Back in November when we were deep in the adoption Home Study process we decided to get tickets to be home in England for 3 weeks for the 2012 Olympics. We figured that the chances we would have been matched with a baby by then were slight and that having something fun to look forward to would be good for us and would help the waiting process go by a little easier.
Fast forward only a few weeks and we get our positive pregnancy test, with a due date smack bang in the middle of our trip. In the early days we felt as though we should keep the tickets because I think in the back of our minds we still felt that something bad might happen and this way, we would at least have something pleasant to look forward to to distract us if we were not going to have a baby.
I told J I wanted to wait until 24 weeks to try and rebook the tickets. 24 weeks is medical viability in a pregnancy. Not a pleasant term, but it means that medically if I went into labor now they could/would try to save the baby. Far from a guarantee that the baby would survive but at least they would have a shot. Today we are 24 weeks. Medically viable. (Yay baby boy!)
And to celebrate we are re-booking our tickets. We had hoped to rebook and go home to England for Christmas, but we learned that we had to re-book within a year of making the original booking. Not ideal. I was already nervous about travelling with an infant at Christmas, but now we are (being pushed by British Airways into) travelling a month earlier. Yikes.
It was an option to fly home before the baby but I am just not comfortable flying that far pregnant. I could get passed the obvious pregnancy discomfort of a long haul flight, but after all we have been through to have this baby, if something went wrong after flying I would never forgive myself. Even if it was not directly connected to the flying, I would alwasy wonder "what if?". I want the peace of mind to know that I couldn't over-think any of my actions and blame myself.
My doctor gave me a note to explain that I could not fly on the original ticket and so we do not have to pay to change our tickets which is some comfort I guess. And a chunk of change we do not have to part with.
I am excited to visit home with our little guy and know that there will be many, many, willing arms ready to hold him if we need to nap and adjust to the time difference. We can just pray that his little body is healthy and stays healthy after breathing in all that recycled airplane air. I will be wiping down and disinfecting every surface like a crazy person. perhaps I will even take some face masks with me to hand out if anyone dares to board the plane with the sniffles.
Praying that I will have some solid peace in my heart about this before we actually fly - or that our mama and papa bear instincts tell us both we should stay home...Lord, help appreciated please!
Any tips for international travel with teeny ones would be very, very appreciated!
What a fantastic trip to be planning....even if you *do* have to wear masks the whole plane ride out. :)
ReplyDeleteTeeny ones are easy. If you are going to be breastfeeding, then just do it totally on demand on the flight and you should be golden. Will has flown twice now and it was MUCH easier when he was littler and still nursing frequently. Both trips I let him nurse on take off and landing, even though the flights weren't long, and it helped with cabin pressure. I will be praying for you, as that is such a long flight and traveling can be stressful! Don't worry about anyone else on the plane either. I think I spent too much time worrying about what others would think if Will fussed, that I was probably short and impatient with him- not my finest moments. :) You will do great and I am SO glad yall get to go home with him! That will be so fun!
ReplyDeleteFun! We travelled with our kids when they were little ...Better to travel with them with they are tiny.. they don't need to move around. And don't be too germ phobic.. germs are not all bad. :) Glad you get to fly home to visit!!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the above posters. Babies are easiest to travel with.
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