Trip to ABR - Day 10 Coming Home!
May 7, 2008 | Updates
Sunday, April 27th
Today we’re going home. It has been a good trip and we have learned a lot, but it has been a long one. And having Samuel anywhere away from home is difficult because there aren’t really any “safe” places to put him. I’ve already told you his small traumas with his car seat and the hardwood floor. But we got another example of it last night when I placed him on the bed in the hotel room and turned around about 2 feet from him to pack a bag. In an instant, he rolled over and off the bed and hit the top of his eye on the edge of the nightstand and then fell on the floor. It’s one of those things where the only thing out of my mouth was, “You have GOT to be kidding me!” Sometimes, I just wonder what else can happen. Not really, but you know what I mean. I could just do without some of this stuff sometimes. Anyway, his eye swelled up and of course, he wouldn’t let me put any ice on it. Needless to say, home is sounding better and better by the moment!
We got up early today to catch our flights. Tom’s flight left at 6:30 am and ours left at 8 am. Tom rode the shuttle bus to the airport and I dropped off the rental car and took a shuttle bus with Samuel from there. The shuttle driver was very helpful and loaded our bags and then unloaded them when we reached the airport. But for some reason, he dropped us off where there was no skycap and I had 5 bags and Samuel with me. I was sort of at a loss on what to do until I saw a wheelchair sitting just inside the doors of the building. I grabbed it and loaded it with bags. Then I pushed the wheelchair and pulled Samuel’s stroller to the ticket counter.
Once we were rid of the bags, we headed through the security checkpoint. This time, I was better prepared! I sent the computers with Tom and I had put all of Samuel’s meds in a plastic bag so I could just pull the bag out of the diaper bag to put through the scanner. I then warned everyone that Samuel had a metal implant and showed the security guard how to fold up the stroller BEFORE I took Samuel out of it. They then patted us down and here they were good to watch our stuff for us until we got back to it. They even helped me get Samuel back in his stroller. It went a lot smoother than the first time through.
We made our first flight and the flight attendants even gave us a bulkhead seat. Only problem was, when we went to get into the seats, Samuel’s carseat wouldn’t fit because the armrests on the bulkhead seats don’t go up. So, we had to take the seats behind. However, this plane was pretty empty, so we had a free seat next to us. And, it was early in the morning and Samuel hadn’t had much sleep, so he sat peacefully for the first half hour of the flight and then slept through the rest.
Our layover in Minneapolis was about 3 hours long, so I had time to eat lunch, use the bathroom, feed and change Samuel and then hold him on my lap for a while. And this time, I checked the gate number BEFORE walking to it. When we boarded this plane, it was a very small 50 seat plane and Samuel’s carseat/stroller wouldn’t fit down the aisle. It took some maneuvering on my part to get him down to aisle 9 where we sat, but it worked out fine. And in the end, the smaller plane meant that we didn’t have a 3rd seat next us.
Samuel watched a movie for about an hour and then got restless. Because there was no one next to us, I was able to put him on my lap and finally got him to sleep. He slept for the remainder of the flight. Once we landed, we got our luggage and met up with Tom. We then got our car and headed home. Samuel was upset for most of the ride home. He was simply tired of the whole traveling thing and as ready to get home as we were.
When we got home, it felt great! The kids all seemed to have grown a foot and it just felt so good to be with them again. A hot shower and a night in our own beds and we were back to work on Monday. It was a long trip, but in the end, SO VERY WORTH IT!
Thank you again to everyone who made this trip possible! We are so excited to start his new therapy within the next few days. Oh, and don’t miss tomorrow’s post. It is my favorite one of the trip!
Love,
The Jewkes
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May 8th, 2008 at 5:25 am, Caradie & Corbin Says:
To bad I didn’t know you were going to be in Minneapolis, I’m only 2 hours from there, Corb & I could have come to say hi
Caradie & Corbin