I am back! And–oh my god!–I am so tired. Last night I would lie down and immediately be asleep, and when I woke up for the next feeding I felt like I hadn’t even started to chip away at my sleep deficit. I mean, tired. I’m tired. I’ve been having thoughts such as, “I have to get more sleep than this. If I can’t get more sleep than this….well, I have to get more, that’s all.” The sleep deprivation is cumulative and is getting more difficult to cope with.
The trip went well, but there were some parts that were less than smooth. Edward was indeed restless at the wedding. The baby did cry some in the car. And whenever we stopped, I had to nurse the baby, so everyone else was stretching and saying how great it felt to get out of the car, and by the time I was done nursing they were impatient to get back on the road, and my butt got really really sore from sitting constantly.
Anyway. There were some stressful times, but mostly it was a great trip and I’m glad I went. I loved staying in a hotel room, using tons of air conditioning and hot water, playing with the wee little coffee pot, exploring all the free bottles of stuff, having a continental breakfast in the morning (hot cinnamon rolls! little teeny containers of honey! half-cups of yogurt in three flavors!). I love weddings, especially the part where the bride appears and everyone stands up in one swoosh and I burst into tears, but also the part where we eat cake. I love car trips and I love the stopping for a break and I love the getting back on the road. And it was fun spending time with just two of the kids, and seeing my extended family.
Here are some things I wish I’d brought more of:
- Baggies in assorted sizes. I used them for so many things: keeping Edward’s sippee cups from leaking all over the diaper bag, stashing diapers after having to change children in the pastor’s office and not wanting to leave him any little gifts in his trash can, taking along extra food from restaurants, packing up things still wet from being rinsed out, etc. I could have used a whole BOX of baggies.
- Nursing pads. I don’t know if it was the stress or what, but I kept leaking through my shirts. For the wedding, I put three pads in each side and still was in danger of an embarrassing situation. I had to stuff a cloth napkin in there at the reception.
Here are some things I was very, very glad I brought along:
- A changing pad. I used it in every gross rest stop bathroom, and also on the bed or desk in the hotel room, and also on my lap when I had to change Henry in the car twice (parked car, not moving car).
- Infant saline nose drops. I grabbed them on impulse the morning we left, and Henry got a cold on the third day and needed the drops in order to nurse.
- Infant gas drops. I think being in his car seat all day gave Henry more trouble digesting than usual.
- Quarters. I brought them along for vending machines, and didn’t need them for that–but we hadn’t thought of needing coins for city parking, and we needed a whole lot of them for that.
- A whole box of diaper wipes. I used them for diaper changes, hand washes, table wipings, after-meal face washings, crusty nose cleansings. For a longer trip, I’d bring a refill pack of wipes in my suitcase, but a box for 4 days was about right.
- Sippee cups. I brought two, and that was perfect: one to fill with milk at the continental breakfast or at other meals where milk was available, the other to keep filled with water in the diaper bag.
- Ibuprofen. Dramamine. Benadryl.
- Every single toy and DVD I bought for Edward. The six-hour drive took us more than twelve hours on the way there because of construction, traffic, and nursing stops. I don’t regret a single purchase, and in fact this one almost went in the category of things I could have brought more of.
- Extra receiving blankies. Henry spit up all over two of them.
Here’s a photo of Edward and Henry in our hotel room:
Yuck. I hope you can get more sleep soon.
Your title made me laugh because I had almost forgotten how that saying is supposed to go. When my little sister was about 3 or 4 she has just learned that saying and also the term “lickety split” at about the same time. One day, we pulled into the driveway and she announced from the back seat, “Home again, home again, slickety dick,” and thus this phrase has remained, ever since.
You are a brave brave woman.
I hope you get some sleep soon. If not you can bring the baby over here and I will snuggle and smoosh him until you feel rested. I need a baby fix. ;)
Glad to hear your trip went relatively well. I was hoping that among the thousands of weddings held this past Saturday, maybe you would show up at my sister’s, but alas there was no Henry in sight…..
So glad you’re back and all went (fairly) well!!
You described my trips with a nursing one exactly. Especially the numb butt part just when everyone else is anxious to get going again. And the grandparents oath to watch the older one. I think that they must have forgotten what that actually means….
Oh thank you for that photo – that is so cute! You can almost see Edwards excitement, watching that TV!
We also used at entire box of wipes on our 4 day trip, I’m packing refills for the upcoming 5 day extravaganza!
Sleep deprived insanity is my least favorite condition to be in. And NO ONE understands the nursing thing unless they’re in it, huh?
Glad you’re back!
Kathi: Wouldn’t that have been WEIRD!? I wonder how often it happens that people who know each other only online run into each other without knowing they’re going to?
Wow. I am exhausted just reading about your trip. You still manage to seem so positive. It amazes me!
Good suggestions on the “what to pack” stuff. I will reference it whenever I get ready for a trip! I just recently discovered how many things baby wipes are good for. Now I keep a whole box on the kitchen table. I can’t believe the amount of laundry that cuts down. I used to use wash cloths to clean up the face/hands after every feeding. No more.
