Nora's First Oregon Visit: Bend

Monday evening we packed up and made the drive down to Bend to see Nate and Ashley and meet up with my grandparents and aunts, who traveled in to see all of us.  Evidently I have never taken Billy up to Mount Hood before, so we decided to take that route to central Oregon. It was cool to see it up close on such a beautiful evening.  I was amazed at how many of the landmarks along the route I remembered from when I used to make the trip frequently as a middle schooler.

We arrived without too much trouble, but on Tuesday our trip took a turn for the worse.  Nora was acting strange, which we first attributed to tiredness.  When I saw that one of her toys was bloated, I wondered if the increase in altitude had left her feeling just a little bit uncomfortable (Bend's elevation is around 3,500 feet).  Our happy little baby was fussy, had no appetite, and wouldn't let anyone else hold her.  Though she has recently been getting better and better about interacting with others while I'm in the room, she not only became clingy with me-- she became melancholy and cuddly, which is not her personality at all.  Nate snapped this photo of her that afternoon, and though I miss having her cuddle up on my chest, the fact that she was doing it then was a clear signal that something was wrong.

Late in the day, she developed a fever which ultimately required two trips to urgent care, alternating doses of various medications, and lots of extra nursing and affection.  It was upsetting to me on a variety of levels-- I was worried about her, nobody could figure out what was causing the fever, I was upset that our doctor was on vacation so I couldn't ask his opinion, I was exhausted from the demands of keeping her content and hydrated, and I was really bummed that my family didn't get to see her regular personality.  I had been looking forward to seeing all of them for months, and as Nora grew happier and more independent, I was excited that the timing of the visit would allow them to hold her, play with her, and interact with her.  That really didn't happen because she wasn't feeling well.  She just wanted her mom.  All things considered, though, her attitude through the whole thing really amazed me.  When we showed up at urgent care and told them her temperature, they first suggested we'd have to go to the emergency room because it was so high.  But the doctor came out and said "She's so alert and calm, we can take a look at her."  On the second visit, I had to keep us occupied while we waited for her to provide a urine sample, and I took another picture because I couldn't believe how upbeat she was.  If I had a bag stuck to me and tucked inside my diaper, you can be sure this isn't the face I'd be making.

Nonetheless, it was great to be in Bend.  I loved seeing Nate and Ashley in their own element, even if the picture I got of it was fairly limited in scope.  Their house seems perfect for them and they both seem happy and at ease there.  Old Mill Brew Werks, the pub my brother co-owns, seemed to have a cool atmosphere, definitely had delicious food, and had a good crowd on the night I was there.  In fact, they just introduced something called a "Buddy Board" which allows you to buy beers for friends even when you're not there, so if you think you might be taking a trip to Bend, let me know and I'll buy you a beer.  : )  After we were able to regulate Nora's fever and get her to sleep, Billy stayed with her at the hotel so I could go enjoy a meal with the rest of the family and see the pub.  I was sorry we couldn't all be there together, but I was glad to have at least a short chance to have "adult" conversation and to hear how my family members were doing.  In addition to my grandparents, my aunts Carrie and Dana both made the trip up to see us, so it was great to spend some time with them and have a slight break from worrying about Nora non-stop.  Plus, I've been reading about Chef Rudy's "fusion cuisine" concoctions on facebook for months, so I was glad to get to get a taste of his cooking for myself.

