Tuesday, September 25, 2007

In a land far, far away

Some of you may know that I'm currently visiting my parents. This trip has been completely exhausting and although I'm not ready to say good-bye to the folks, I am ready to be back home. It all started with a 2 hour flight to Nashville. Which went pretty well I must say. Besides 20 minutes of total fidgeting by Hayden, the rest of the flight he slept. Yay!

After getting off the plane, we checked out the Nashville Zoo. It was nice. Hayden really liked the red panda. It came right up to him behind the glass and he got all giddy. So, of course, the grandparents made sure if left with a red panda stuffed animal. While we were there he started sneezing a little. I jinxed myself by saying, "No, he's alright. He sneezes all the time." Uh-huh. I mean he does. But apparently this time was different. We then headed to the Opry Mills mall to look for a replacement night light for Hayden. He has this aquarium light that burned out after 9 months of constant use. Well a million mall-walking miles later we left empty handed.

Then we had to get in the car and drive 2 hours back to my parents house. Hayden did well until the last hour or so. You haven't been tortured until you've sat in the back seat of a Buick trying to protect your hysterical, sleepy, cranky baby from the sun. Oh how I appreciate my tinted windows now. We get him home finally and he runs all over the house "discovering".

Last time I visited things were alot different. 1.) I was still breastfeeding 2.) Hayden wasn't completely sleeping through the night. So I thought this trip would be better. Last time Hayden and I slept in the same room. But that didn't go so well. I woke up more often than usual and I was sleep deprived for most of the trip. So this time I thought I'd play it smart and put him in the office next to my room. Right. He did not like the office. He did not like being alone. He did not like the dark. He did not want to go to sleep! So, under pressure from the folks, we squeezed his pack-n-play into my room. (Last time I slept in my parents room because there really is no place to put the pack-n-play in the spare room). And we both went to sleep. For about an hour. All in all, I think I was up about 4 or 5 times that night. Ugh. I woke up dead. Hayden woke up with a runny nose.

I'm so sleep deprived at this point I don't even remember what happened on Saturday...I'm pretty sure there was a Saturday, but as for what we did, I cannot say. Let's skip to that night. This time I decided, fine, I'll sleep on the couch. Lucky for me it's a pull-out. Not as comfortable as the bed I was supposed to sleep in, but since Hayden stole that room, it's this or be up all night. This time Hayden wakes up 3 times. Coffee, coffee, coffee.

Sunday was my Dad's birthday, so we had planned to go up to Cumberland Lake and eat dinner. Hayden still has his runny nose. The drive is pretty much me trying to keep the sun out of his eyes and him screaming the forty minutes. Finally, we arrive...an hour early - it doesn't open yet. But we had planned on doing the swings and playground stuff with Hayden. Hayden, of course, loved the swings and the nature, but his temperment was still fussy. My parents and I took turns during dinner walking him around outside. :( Then he screamed the whole way home. He also started coughing.

That night was horrible. He was up every 30 minutes. Crying, coughing, wheezing. His cold was alot worse. Next morning, we called one of the 3 doctors in this town to see if he could see us. He doesn't get in until 10am (he does hospital rounds before that) so we had to wait until then just to see if he WOULD see Hayden. Fortunately, he does accept him, plus he's an in-network doctor for our insurance. Yay. After a 2 hour wait, the verdict is: ear infection and bronchitis. He gets two prescriptions and we go home to rest. Poor baby.

But, that night he sleeps straight through. A deep sigh of relief for me. Not only for his health, but my own sanity. I needed some sleep.

And now, I hope, I pray that tonight is another straight through the night sleep. Cause, man, I just want to sleep. We come home Saturday. Hopefully, Hayden will be feeling alot better by then. He's already sounding better cough wise, and the runny nose has lessened alot.

On a positive note, Hayden has learned to wave bye-bye and has even said bye-bye 3 times while waving. He's also started saying mama. Of course it sounds like mmm mmm mmm ma. But that's his word for it. =D

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