Mother Daughter trip!

on the plane!

The Wednesday after Easter Helena and I left on our very first Mother – Daughter trip!  We flew into Tampa to hang out with one of my besties Tina and her family!  Florida used to be a yearly trip for me but with life, marriage, and now a baby time has definitely gotten away.  The last time I was in Florida was September 2010!  This trip was long overdue and I’m so happy we were able to go!  
Preparing to fly with a little one is so nerve-racking!  The few nights leading up to the trip Helena was up in the middle of the night, and twice the night before we left!  Previous trips (Nebraska for Thanksgiving and New Mexico for Christmas) as taught me that she doesn’t sleep good in a different environment, so knowing she hadn’t really slept all that great prior to leaving I was a little distraught.  The possibility of canceling the whole trip was even entertained.  But I went on with it.  We left for the airport around 5:15am and am so thankful Helena has her dad’s “wake up happy” gene.  We got to the gate in time to crawl around a bit, then went into the bathroom before boarding.  I had lots of fears, but one big one was her pooping and having to change a horrible poopy diaper on the plane.  Especially since the previous couple of days she was pooping 4/5 times a day!  I thought for sure she would poop on the plane.  But thankfully the flight was poop free!  The flight wasn’t full, so nobody in the middle seat, and the flight itself was non-eventful.  Being up so early I knew she would sleep, I gave her a bottle on the way up, and she slept for a good hour!  She was up the second hour, but I could tell she was still crabby, so I just sang to her and snuggled her and she went back to sleep for the third hour!  It truly was best case scenario!

love a sleeping baby - especially on an airplane!

ready to get off!

The drive from Tampa to Lakeland is about 45 minutes, so I thought for sure Helena would be fussy going from a carrier, to being held on a plane for 3 hours, back to carrier, then to a car seat, but somehow she was totally fine! 

I thankfully found a company to rent some baby gear from (car seat, high chair, and stroller) so we were ready to roll once I got our luggage!  Since Helena wasn’t fussy we stopped in Tampa and had a super delicious lunch then we made our way to Lakeland.  During the drive Helena took another nap!  It truly was the best traveling experience. 

I got to see Tina’s teenage boys Max and Jake and they immediately fell in love with Helena.  The first night we stayed in and got take out.  Thankfully Tina kept her pack ‘n play from when her babies were babies, so that’s where Helena slept.  I had shipped some essentials that included a fitted crib sheet.  I was super anxious the first night since Helena and I were sleeping in the same room, and since she was up the 3 previous nights, so I didn’t get much sleep because I was waiting for her to wake up.  But she slept all night!  I was incredibly surprised. 

after our 3 mile walk around a lake!

playing at the Children's Museum

 Our first full day was a lot of fun.  I felt great knowing Helena was back on schedule after getting a full nights sleep (much needed) and was doing her normal twice a day pooping schedule.  That morning we ventured out for a nice long walk around a lake, then a yummy lunch in downtown Lakeland.  After lunch we went to a little Children's Museum for Helena to crawl around.
Later that afternoon Helena took a little dip in the pool with Jake.  The water was cold, but surprisingly she didn't mind the cold water!  She smiled and played!

she loved the water!

taking a dip with Jake

She loves Tina!

Overall I enjoyed my time with Tina.  Who knows when the last we had a good quality conversation, so just reconnecting was something I really appreciated.  After all the kids went to bed, we stayed up late and chatted.
Super late that night Tina's husband Jason got home from a business trip.
Our second night we both slept great, and we both slept all night!  I was thrilled that Helena was back to sleeping through the night!
Friday morning we went to breakfast and played at an outdoor park, it was a lot of fun!  Once we got home we played some more.  When Helena went down for the night, Max, Jake, and their friends were are entertainment while they played basketball in the driveway.  We had a late dinner with yummy drinks and called it a night.

yummy drinks for the adults!

a fun Friday night!

 Our last night was rough.  Helena got sick.  Who knows what time it was, but I heard her wake up and cough followed by that horrible puking sound.  I jumped up and out of bed and turned on the light to see my daughter had thrown up!  The smell was horrible.  I honestly didn't know what to do.  Helena had never done anything like this before.  I cleaned her up as best as I could (she had throw up in her hair too!) and was super thankful that Tina had left a sheet in our room.  So I switched out her sheet, and I think out of habit and the fact that I was still half asleep, I did what I would normally do when she wakes up in the middle of the night, I made her a bottle.  She surprisingly took it and easily feel back asleep.  I didn't really fall back asleep, and it was before long when she woke up again and threw up all of the milk she just drank.  So we did everything again: I cleaned her up, and put down a blanket.  She was more awake by now, so I just laid her next to me in my bed until she feel asleep, and I moved her to the pack 'n play.  I can't remember what time it was, but I vaguely remember thinking I was up with her from about 2am - 5am.
I didn't sleep too good after 5am, as I was nervous and anxious about the long day ahead of us.  Helena woke up around 7 and smelled horrific of throw up.  So we took a bath.  I did a bad job and cleaning her up because when we were done she still smelled.
She thankfully was a happy baby but had no interest in food.  So we just played.  We had plans of going to the beach before heading to the airport, but I didn't think the beach was a good idea.  She kept scratching at her ear and since we were due to fly later that day I decided a trip to urgent care was in order.

love this family!

Max and Jake!  I used to babysit them when they were babies!

fun with Max!

 I didn't like the doctor at urgent care at all.  He didn't really help.  He suggested some pedialyte.  So we went to Target and I got some pedialyte and children's Tylenol.  From there we went to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and then to the airport. 
I gotta say traveling with a baby by yourself makes for a quick trip through security. 
In the Southwest terminal at the Tampa airport they have a little crawling area so we played in that area until it was time to board.  Just as we were getting ready to board I wanted to give Helena some Tylenol, and I of course, left it in Tina's car.  But thankfully we managed.  I was nervous for the flight, that she would throw up again while I was carrying her or on the full flight.  But again, thankfully she was a rockstar.  She was more cuddly than normal, which told me she wasn't feeling good, and she did slept a lot.  Even better was the man sitting next to us in the middle seat, was super nice.
Once we landed and saw Chris I was exhausted.  For the second time ever, I asked Chris to take over baby duty and keep the monitor on his side of the bed.  Helena got sick again that night, and we took her to our urgent care the next day.  The doctor basically said it was a stomach bug, to do the BRAT diet, and keep an eye on her.
Overall the trip was a great one, and now Helena is back to being her happy baby self and is sleeping through the night! 
I don't know if I would travel alone by myself, but I'm happy I took Helena to Florida and that this will be a memory I can share with her when she is older!