Well, we made it. And it actually wasn't that bad. I was incredibly fortunate to get an extra seat for Annie on both flights - so we had the entire row to ourselves. I also brought both carseats on the plane; which was great because that meant that Ellie was contained and whenever Annie was asleep or just happy to seat in her carseat, I had my hands free and could almost relax. The only thing that would have made it better is if they both would have slept through the flights. Unfortunately, neither of the girls slept that long but they were pretty pleasant considering the circumstances.
It was the first night in the hotel that made me regret the whole trip. So we were all extremely tired because of the day-long trip to town. I decided to put the girls to bed at 7pm while Matt was at a dinner for work. Keep in mind, 7pm here in San Diego is 10pm in DC so we were well past Ellie's bedtime.
Let's just say up front that staying in a hotel with just one room was the worst travel decision we've ever made. Ellie would not fall asleep with us in the room. The problem was exacerbated by the fact that we had her sleeping on a regular hotel bed instead of a crib which she's never done before.* No matter what I tried she would NOT go to sleep. I completely lost it, I admit it. It took me two and a half hours to get her to sleep! At the lowest point, we were both sobbing on the floor. I finally calmed myself down and then got to the business of calming Ellie down. We ended up on the bed and we both fell asleep as I told her Jesus stories. When Matt came back from dinner around 10:30pm, he was so impressed that we were all asleep - he had no idea how much misery it took to get us that way.
And if that wasn't enough, when Annie woke up at 4am to be fed Ellie woke up too and would not fall back asleep. So we all had to wake up. There are no words in the English language to describe how frustrated and exhausted I was by this point - nearly past feeling.
Fortunately, we discovered that a pack n play fits into our hotel bathroom. So we borrowed one from our dear friends, the Clarks. Ellie is now sleeping soundly in the bathroom and we are now forced to use the lobby bathroom if we need to go until she wakes up in the morning. But I'll go in the street if it means I can get a good nights sleep.
So tonight I am grateful for the person who invented the pack n play - which fits in a small bathroom and guarantees that we will get some sleep tonight. Thank you, thank you, thank you. This overtired mother cannot thank you enough.
*The poor thing actually fell out of the bed at 11:30pm! We were all asleep when we suddenly heard a crash. She hurt her foot and has been limping all day. Bless her heart.
4 comments:
OH this is awful but I am glad you finally are getting rest. I have the worst time and similiar situations with Nicky when we go to Utah. This last trip she only slept from midnight to 3 a.m. I even got to the point of using the evil mom voice with her. The kind of voice I swore I would never use. Just comes out when you are exhausted from traveling. I admire you for taking such a trip on your own. YOu are my hero. Can't wait to see you guys for dinner or the zoo. Jeff hasn't told me which yet.
i knew your flight would go well with your well-behaved girls :) the sleep factor is why i HATE traveling with my kids - hopefully you will get enough sleep to enjoy your trip! by the way we have stuck pack-n-plays in walk-in closets and laundry rooms on various vacations - i've never tried the bathroom before!
Wow - the hotel didn't have a crib for you? They usually do! Your first night really sounded miserable - I think I would have gone and sat in the hall until she fell asleep! Did the DVD player work out for you?
So sorry that you have had some bad luck with the girls sleeping. We have found a strategy that works well. We always take the kids swimming for an hour in the hotel pool before bedtime. It wears them out that they fall asleep right away. May be worth a shot! Good luck with the rest of the trip.
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