Trip to Stanford, Day 1

Last Thursday, we headed off to Stanford. Princess's big clinic day wasn't until the next day, but because her first appointment was at 9a, we decided to leave the day before. I had written a massive list of things to bring. Most of them weren't any different than when I go to my mom's house, but I went into detail so I wouldn't forget anything. I had things like formula, baby water, medications, a dozen diapers, etc. I usually don't write these things down because I just bring them with me. I also had to bring the stroller, and the pack 'n' play. I don't usually have to bring diapers or bring some place for Princess to sleep, but being we were staying in a hotel, I needed to bring all these things.

We went to Target, so I could get a few of the things we needed and while I was there, I decided I needed some new clothes. Well, nothing fancy. I definitely needed new underwear. Everything I had was either now too small (dang pregnancy weight gain!) or was the post-c-section granny panties I had picked up. I know it sounds weird, but I wanted something new for the big appointment day. So I also picked up a new top and some new yoga pants. Yoga pants are my go-to right now. It's either those or pregnancy pants or size I-really-can't-be-that-size pants. I really hate my post-pregnancy body and oh how I wish I was the size I was when I got married. But at least if I was going to be going to one of the leading children's hospitals in the world and meeting with one of the BEST pediatric cardiologists in the world, I figured I'd better not be too frumpy! Plus, the new clothes took my mind off any freaky nervous feelings I was having.

So then I realized that Little Man would be in the car with us (where else would he be?) for nearly 3 hours! So I had to find something for him to do in the car. So I went a little crazy and had some fun on Pinterest looking for things we could take. The last time I had taken him on a trip was for my step-mother's memorial service back before I got pregnant with Princess. It was then, that my mom suggested a car bag of toys. So I set to work putting one together. I'd been collecting snacks for a bit but still needed to put things together for him. (I'll post about the things in his trip bag later.)

Knowing that my mom was going to try and get off work early, and would be at my house sometime around maybe four-ish, I set about packing everything. Well, after lunch, my phone rang. It was Stanford calling to say that Dr. R would not be available tomorrow and if I would be okay to see Dr. Y. If it wasn't I could reshecdule. I was okay with seeing Dr. Y mainly because we already had an appointment with the GI clinic early the next morning and we had had the appointment with the heart clinic for a month now. I knew Dr. K (our cardiologist) would probably not be happy that we didn't get to see Dr. R, but I was fairly confident that they weren't going to find anything new. The worst thing I knew that would happen would be that they would want to do a cath and we would be there overnight. But I knew that if they wanted to do that, they were going to have to convince me that it was necessary.

So after I got of the phone with Stanford, I was actually feeling okay. So I wasn't going to see Dr. R, but things were going to be okay. So around 2p, I had to give Princess her blood pressure mediation. This is not the easiest task to do with an infant. If you've ever tried to give your baby Tylenol, you kind of get where I'm coming from. The only difference is that usually even the infant Tylenol or Motrin is flavored. One of Princess's medications doesn't have a flavor. I don't think they can add flavoring either. The reason I think this is because on one of the packets of instructions I got it said to mix it with applesauce, water, or pudding to help with the taste. The packet specifically said NOT to mix it with formula or breast milk. So here I am giving my infant who isn't developmentally ready to eat solids or drink water nasty tasting medication. Well, usually she does okay, but sometimes she spits it. This ALWAYS worries me. I KNOW I'm not supposed to give her more if she spits it, but is the reason her blood pressure isn't coming down because she's not getting enough of the medication? If she doesn't spit the medication, sometimes she chokes on it. This is what happened. She spit some and then choked on the rest! I knew this wasn't going to be the easiest day at that point.

Thankfully, Little Man laid down by himself and took a nap, so I was able to finish packing the rest of my stuff and Princess's stuff without him being underfoot. So by the time I got everything together, I had the stroller, car seat, pack 'n' play, two bags for Little Man (one was his car bag and one his suitcase), two bags for Princess (one was her usual diaper bag and the other had all the extras), and one bag for me (I had put my clothes and Princess's clothes in there). I knew my mom was only going to be bringing one bag and probably her work computer. The rest of the trunk was going to be our stuff!

My mom showed up right when she said she would. I had Little Man up and while Pops packed the car, everyone did a potty stop. Then we got on the road. It only took us three hours and I managed to map the way that avoided all the tolls going there! I honestly don't think that was that difficult. I think the tolls were for those crazy people who want to get there faster. We had Taco Bell for dinner, which was a little difficult to find because in the Bay Area they don't allow signage on the freeway. I guess it would get too difficult to see anything if everyone had their massively tall signs all the way up in the air all over the place. Of course, when we went in there, Little Man said he had to go potty but came out screaming a second later. Taco Bell apparently had the hand dryers on the wall that would just turn on automatically if you put your hand underneath it. So I had to go take Little Man into the potty to make sure the "Loud Thing" didn't come on.

As we were on the way to the hotel, we saw lots of tech companies: Dell, Microsoft, etc. We were definitely in the Silicon Valley! We wound up staying in Mountain View because we couldn't find a hotel that was decent in Palo Alto. Apparently, it was the weekend before school started! I didn't get pictures of the hotel, but when we got there, we had to get one of those carts because we had SO MUCH stuff! Once we got into the room we rearranged things slightly to fit the pack 'n' play in there. I then set about making formula and rearranging the counter by the little sink and fridge. Mom remembered the paper towels that I had forgotten and brought her plastic measuring cup as I didn't have one. We showed Little Man the bathroom and he about had another fit when he saw the blow dryer on the wall. He thought it was another "Loud Thing." We unplugged it and let him press the buttons on it to make sure it wouldn't come on. I know this seems like a lot for something so simple as a hand dryer, but he's had some bad experiences with some of the Dyson jet hand dryers when he was younger. I think it was RIGHT at the point where the fears would kick in. So we have to explain a lot to him, but he's okay eventually. He even took a bath in the hotel bathtub! Though he was quite disappointed he didn't have any toys.

When MeMe and Pops stepped out for a smoke, I sanitized all the doorknobs and faucet handles. Yeah, I knew the room was clean, but a lot of times, the doorknobs and faucet handles aren't done and they are GERM MAGNETS! We then settled in to go to bed. Well, Little Man was WAY too awake and wound up staying up until 10! I was up at 3:30 feeding Princess and then finally fell back to sleep around 4. I knew the alarm would go off at 6 to start our long day at the hospital.

Day 2 of our Stanford trip still to come!