So, we completely wimped out on Road Trip part two. But it was for good reason! As we mentioned last week, we were planning to go to a wedding (Congratulations Jen and Leo!) in North Carolina this weekend. This was going to be the first plane ride and hotel stay for our little one, as well as her first trip to the Tar Heel State (she had her Terps hat all ready to proudly wear in defiance!) Then the week leading up to our road trip went further and further down hill until we realized that there was no possible way this kid was getting on a plane and coming with us.
The projectile vomiting from last weekend that we hypothesized was a nervous reaction or an allergy turned out to be something more substantial. While she wasn’t acting sick or running a fever, she continued to puke every single time she ate any solid food (even one bite) and mid week she starting having the smelliest, most explosive, disgusting diarrhea of all time. Unable to keep anything down (or in), by Wednesday our little girl went from happy-go-lucky puker to weak and sickly sad baby. We are still unsure what the heck it was: bad baby food, allergy, virus, stomach flu…we even discovered the tip of her very first tooth (YAY!) about to poke through and thought that could be the culprit.But whatever the reason, we went through many, many clothing changes (for her and us), lots of carpet cleaner and a whole lot of air freshener. Marty and I took turns staying home with her all week and while we were of course sad that she wasn’t feeling well, I think we both secretly enjoyed her cuddling with us (she has never been one to sit still).
Ellie and her Gram
Ellie’s Gram and Grandpa generously agreed to watch Ellie while we went to the wedding, so on Saturday morning we jetted off to Raleigh for a whirlwind 24 hour trip. Our loss of Elise was most certainly Gram and Grandpa’s gain. But there was a cost to watching Elise – sure she was feeling better, sure she was ravenous from a week of vomiting and diarrhea and thus a total hoot while eating. The price, however, was two parents desperately worried as this was the first time that they had left her over night. The first call was made shortly after we left, as we sat on the runway. The next call came when we had landed approximately 1.5 hours later. The next call came that afternoon before we left for the wedding. It was after the ceremony, but before the dinner that the next call came from two clearly insane parents. Finally, we called before we went to bed that night. That’s five for those keeping count. We came home the next day and that only entailed two calls – although we debated making a few more, we figured it was getting a bit overbearing at that point.
I must say that there really is nothing worse than being away form your child. You’d kind of think that parents spending a night away from their baby might take a moment to relax and enjoy the silence. And while, we did… Meredith napped in the afternoon and I let my mind veg out, we missed her. My mom used to say that your child is like having your heart walking around outside in the world. Nothing could be more truthful. In this case Elise was safe and sound and having a blast with her grandparents, but our heart was not with us and we felt incomplete. Another thing that I thought of was of our friend’s Bridget and Dan. Dan is in the Coast Guard and spends weeks at a time away from his family. While it sucks for Bridget and their boy, Kyle, that wouldn’t play into our motif here. It really stinks for Dan. There is nothing harder than being away from your heart for a long time.
So, what have we learned from this weekend? We learned that Ellie loves spending time with her grandparents and can sleep and be put down anywhere by anyone. We learned that Ellie doesn’t really seem to miss us like we miss her – and we wouldn’t want it any other way. We also learned that we are slightly crazy, a touch neurotic, and a whole heap of worry when it comes to leaving our baby. And we wouldn't want it any other way.
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