a cabbie to wait while you intall the darn thing? I suppose it's just time on the meter.
What about a stroller? Can you rent strollers? Where?
I suppose staying in a suite-style hotel would be easiest b/c of the extra room and kitchenette. She's on cereal so I think the kitchenette would be a big help. Anyone have experience with this? Did your baby sleep well in the hotel crib? If she doesn't and we let her sleep with us, will she go back to her bed at home?
Would 2 weeks away from home be insane to even try? I've been thinking that just getting out there and doing it will be the hardest part.
I've probably forgotten lots of things that I should have asked. I'd love any advice you guys have to impart. Thanks!
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Getting it done
Well, we stopped breast feeding. I'm not totally happy about it, but I do have more time to get things done. I also have more energy so I actually can get things done. It's amazing how draining breast feeding is on the body. I miss it. I really do. I miss that closeness to my baby. I wish so badly that it could have gone well for us and I could have nursed until we were both really ready to stop. Alas....it was not meant to be.
Now that I can finally focus on life apart from my baby, I'm driving myself crazy trying to get caught up. I've got a stack of work to be done at the office that is hard to fathom and at home I have a bedroom and a closet that are out of control. The worst thing is that I still have thank you notes to write. I've given myself a deadline of the end of May to get caught up. I think that if I can do that I will enjoy life so much more. I feel as if I have a very dark cloud over my head. I would also like to go spend a week with my parents and I don't feel like I can do that until I get some of these projects out of the way.
Work, work, work. I've got to be a busy bee.
The Peanut continues to thrive. She's about 14 lbs. That's more than triple her birth weight!!! She'll be 7 mos on Sat. That's so hard to believe. She's so much fun. She's got a great little personality and a sense of humor that is way more developed than I would expect from a 7 mo old. We're having a blast with her now.
Now that I can finally focus on life apart from my baby, I'm driving myself crazy trying to get caught up. I've got a stack of work to be done at the office that is hard to fathom and at home I have a bedroom and a closet that are out of control. The worst thing is that I still have thank you notes to write. I've given myself a deadline of the end of May to get caught up. I think that if I can do that I will enjoy life so much more. I feel as if I have a very dark cloud over my head. I would also like to go spend a week with my parents and I don't feel like I can do that until I get some of these projects out of the way.
Work, work, work. I've got to be a busy bee.
The Peanut continues to thrive. She's about 14 lbs. That's more than triple her birth weight!!! She'll be 7 mos on Sat. That's so hard to believe. She's so much fun. She's got a great little personality and a sense of humor that is way more developed than I would expect from a 7 mo old. We're having a blast with her now.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Reality Check
We met with a financial planner yesterday. We had worked our way through a tortuous worksheet. We had to input the usual stuff: assets, liabilities, income, and expenses. He came armed with a computer program that linked all of our many "drawers" of financial data. Near the end, he pointed at a number and said so this is what you spend each year on food, entertainment, your household, and just day-to-day stuff. I wasn't surprised by the number. I probably should have been. It was a big number and it didn't include any mortgage information or cars.
Today I was thinking about that number and telling myself that I need to work on spending less money. I'm sure there are a lot of ways that we can cut our expenses and lower "that number." Even though we save about 19% of what we earn does that really mean that we should be blowing that much money every year?
What was I doing while having this frugal thought? Sitting in the drive-thru at St*rbucks waiting to order a $5.00 cup of coffee!
More soul searching required...:)
Today I was thinking about that number and telling myself that I need to work on spending less money. I'm sure there are a lot of ways that we can cut our expenses and lower "that number." Even though we save about 19% of what we earn does that really mean that we should be blowing that much money every year?
What was I doing while having this frugal thought? Sitting in the drive-thru at St*rbucks waiting to order a $5.00 cup of coffee!
More soul searching required...:)
Friday, May 7, 2010
A word about the day that is coming up
So I am undeniably a mother now and thereby eligible to participate in all of the celebratory hoopla that goes along with the second Sunday in May. I, however, am completely uncomfortable with the day. It was such an awful day for me for the last few years. All I can think about now are the many women who are right where I was then. I can still feel the pain of those empty and hurtfilled Sundays in May.
