Look Out Ohio...Here We Come!

Scott and Susanne spent most of the morning packing, packing, and more packing. Even though this should not surprise them by now, it was alarming how full the car was when they were all said and done. There wasn't even room for their feet on the floorboard.

Susanne decided to drive most of the way up to Ohio so that Scott could potentially work on his dissertation. This didn't end up happening because it was too difficult to find the space that was needed to lay everything out. Also, as most of you know, it's easy to get car sick when having to read in a moving car. They at least had good intentions.

The entire car ride was quite comical. If it wasn't one thing, it was another. For most of the ride up to Ohio, it rained. In the beginning it was a heavy down pour that made it difficult to see and frustrating to drive. All along the way, Susanne had to pull off at different exit ramps during the trip for Scott to change Paxton's diaper. It's common knowledge that the only time Paxton ever cried was when he had a wet diaper and he did a great job of letting mom and dad know everytime. In West Virginia, a cop pulled up behind them to make sure everything was okay. Once the cop knew that it was just to change a dirty diaper he let them be.

The other challenge that they discovered was trying to set up Paxton's feedings and give him medicine without having to pull over everytime. The limited space complicated the situation. The bottle warmer that Susanne got at one of her baby showers came in very handy on this trip. If they did not have this piece of equipment, then they would have to stop somewhere for hot water to warm the milk at each feeding. That would have been a big pain.

Susanne also had to find time to pump along the way. Oftentimes, when they would pull over to change Paxton's diaper, it would coincide with when Susanne needed to pump. She was doing really well until the end of trip when the batteries died. Luckily, they were a few hours from the hotel at that point.

Moppy had packed Scott and Susanne some lunches to try to help minimize the number of times they might have to stop. Susanne had also prepared some food that they would be able to eat throughout the week to try to help save some money. This was also easier than trying to figure out what was safe and what wasn't safe for Susanne to eat when they were out and about.

Scott decided to drive the last two hours of the trip so Susanne could take a break. Later that night, they arrived in Cincinnati. They were both very excited to be there and very excited to finally get some well sought after answers. Their family friends were so kind to set them up in a hotel that was close to the hospital. It was an Extended Stay Hotel that had a full functioning kitchen. This was a major perk for Susanne because of all of the food she had brought as well as all of the milk she was sure she was going to pump over the next week. The biggest perk was that it was located right next to a Mexican restaurant. SCORE!!!!

When they arrived, they were greeted by a basket full of goodies. The Dreyer family had put together some things that would make their week go a little bit better. There was a variety of fruit, chips, salsa, magazines, soda, and an extra special treat for Scott...Mike and Ikes. Susanne also got a special birthday card from the Dreyer family. It was a nice way to start off the trip. The Dreyer family also set up their pack-n-play in the hotel room for Paxton to use. It was so nice to have this available because there was no way they would have fit Paxton's pack-n-play in the car.

The rest of the evening they spent settling in. Scott and Susanne made time to spend with Paxton. They were both able to get him to smile quite a bit and Paxton almost even laughed for daddy.

Rest was top priority since they had a big day ahead of them. It was hard to achieve this when they had to get up every three hours to feed Paxton and Susanne had to pump, but somehow they made it work.