Last week we took a vacation to Long Island, to visit with my in-laws. Previous trips had proven to be very stressful, and I was therefore dreading this one. However, I knew that it would be the last time we went before the baby is born (I find driving too difficult as I get further along in my pregnancy), so we packed up and headed off. Typically Stephanie is horrible in the car during these long drives. She screams, fusses, and needs to be entertained. Last Wednesday, we left home around 10am, and she fell asleep about 20 minutes into the trip. She slept until I stopped at the final service area in Connecticut. After that, she entertained herself all the way to my mother-in-laws. She sang, looked out the window, and chatted with us. She did start to get a bit fussy during the last 20 minutes, but nothing compared to how she usually is. I was thrilled that our trip was off to a great start!
It continued to get better that night. The last three times we had taken this journey, she refused to sleep. She would SCREAM when we put her in the pack n' play, would only fall asleep if we rocked her, and woke up 6 or 7 times in the night. All of this is completely unlike the way she sleeps at home. I was determined to do everything I could to make it easier for her, so I made sure the bed was extra padded, and we kept her up late so she was tired, and it seemed to do the trick. She went right to sleep, all by herself, and slept through the night, only waking once. And when she woke, all she needed was to be laid back down and she went right back to sleep. AMAZING.
The trip was also nice because my in-laws worked all day. This made it so that we could have family time during the day, just the three (well, four) of us. While we love our relatives, 24/7 days with them can get to be a bit much, and this was the perfect reprieve from that. We only stayed three days, and left on Saturday after dinner, and right at Stephanie's bedtime. She actually didn't sleep most of the way home, but she also didn't make a peep, so it was fantastic. All in all, I have to say I think this was the least stressful and most successful trip we have taken. And all I could think of the whole time was, well, we're going to have to go through another year or travel adjustments with the new baby. Nothing like positive thinking, right?
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