Thursday was our final day in Bend, and though the morning started off with more anxious attention to Nora, the medicine helped moderate her temperature and she finally started acting a bit like herself after she woke up from her mid-day nap.  The timing of this worked out nicely because my grandparents were planning to have us all over to their motorhome inside their RV park for a cookout.  We all had a good time hearing about my grandparents' recent travels and talking to Nate and Ashley about their baby plans.  Since they found out earlier in the week that the baby is a boy, everyone had suggestions about what they should and should not name him.  I feel like I hardly got a chance to talk to anyone for the whole visit, but I did get to hear a little about Nate and Ashley's parenting plans, and I really enjoyed hearing their perspectives.  I am not really inclined to give unsolicited advice, and Ashley has been around a lot of younger siblings for her whole life and is much better equipped to be a mom than I was, so mostly I was just curious to hear about what choices they think they will make along the way.  One thing I could tell, even from these fairly brief conversations, is that they seem to be generally on the same page in regards to what kind of parents they want to be and how they want to handle different situations.  In my observations, this is the key element to success when it comes to co-parenting, so I am excited for them to embark on this journey together, and I'm more assured than ever that they will enjoy the journey and be really great at it.  Which "philosophy" parents adopt seems way less important than the fact that they adopt it together and present a unified front.  I look forward to reading along on Ashley's blog about their adventures in parenthood. : )

I feel like I hardly got to talk to Aunt Dana and Aunt Carrie, and I was bummed that they hardly got a chance to play with Nora.  But she did spend some time ambling around on the ground with her toys, demanding to be bounced up and down, babbling, and imitating faces and behaviors, so I guess they did get to see some of her favorite things to do.  Despite my best efforts to get a picture of Nora with everyone, I realized after the fact that I didn't even get one with my Aunt Carrie!  I guess you will both have to come visit us here in Maryland soon if you want to see Nora in her own element. : )  In any case, here are some of my favorites from the photos I did manage to take that afternoon.

Sadly, we had to leave Bend Thursday evening to avoid a three+ hour drive to the airport.  In addition to wishing we'd had more (and more meaningful) time to spend with my family members, I wish we'd had a chance to see more of Bend.  Thanks to the amazing welcome basket Ashley had waiting at the hotel and the amount of idle time I spent perusing its contents while caring for Nora, I am aware of how many cool things Bend has to offer.  I suppose this is one additional reason to be excited that Baby C is on the way-- I hope we'll be able to head to Central Oregon again soon to meet him.  

I barely even want to mention the trip home because it was kind of nightmarish.  The short version goes like this: lots of crying on the drive back to Portland, a hotel room adjoining to a person whose cough was so loud and terrifying that I woke in the night sure Nora was dying, a diaper blowout of epic proportions on the way to the airport (no solids+antibiotic=disaster), a baby that refused to sleep in flight unless she was nursing, and an extremely delayed connecting flight out of Chicago.  We finally struck a bit of luck when we were able to fly stand-by on a less delayed flight home.  As we waited in the jetway to board that plane, a man in a suit made a point to announce to everyone in earshot that he had been watching her, and our daughter had the best attitude of anyone in the terminal.  I was sure this unsolicited act of kindness was going to make me cry, so all I could muster in response was to say "definitely a better attitude than her mom has" and to ask her to smile at him. She promptly complied.  And then we had no choice but to sit by a teenage boy on the plane.  I thought this spelled disaster, but he was such a nice kid, and he happily made faces at Nora throughout the flight and even got her to mimic him patting his legs.  Next time you see a parent traveling with a little one, be extra kind.  It will go a long way toward calming their nerves.

Billy took this picture of Nora in the airport while we waited.  When my siblings and I were younger and we would complain about ridiculous things, my parents used to tell us sarcastically, "You are such a deprived child."  Obviously, Nora's late night behavior proves that she believes she has been deprived of the sheer joy of staying up past her bedtime.  The man in the jetway was right.  She went through cranky periods on the trip, but all things considered, she was an ideal traveling companion.  When we got home, Billy and I agreed that one of the best parts of the trip was getting to learn more about our daughter by observing her in unfamiliar circumstances.  She is such a trooper and she has such a cheerful, inquisitive spirit that nothing can get her down for too long.  Though the trip did not go according to my plans, I hope everyone who made a point to take the time to meet her was able to see those qualities in her.  Traveling with her might be stressful, but she is our most precious cargo, and we will never get tired of parading her around to show her off.