Europe 2012 Part 1

England

So let me preface by saying I love to travel under normal circumstances. I love to see new places and try new things and it doesn't typically stress me out. However this last trip was in no way normal and couldn't have happened at a worse time. I DO NOT reccommend traveling overseas with a 3 week old! I even had feelings deep down that our unplanned pregnancy would somehow get me out of this trip. But like a good wife I supported my husband who had a strong desire to actually walk at his Oxford graduation despite now living 5,000 miles away. So planning this trip included Devin's parents who wanted to be there in support of their son. We had decided it was too expensive to take our other 3 kids and so would leave them with my parents. Then somewhere we decided to add on to our trip since we were already there. With discussions back and forth it was finally settled that we would head to Rome after the graduation. Wouldn't have been my first choice but I wasn't going for me. So needless to say I was not looking forward to this trip.

The older I get the less I like to fly. I remember as a kid wishing so often we could afford to fly places more often. It was so exciting then. Now, any little bump of turbulence freaks me out. Any abnormal sounding noise scares me. My husband, who fully understands the physics of how planes can fly just laughs at me. I say, even if I could copmprehend it all, who's to say the plane wouldn't just drop out of the sky at any moment? So our flight out to London was the worst I've ever experienced. For a 9 hour flight we had maybe 1 hour of calm. We had so much turbulence. At one point the plane literally dropped probably 20 feet. Soda. coffee, water went flying everywhere. I sat with my eyes closed, clenching my chair and my baby and crying and praying for most of the flight.

We arrive in London early morning and after dropping our luggage at the hotel, we catch a bus to Hampton's Court Palace where King Henry VIII lived. We are all so exhausted we could hardly stay awake if we stopped moving.

The next day we took the Underground to St. Paul's Cathedral. You may know because Prince Charles and Diana were married there. It was also designed by the famous Architect Christopher Wren.

After this we went to Greenwich where the Prime Meridian is marked with a line through the park.

Cutty Sark

That evening we caught a bus to Oxford getting us in much later than hoped. The next day was the graduation ceremony. Our former nanny and good friend watched Kelsey for us while we attended. The ceremony was nearly 2 hours and most of that was in Latin. It took place in the Sheldonian which was also designed by Christopher Wren.

   

Despite being exhausted beyond all hope of catching up I'm glad I went for the graduation. It was interesting and unlike other graduation ceremonies. I'm so proud of my husband!

She's Here!!

Okay I'm behind on posting this since she's been here a whole month already. Kelsey Grace O'Dowd was born September 27, 2012. She wieghed 8lbs, 5oz. and 20.25 inches long.

  

We showed up at midnight for a scheduled induction. Labor was quick and delivery went well despite my epidural not working and it being a super busy night of births that my doctor didn't make it to the delivery. My mom came out just before to stay with the other kids while we were in the hospital. We were all very excited for her arrival. Later that night about an hour after her feeding she started to choke and turn blue. I patted her back with a little extra force and she started to breathe again. A couple hours later it happened again. I called the nurse and she was concerned and took her to the nursery to check her out. A few hours later the nurse returned to tell me she had another choking episode and they sent Kelsey to the NICU for more tests. I was starting to get worried. They wouldn't let me feed her or touch her and they had started a round of antibiotics. They did chest x-rays and blood tests. After about 12 hours in the NICU they recieved tests results all being normal and I was finally able to hold her and feed her. Unfortunately because they had started a 48 hour antibiotic they could not release her until she had received the last dose. So from 1am on Friday until Sunday at 10am she was there. In retrospect it was overkill. It was most likely leftover mucus she was having difficulty swallowing. It was difficult for me to leave her there and walk back and forth from my room every 2-3 hours. I'm thankful she was and is okay and have a better appreciation for those who have spent numerous days, weeks and months with their child in the NICU.

Now, a month after her birth she has made her presence known. The kids love her and give her lots of hugs and kisses each day. She is pretty demanding and when awake she just wants to eat. She can only handle smiling and being talked to for so long and then gets fussy. She has already traveled overseas!

We still haven't settled in to a routine. My world pretty much revolves around taking care of her and thankfully the rest of my kids are understanding and able to do a lot for themselves. We'll eventually get back into a routine and back to school work and cooking proper meals and cleaning. For now, I'm enjoying every minute I can with her despite the fussiness. They grow up too fast.

Thanks Aunt Amy for the cute shirts!