Talullah just took her first big trip, and she was such a trooper! The two of us went to visit one of my best friends, Katie, in Ohio for a few days. Some might call me crazy... venturing out into the great big world, through the hassle of airports with uncomfortable flights and agonizing layovers while six months pregnant and carrying a 15 month old (and enduring a painful onset of strep throat). But isn't this what life is all about? Setting goals, pushing limits, and fulfilling dreams is never easy. Almost always it is well worth the effort. This trip was the perfect example.
It was T's first airplane experience, and lack of wisdom led me to believe that an overnight flight might be the best option. I figured she's be so tired that she'd sleep through most of the flights. This was incorrect on so many levels. Our flight from Arcata landed in San Francisco at about 9pm and we had a 3 hour layover. She had been such a doll on the first short flight that I had high hopes for the following one. She started to lose it in the airport, but luckily I found a small nursery that allowed for enough quiet time to get her to sleep just in time to pack the bags up again and head to the departure gate. The 'carry on' I took consisted of a day pack that doubles as a baby carrier on your back. This worked great when T was awake and we were wandering the corridors and riding the escalators. Not quite as functional once the baby was sleeping in my arms. I couldn't transfer her sleeping to the carrier, and trying to dig out the tickets to hand to the attendants while balancing the weight between the pack on my back, and Talullah sleeping on my oversized baby belly proved to be no easy task. She slept for the first couple hours but she tossed and turned until she woke up fussing about half way through the flight and continued this way for the remainder of that trip. Her poor nose was running like crazy and the inside of that plane must have been a solid 80 degrees. I finally unzipped her fleece pj's to give her some releaf and rocked her in the small standing area next to the restroom until she was calm again. She wasn't being unreasonable, but considering it was 2am and I hadn't slept a wink, it was hard to stay patient as I tried to muffle her cries so the passengers who were trying to catch sleep wouldn't hate us. We made it to the Chicago airport at 6am and in a state of absolute exhaustion I fell asleep cuddling Talullah, the two of us just laying on the scratchy carpet with her blankie covering us and her little kitty cat as a cushion for my head. We finally arrived in Ohio at 10 and I was thrilled to wrap my arms around Katie and spend the next five days just catching up with my dear friend. Everytime we're together it seems like not a day has passed since we were roomies in our cute townhouse before she moved back home and I got married. We pick up right were we left off and it seems like life is complete again with my partner -in-crime at my side. The days passed much too quickly, and Talullah won everyone's hearts, of course. She had a great time playing with Katie's nieces, Georgie and Veronica and eating Debbie's spendid meals. God answered my prayers and our return trip was smooth and darn near enjoyable. The umbrella stroller and leash I'd bought in Ohio was one of the best investments and made our journey through the airports much, much easier. Talullah was in the best of moods, making friends on every flight and crawling into the laps of anyone sitting in an adjacent seat. She made it through 9 hours of travel before falling asleep at the Sacramento airport late last night, but she was such an angel the entire time. She was still sleeping when Nick picked us up in Arcata and we pulled into our drive way at midnight. I am blessed above and beyond anything I deserve to have such a beautiful daughter, and adoring husband, and passionate friends who fill my life with love and laughter. And now that I've had some experience flying with ONE baby, I'm ready to conquer the world with TWO! Can't wait for the next trip, wherever and whenever that may be.
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