I would like to accept my husband's thank yous, hug my baby, and spend the day keeping things quiet and subdued. I do celebrate my child, but I also share the pain of millions of women who are hurting and wishing to be mothers. I do not want to stand up in church and flaunt the fact that I was blessed with a baby. I don't want to take my family to a restaurant and fill a table while others huddle at home not wanting to leave the house because if they do they'll be forced to face the Mother's Day brunch special.
There are so many wonderful, nurturing women who are as yet unable to fill their homes with children. Are these women not mothers? How can we be so sure? Do they mother? I'll bet they do. I'll bet that they nurture nieces, nephews, friend's children, students, and many children in their community. It is not necessary to give birth, adopt, or even foster in order to mother and I think that we should recognize and thank every woman who has ever nurtured a child....not just the ones who have or have had a child living under their roof.
I would like to accept my husband's thank yous, hug my baby, and spend the day keeping things quiet and subdued. I do celebrate my child, but I also share the pain of millions of women who are hurting and wishing to be mothers. I do not want to stand up in church and flaunt the fact that I was blessed with a baby. I don't want to take my family to a restaurant and fill a table while others huddle at home not wanting to leave the house because if they do they'll be forced to face the Mother's Day brunch special.
There are so many wonderful, nurturing women who are as yet unable to fill their homes with children. Are these women not mothers? How can we be so sure? Do they mother? I'll bet they do. I'll bet that they nurture nieces, nephews, friend's children, students, and many children in their community. It is not necessary to give birth, adopt, or even foster in order to mother and I think that we should recognize and thank every woman who has ever nurtured a child....not just the ones who have or have had a child living under their roof.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Catching up
I never told my birth story....or a million other stories since. Here we go.
I went back and read my pre-birth posts. You may want to read my October posts to refresh, as well.
We made plans to induce on Thurs Oct 22. I had been having contractions since Sat. On Wed, they were serious. I ran all over town running errands with a stop watch on my arm. The contractions were never more than 13 min apart and were usually 8 min apart. At one point I was in the grocery store hanging onto the meat counter while breathing through a contraction. My nephew was with me and he was afraid they were going to ask us to leave the store! The contractions subsided as night fell. I could have slept if I hadn't been so excited. This was bigger than Christmas and a trip to Disney all in one!
As I'd hoped, when we got to the hospital on Thurs am, I was 5 cm dilated. My nurse, who I love, started me at only 2 mls per hour of pitocin. That is the minimum dosage. The maximum dosage is 20 mls per hour. I got myself all set up with my music playlist going on my computer. My DH and my doula were on their respective computers. I warned them both ahead of time that I would probably go to a place inside myself. I did. I didn't need them for quite some time. They were able to just hang out and do whatever. My dr (the one in my group that I'd hoped to have at my delivery) came in to talk. She mentioned breaking my water, but asked if I wanted an epidural. When I told her that I'd really like to get through without one, she said that she would wait to see if my water would break on its own. In hindsight, I LOVE her for that. Her not pushing me to have my water broken probably made it possible for me to have a drug-free birth.
At some point, my nurse increased the pitocin to 6 mls per hour. I don't have a very good idea of time, but the whole process went very quickly. She started the drip at 7:30 and the baby came at 1:04 pm. I lay on my side breathing and focusing on my music. At some point I opened my eyes and looke at DH and doula. She said that hte contractions were 3 min apart. I was really shocked. I was thinking much more than that. I'm so glad that I didn't focus on the clock. In fact, one reason I kept my eyes closed all day is that I didn't want to know what time it ws and there was a clock in front of me. I also didn't let them give me any updates on my cervix. I was afraid if I knew the progress or time that I may get discouraged. It was such hard work. I had to focus solely on the work at hand and not how long it was taking.
