I feel the need to post about this day as it was one that was particularly trying for me. It was not only the 1st day I ventured out, alone, with both of my babies, but it was also the day I would leave one home and come home to another. It was a big day, indeed.
I woke up in the morning with the thought that I had to get some sort of food together for my daughter since we would be gone most of the day and my pick was limited since everything was pretty much packed away. So I fed her breakfast, packed up my diaper and snack bag, got everyone dressed and kissed my husband good bye. He assured me everything would be taken care of and really, I didn't have a single doubt. I was purely focused on how I was going to handle the day with a 2-week old who was not fond of car rides and an almost 2-year old who liked to run away from her mama. I double and quadruple checked to make sure I had my stroller in my car.
I actually had plans that day. And no, it wasn't a fun day with friends where I could just sit at their home while my baby girl ran around and played... I had to take her to an audition about an hour away via one of the cities most busiest freeways. Blah. Traffic, bad traffic, was inevitable.
We arrived at the audition and it was one of those where we had to wait... and wait. I consistently handed my baby girl snacks and when lunch time slowly crept up I began to worry that I didn't have much of the way of "substantial" food. I hoped the snacks I had would hold her over. And they did. Of course by the time they finally called us in my sweet patient baby boy was ready to nurse. And when they called her name I just stood up, holding my nursing baby boy, and pushed her stroller in the room. I had to take her out when we got in there and I managed it with one hand. The audition called for her to dance around next to a guy - presumably someone who would play her daddy in the commercial - and as soon as the music started and the guy started dancing she wanted no part of it. She had no interest whatsoever. Sooooo back in the stroller she went and we made our way out to some nearby benches where I could finish nursing. I was pretty agitated by this point. Not at all because my baby girl didn't want to partake, but because they made us wait so long and because I did not want to be there. At all. And yet, I had nowhere else to go. I had to wait until everything was moved into our new place.
My memory of what happened next is a little faded... I remember trying to secure my daughter back into her stroller to walk to our car and she didn't like it. She tried to fight me and as she arched her back trying to get out of the stroller I just looked at her, almost in defeat and continued to hold and nurse my son. Eventually she sat and let me click the straps. There was not an ounce of fight on my end and I'm thinking she realized her mama needed her to cut me some slack. Thank goodness.
We got into the car and began our long drive home... by this time traffic was sure to be even worse than before so I tried my best to brace for the possibility of having to pull over multiple times for my baby boy. I also needed to get my baby girl home for dinner. Yes, dinner time was fast approaching.
As we got closer to our new home the traffic slowed to almost a complete halt. And it started to get dark out. I heard my daughter coughing in the back and didn't think much of it until I heard a faint gasp and then her calling out to me. I looked up in my rear-view mirror and there was just enough light for me to see that she had thrown up all over herself and her car seat. In her 21 months of life it was the first time she had ever thrown up and it just happened to be while I was completely stuck. I had no way of getting off the freeway at that point. The 1st thing I could think to do was to call my sister, who fortunately lived a mere 5 minutes from our new place. I informed her that my baby girl had just gotten sick and I would make my way there as fast as possible. She offered to run a bath and to make us some dinner. Steamed rice for my baby girl and her sour belly.
When we arrived, my nieces came and got my daughter and I carried my son up in his car seat. He stayed asleep, bless his little heart. They gave her a bath while I soaked, scrubbed, cleaned and dried her car seat. I couldn't imagine that she had any sort of stomach flu and after her bath when she sat and literally chowed on steamed rice I realized that this was completely my fault. I had failed, 100%, at providing her a healthy meal that day and the variety of snacks she was given just made her sick. My poor baby girl. Fortunately I had the mind set to pack enough extra clothes, including jammies, for my babies and by the time we did arrive home they were both all ready for bed. I had given my husband a heads up that we were on our way home so he could make sure to have her crib set up. My baby girl fell asleep quickly after we got back into the car and she was an easy transfer to her bed when we got home. My son stayed asleep long enough for me to sit and look around... My husband had already gotten so much done as far as unpacking went. I felt so lucky. So relieved. So thankful for him. And so very thankful for my family coming to my rescue.
There was nothing left to do, but begin our lives together, as a family, in our new place. I sat on our couch, looked over at my husband and was overcome with feelings of goodness. I felt at peace. I felt like I was... home. And with that our earlier adventures quickly became a page in our past and I couldn't wait to wake up the next morning.
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