Oahu, Hawaii: Traveling with An Infant

For 10 days in February our little family was able to go to Oahu, Hawaii. We stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki and although we stayed in Waikiki, we spent most of our time on the North Shore. It was our first time to Hawaii so I got all the books, I did all the research, and I planned a whole notebook of activities for us to do and places for us to eat.

I probably won't blog about everything, but I will share some highlights for sure!

Yay for Hawaii! I am already looking forward to a future trip!

Also, I will just mention how amazing Madison did on the plane to Hawaii and the plane home from Hawaii. I had researched traveling with an infant, so I knew that during take off and landing she needed to be sucking on something so that her ears would pop. No problems at all! On the flight to Hawaii the lady sitting in front of me turned around after we landed and said, "She is so good! I didn't even hear her make a peep!" (She had been laughing and talking so she did peep - but no cries!)

I also talked to her doctor before we left and asked if it was okay that we take her. Her NICU discharge papers said that we aren't supposed to take her out among people until May. So, I was worried. He said that once we get to Hawaii we should be okay since it's warm weather, there are less virus's and less chances for her to get sick. I was most worried about the planes and the circulating air. He said to keep the air vents on up above our heads and to have the air blown on her since that air is fresh. Well... despite my best efforts, Madison got a fever the day after we got there, and it lasted until the day before we departed. Awesome.

After 6 days of temps ranging from 101 to 103 we broke down and took her to a doctor in Hawaii. I had been on the phone with her doctor like every day, and on the weekend I was on the phone with the emergency doctor/nurse from his office. They can't do much over the phone unfortunately except tell you how bad they think it is. Basically after 3 hours in the waiting room, and being even more paranoid the whole time about her catching something from one of the other babies, the doctor called us in. She looked in Madison's ears. She tapped her belly. Then she checked her diaper. She announced that it was a virus and we would just have to wait for it to pass. Awesome. This was an out of network doctor (they all were in Hawaii) and they made you pay in cash. Well worth the money. She said, "Well you can be happy it's not an ear infection." I know she didn't have any of the symptoms but I kind of wanted it to be an ear infection just so we could get medicine and have it be gone the next day. (That's how I hear ear infections work.) So we packed up and went back to the hotel for her to rest some more. I was really surprised at how run down the doctor's office was there. The office, and all of its equipment reminded me of something I would see in Uganda rather than in Utah, and I definitely expected the opposite.

Despite her not feeling well, she was a good sport; a bit fussier than normal, but still her happy self and would laugh often. She did some tourist stuff with us but we definitely spent a lot more time in the hotel than we expected; which I suppose isn't always a bad thing. I usually pack vacations too full of things to do, so down time in the hotel is always appreciated by Mike.

Mike's mom broke her wrist a couple weeks before Hawaii and then when she couldn't use that wrist to hang on to a railing, she ended up falling and breaking her leg too :(. So his mom and dad spent a lot of time bonding with Madison in the hotel while Mike & I explored Hawaii. How crappy for all of us! We would have much preferred everyone out and about and exploring together. Despite the challenges, the trip was wonderful and the only thing I would have changed was a virus, a broken leg, and a delayed red eye flight heading home. XO HAWAII - UNTIL WE VISIT AGAIN!