GET SOME SLEEP!!!!!!(I know. Easier said than done.)
Wow, I forgot how TINY a newborn baby is until I saw that picture. Very. Precious.
BTW, how did your hubby survive with all of the other kids?
So glad you are back!!!!
Well, now I forget what I was going to say because Jenny made me laugh so hard.
I’m glad the trip went well. I love the photo.
Yes, i am a freak when it comes to baggies—I keep them in my purse, and wipes as well. I bring a bulk size box on vacation with us.
Glad you’re back, but sorry to hear about the sleep deprivation.
It’s so good for us, as parents, to travel with our kids. Because every successful trip leaves us feeling a little less… trapped (not sure this is the exact word I’m looking for…). I mean, we prove to ourselves that fun things, like weddings and road trips, are not off limits to us just because we have little kids. I’m always tired too (we drive 500+ miles several times a year to visit my parents), but also proud of our family for doing it!
Great job! =)
I know just what you mean about parents watching the kids…they really do forget how much you have to pay attention. My mom will come over to watch the kids and then wander around outside with a glass of wine looking at the garden, till I’m all, “Where’s Sophie?” and she snaps out of it to realize she has no idea what sort of destruction my daughter might be causing. Once, at Christmas, she repeatedly urged the baby to chew on a bow that had a leftover STAPLE in it!
I so totally remember that panicky feeling of “I HAVE to get more sleep…but I CAN’T get more sleep…but I HAVE to”. Hang in there.
Man, I LOVE a picture of a tiny baby on a YOOGE bed!
Look at the teensy bebe! So cute.
And a “tsk tsk” to the grandparents. I wonder if I will forget such things when I am a grandma, which will be about a million years from now.
I bow before you. I’m bitching and whining over here about travelling with one kid. I will shut up now.
JMH: Paul, Robert, William, and Elizabeth had a lot of fun. They went to the park every day, they flew a kite, etc. Paul is the Fun Parent.
Marie Green: I know just what you mean! I often feel like something is totally beyond what I can bear, and then I do something like this trip and I think, “Hey! That worked! That worked FINE! I’ll bet OTHER things would work fine!”
Glad things went mostly well. But:
Where did you stash all the other kids? And how was trying to fit into something postpartum? Did it go over well? And how was the wedding, was it classy and tasteful or worthy of an etiquette hell entry?
*great* packing tips – thanks! We’re leaving next week on a three week vacation (with a 4.5 yr old and a 7 month old), and I wrote down several of the things you suggested.
It’s hard when other people watch your child when you’re around. Yikes! I can never fully relax because yes, my 13-month-old will splash in toilet water or fall or start dealing baby aspirin with baggies I schlep around.
Also, I leaked so bad, I had to stuff my bra in with socks. I had a great chest, but no one could hug me.
Penny: Paul stayed home with the other three, and that went well. It was a good division: I took less than half, but took the most difficult ones, and he got more than half but his were easier.
I was very, very, very lucky and happened to have on hand a skirt and shirt that were dressy enough for a wedding and also looked good at 3 weeks postpartum. The dress I’d intended to wear looked DREADFUL.
The wedding itself was good. Gorgeous church, good ceremony that wasn’t too long, vows that weren’t kreative, a nice buffet reception afterwards for everybody, and then a sit-down reception after that for family and close friends.
Wet wipes are the best thing ever invented. My kids are older but I still buy them, especially for camping trips. Great to keep in the car for spilled coffee and stuff, too.
Is that a Lands End diaper bag, and if so, do you love it? I can’t quite figure out my diaper bag needs – I feel I need a smallish one for everyday (baby is only 9 weeks old so not much stuff needed yet), and a bigger one for bigger stuff. So far, I’m just using the free Enfamil one!
Glad you enjoyed your trip (mostly) – sounds like a lot of work (but considering the additional children at home, maybe it was a vacation!).
Wow-what a fun movie premise…an anonymous blogger runs into a blog-reader at some sort of public event and the blog-reader feels like she’s meeting someone FAMOUS and like she really KNOWS the blogger, but the blogger has no idea. If I am the blog-reader in this movie, I would like to be played by Reese Witherspoon.
Oh that deliciously pretty hotel room…I guess I should comment on more, but I am stuck on the loveliness of your hotel room…simply because of the fact that it is a HOTEL ROOM.
I love hotels.
Sarah: It’s a Mandalay bag from Target. My cousin gave it to me as a baby gift for Henry, and I’m still getting used to it but I think I love it. It opens like a Mary Poppins bag: from a triangle zipped position it opens up to a wide rectangle so you can see everything inside.
Anonymous: ME TOO. I could LIVE in a hotel room.
I think I shall bookmark this post for possible future times when I might be traveling with a preschooler and an infant (no, this is not an announcement!). It is going to happen sooner or later and the thought of traveling with two kids (or doing anything with two, really) makes me hyperventilate a little bit. I hope something helps you be less tired soon!