Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Road trippin'

Tomorrow Brooklyn will have her first road trip ever. We are going to Fort Sill, Oklahoma to see my baby brother graduate from Army boot camp!

I am excited to see my brother and I really want to see him graduate. However, the whole road trip thing has me pretty stressed out. My hubby is not going with us because he has a training class for work that he has to attend all week. So it will be Brooklyn, my mom and dad, and myself. My grandparents on my mom's side will be meeting us in Oklahoma. We will leave on Wednesday evening and be back Saturday afternoon.

The first thing that I am freaking out about is packing. I cannot believe all the stuff I am bringing for Brooklyn! The tiniest little person...with waaaaay more stuff than anyone else! Suitcase with her clothes, lap pads, burp cloths, blankets, and tolietries, diaper bag, pack of Huggies, wipes, formula can, breast pump, Boppy, swing, car seat, medicines and syringes, bottles, dish soap and bottle brush, bottle drying tree, sling...what else do I need? I'm sure I am forgetting something really important!!!

I hate travelling with my dad. He always made family trips so miserable when I was growing up by just being an asshole. He gets all stressed out and grumpy and makes everyone miserable. Then we throw in the possibility that Brooklyn will have one of her nighttime multi-hour screaming marathons in the car. Not fun for anyone!!!! And I don't really know how my dad will react to the shrieking. Not well, I would imagine.

It's a six-hour trip. We will leave as soon as I get home from work tomorrow. That would put us in Oklahoma around midnight only if we didn't make any stops, which of course won't happen with a newborn baby. And stops for gas and peeing. Who knows what time we will actually make it there. Did I mention that when I was a kid, I had a ridiculously small bladder, and my dad would hardly ever stop when I needed to pee? So I would get so stressed out about it that I would only drink a few sips of water for a 2 or 3 day trip out of state. That still makes me nervous!!! But I digress.

Then we will get to the hotel. Brooklyn has been doing pretty good on the sleeping at night for the past couple of weeks, except for the last two nights, when she has slept about 2 hours. But I still can't really sleep when it is me and her alone. And we will be alone in our hotel room for 3 nights. I am freaked out by that. What if something happens to her???

SIGH.

I just have to keep reminding myself that this is a good thing...I get to see my baby brother. I get to see him as a soldier. He is super excited to see all of us. I am so proud of him. He has really turned his life around over the past few months. He made a very mature and responsible decision to enlist in the Army. I want him to know that we support him and love him and show him how proud we are of him.

So...keep us in your thoughts, I am going to remind myself to take deep breaths and calm down. Hopefully it will all go smoothly. I hate to sound negative. I know it sounds like I am just stressing myself out needlessly by expecting the worst. But that just seems to be the way my brain works lately.

Can anyone tell me about your experiences traveling with babies? How do you keep your sanity? Any tricks for keeping baby calm in the car? I always appreciate your words of wisdom and experience :)

3 comments:

Anth said...

Eek, I will send happy traveling vibes your way! I always hate traveling with a baby too! I think what helped me was to keep the baby on their usual schedule as much as possible. Easier said than done, I know.

Also bring more diapers and burp cloths than you think you will need. Isn't the amount of stuff you have to haul around for a baby just insane????

Cibele said...

Good luck... I ma sure that she will do great. Have fun!

Momma Mary said...

bring something from home, from the crib or bed. Do you play CDs or music at home? bring that music with. play lots of music and singing games. It is MUCH easier to travel with very small babies than with toddlers who want to run around. I promise. I've done many loooooooong trips with my son from about 5 months on up. Just be prepared to stop. Remember -- you can always buy diapers and clothes when you get there if you need. And Anth's schedule thing. That's good too. :) Have fun and be relaxed.

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