Boston Blizzard

First thing this morning, Susanne checked the status of the flight to Boston that was scheduled for early evening. It had snowed only about an inch in Northern Virginia, but Boston was expecting much more. Luckily, flight was still a go.

Susanne had planned on getting ready for the day after she started Paxton's 9:00am feeding. Paxton had other plans. He woke up crying, sweating, and gagging. He also appeared mildly swollen, especially in the face. Susanne was concerned that he wasn't handling the changes that had been made to his feedings over the last couple of days. She had backed him down to 115ml of food every three hours. She thought that this change would have improved his situation. He didn't seem like he could get comfortable. He turned blue when having one of his crying fits. Afterwards, he was pale for awhile until he was able to regroup. Susanne was eventually able to shower, but then had to literally sit with him until Moppy arrived. He had worn himself out enought that Suanne was able to put him back down for a nap. It was definitely short lived. He woke up right as Susanne planned on pumping. He was irritable and the cycle started all over again. He had done something similar the day before. It truly had to be difficulty with the amount of food he was receiving. This was confirmed when Susanne removed his extension from his G-tube and formula came spilling out. This wouldn't be so odd if he had just eaten, but it had been almost three hours since the last one was started. Susanne and Moppy bathed Paxton to see if this would help him to feel better. He always loved bath time. It had to be soothing for him. Moppy was able to comfort him while Susanne finished getting ready and finished putting the final items in her suitcase. They felt pretty good about their timeline until their goal time for leaving passed them by.

Finally, they got out of the house. The roads in Susanne's neighborhood were bad, but not once they got out on the main roads. They had a total of three suitcases, two purses, three bags that were filled with other bags of stuff, a car seat, stroller, and Paxton. This was what they called fully loaded. They weren't sure how they would condense it anymore than they had already done. This was the best that they could do. Hopefully, the airline would be understanding.

The person who helped to check them in was hesitant at first to assist them with their obvious problem. After showing her the letter that Children's Hospital Boston had written for them when Paxton was discharged in October, she was more compassionate. She allowed them to check Paxton's suitcase which was a life saver. Moppy stuffed her purse in one of the bags, which was the key to making this work. They now had checked the three suitcases and condensed the others down to two carry ons apiece.

Going through security was always tricky. This took the most time out of everything. Every item had to go through screening. They had to remove the medications, the laptop, send the car seat through, take off their shoes, remove their coats...etc. By the end of it all they had over ten full containers to be evaluated. Susanne even had to take out her fortified breast milk and the premade formula for testing. Hopefully, this level of security was worth it.

After they finally got through security, Susanne needed to find a bathroom stat!Paxton had a dirty diaper since they arrived at the airport and it couldn't wait any longer. She had been noticing over the last few days that he was developing the worst diaper rash that he had ever had. It even looked ulcerated in places. She had been applying Desitin with each diaper change. She could tell that it hurt him when she wiped his bottom. The shorter time he had in dirty diapers the better. She was hoping that once they got to their final destination that she could actually let him air out some. She knew he would love that.

The flight was uneventful. Paxton did well as always with the exception of a few whines here and there. Susanne was so pleased that he actually got a cat nap in during the ride.

When they arrived in Boston, they were told that it had snowed 15 inches last night. The city was covered in white. They were hoping to be able to catch a cab to their final destination with no problem. They ate dinner before leaving the airport because they weren't sure that anyone would deliver food in this kind of weather. This was the best decision that they had made all day. They were starving, but didn't even realize how badly until they sat down for a few seconds.

They got to the house they were staying in safely. When they arrived, a gentleman helped them carry their belongings inside. It was amazing the generosity of people, especially when it was least expected. The check in process was quick and before they knew it they were settled in their room. It didn't take long before Paxton's bed was set up. He was so tired that within seconds after his head hit the pillow, he was out. Goodnight Boston!