Probably around 10 to 10:30 am the contractions got serious enough that I asked my doula to do some visualization/imagery with me. I think around 11:00 my water broke. That was the most amazing experience I've ever had. I'm so very glad that I was able to experience it. It was like there was a rubber band in my belly and it snapped. I don't know if the baby gave a big kick at the same moment, but it felt as if she did. You should have seen the look on my face. My eyes were huge and a look of wonderment must have come over me. I looked at my doula. I think I said something about fluid and she just smiled and said my water just broke. Almost immediately, I started having the urge to have a bowel movement. My doula didn't believe it. She thought the urge was just the baby pushing down and that I was misinterpreting it. I hate to sound petty, but I was very satisfied when I actually pooped! I showed her that I know my body!!! While I was on the toilet, the contractions became so intense. I began having to grunt my way through each one and continued to have to do that until the baby came. My husband says that the sound was like that of a bench presser. I was very comfortable on the toilet and not very well able to do everything that I needed to do. TMI alert! That means cleaning myself. I also found some relief in that position and didn't want to go back to the bed. I hung on to the grab bar and sat with my legs spread out. Eventually, I was able to go back to the bed. I wanted to lean over a birthing ball, but the hospital didn't have them. Instead, I rolled up my pillow and my body pillow and leaned over them at the foot of the bed. Later when they told me I had to turn around I had a bit of trouble finding a comfortable position, but finally settled in in a squatting position.
BBL for more...stay tuned.
I went back and read my pre-birth posts. You may want to read my October posts to refresh, as well.
We made plans to induce on Thurs Oct 22. I had been having contractions since Sat. On Wed, they were serious. I ran all over town running errands with a stop watch on my arm. The contractions were never more than 13 min apart and were usually 8 min apart. At one point I was in the grocery store hanging onto the meat counter while breathing through a contraction. My nephew was with me and he was afraid they were going to ask us to leave the store! The contractions subsided as night fell. I could have slept if I hadn't been so excited. This was bigger than Christmas and a trip to Disney all in one!
As I'd hoped, when we got to the hospital on Thurs am, I was 5 cm dilated. My nurse, who I love, started me at only 2 mls per hour of pitocin. That is the minimum dosage. The maximum dosage is 20 mls per hour. I got myself all set up with my music playlist going on my computer. My DH and my doula were on their respective computers. I warned them both ahead of time that I would probably go to a place inside myself. I did. I didn't need them for quite some time. They were able to just hang out and do whatever. My dr (the one in my group that I'd hoped to have at my delivery) came in to talk. She mentioned breaking my water, but asked if I wanted an epidural. When I told her that I'd really like to get through without one, she said that she would wait to see if my water would break on its own. In hindsight, I LOVE her for that. Her not pushing me to have my water broken probably made it possible for me to have a drug-free birth.
At some point, my nurse increased the pitocin to 6 mls per hour. I don't have a very good idea of time, but the whole process went very quickly. She started the drip at 7:30 and the baby came at 1:04 pm. I lay on my side breathing and focusing on my music. At some point I opened my eyes and looke at DH and doula. She said that hte contractions were 3 min apart. I was really shocked. I was thinking much more than that. I'm so glad that I didn't focus on the clock. In fact, one reason I kept my eyes closed all day is that I didn't want to know what time it ws and there was a clock in front of me. I also didn't let them give me any updates on my cervix. I was afraid if I knew the progress or time that I may get discouraged. It was such hard work. I had to focus solely on the work at hand and not how long it was taking.
Probably around 10 to 10:30 am the contractions got serious enough that I asked my doula to do some visualization/imagery with me. I think around 11:00 my water broke. That was the most amazing experience I've ever had. I'm so very glad that I was able to experience it. It was like there was a rubber band in my belly and it snapped. I don't know if the baby gave a big kick at the same moment, but it felt as if she did. You should have seen the look on my face. My eyes were huge and a look of wonderment must have come over me. I looked at my doula. I think I said something about fluid and she just smiled and said my water just broke. Almost immediately, I started having the urge to have a bowel movement. My doula didn't believe it. She thought the urge was just the baby pushing down and that I was misinterpreting it. I hate to sound petty, but I was very satisfied when I actually pooped! I showed her that I know my body!!! While I was on the toilet, the contractions became so intense. I began having to grunt my way through each one and continued to have to do that until the baby came. My husband says that the sound was like that of a bench presser. I was very comfortable on the toilet and not very well able to do everything that I needed to do. TMI alert! That means cleaning myself. I also found some relief in that position and didn't want to go back to the bed. I hung on to the grab bar and sat with my legs spread out. Eventually, I was able to go back to the bed. I wanted to lean over a birthing ball, but the hospital didn't have them. Instead, I rolled up my pillow and my body pillow and leaned over them at the foot of the bed. Later when they told me I had to turn around I had a bit of trouble finding a comfortable position, but finally settled in in a squatting position.
BBL for more...stay tuned.
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