7 months and a Hawaiian getaway

Boy did month 7 sneak up on us! Probably because a bulk of the month was spent preparing for our first family vacation...to Hawaii! Tom had his annual work meeting in Hawaii this year and we have had plans for a LONG time to join him after his work meeting had concluded. Tom was actually in Hawaii for 10 days for this work meeting, so that meant that Gavin and I spent those 10 days being the two amigos (well the 3 amigos if you include our dog, Marty). I can not imagine how challenging being a single parent (especially of a baby) would be long-term, because after 10 days I definitely needed this vacation and realize what a blessing it is that Tom and I get to co-parent Gavin together, sharing the many, many daily duties.

So after I successfully packed up what felt like half our house with all the things we needed for caring for Gavin away from home (including 70+ diapers), we were set to embrark on this journey to paradise. We had 3 total flights, just me and Gavin, to get to our final destination, so I was quite nervous about having so many flights without Tom being there to help. Luckily my parents came over early in the morning of the day we left and helped us to the airport. The first two flights went pretty smoothly and I had some nice fellow passengers help me get settled in the plane with Gavin. it was hectic trying to make our first connection but we made it pretty smoothly. I even was able to keep Gavin on his normal eating/nap schedule. We were planning to get him adjusted to the time change (5 hours difference) once we arrived in Hawaii. Our second flight got us to Honolulu where we were to catch our final flight to the big island of Hawaii. This was the connection I was most nervous about as I had to get our checked baggage in baggage claim and then recheck the bag as were flying a different airline this last leg of the trip and they wouldn't check my bag all the way through. But when we landed in Honolulu I called Tom to let him know we landed and MUCH to my grand surprise, he told me he was waiting at the gate as he was able to finish his final work meeting early and was able to get on the same flight as me and Gavin to the big island. Not gonna lie that I almost cried tears of joy and relief. It ended up being a miracle that Tom was able to do this as we realized that Gavin and I would have missed our flight otherwise, as even with Tom's help with our baggage we barely made our last connection.

Unfortunately, here comes the point where the trip went downhill fast. Our last flight left Honolulu about 5pm which is 10pm back home time, and Gavin woke up (way past his normal bedtime) and screamed for almost the entire last flight to the big island. Not fun, and we felt terrible for the poor guy. We knew the flights and time change would be rough for him, but it's hard to predict just how hard. And mind you that I had been fighting off residual effects of a sinus infection and a nagging hacking cough that wouldn't seem to go away, so I wasn't feeling my best either. We did finally land, though, and Tom's aunt Diane, met us at the airport and helped us back to her house where we stayed that first night. That night was rough as Gavin was out of sorts, I felt awful and couldn't seem to stop coughing, and Gavin woke up several times that first night crying.

After our fitful first night's sleep, I took a gamble looking on priceline and scored an amazing deal at a resort there called Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel, and we headed to the resort for the rest of the trip. This also, we realized in hindsight, ended up being a good decision, as Gavin had a pretty low tolerance to the heat, so it was helpful since this resort was on the beach and had it's own pool, that we could hang out for awhile outside then come back to our room for frequent air conditioned breaks. If we had continued to stay with Tom's aunt and uncle who graciously offered us a nice place in their home, we would have had to make a much grander production of packing up things to head to the beach and wouldn't have been able to stay very long before needing to go back to their house.

The other low point of the trip was once we did arrive to the resort, we realized that both Gavin and I seemed to be getting worse. Gavin had started crying much more than usual which is just not like him and I was coughing so hard it was making me vomit (sorry if this is too much information) and lost my voice. Luckily the resort had an on call physician who was able to come see us both and diagnose poor Gavin with a double ear infection and me with viral laryngitis. We got some antibiotics for Gavin and some other tips for helping him, especially on the plane ride home as an ear infection can put him at risk for his ear drum rupturing. Hearing this bit of information made me consider that we should stay in Hawaii forever rather than put him at risk for that. But we also talked with our pediatrician office back home (who thankfully have a 24 hour nurse line) and it seemed a low likelihood that this rupture would happen as long as we took the proper precautions.

So our first few days of the much anticipated Hawaiian vacation were a bit of a letdown as we spent much time in the hotel room and Tom tended to the two of us sickies, with Tom basically having to read my lips as I had no voice. But there was some light at the end of this tunnel. The antibiotics seemed to help Gavin start to feel better so we could at least take short jaunts to the pool and my throat felt better and my voice came back, so I was able to soak in some sunshine too.

So the main lesson learned certainly is that we will NEVER fly with a baby again after learning that plane rides can instigate ear infections. I felt like a terrible mother for having put our little guy through this. I'm probably being a little over dramatic about it, but seeing your baby hurting is just the worst thing ever.

Well...moving on to a more upbeat side to this blog post...Even with these downers to the trip we did get to experience some exciting "firsts" with Gavin: his first time in a swimming pool, the first time at a beach and putting his feet in the ocean, his first time wearing SUMMER clothes, and our first real vacation as a family of three.

Other highlights of the month have been Gavin getting even more neck strength on his tummy. He also wiggles to each side on his tummy now and I can tell he is itching to be able to crawl, because he is uber curious of everything in sight, wanting to hold and/or eat anything he sees. Gavin has also begun getting his first tooth. His biting on things has increased significantly, as has the drooling, and rubbing his jaw and ears-clear signs of teething. But the clearest sign of all is the little hard nubbin we can feel in his top gum starting to poke it's way through.