While on our trip to the US last August we got the very exciting news that my sister Cristina was getting married. The date was soon set for early June 2008, which meant Zach and I had a great excuse to plan our next trip home for then, along with our then-to-be-4-months-old baby. I was thrilled for the upcoming nuptials, thrilled to have a good reason to schedule our next visit already, thrilled to know that we'd get to show off Loki to friends and family at that time.
Unfortunately some not-so-good stuff has come up and to accommodate some different schedules the wedding has been moved up to March 15. Which also, unfortunately, means Zach and I (and Loki) will not be attending. In theory, we could still go-- I know there's plenty of people who have traveled with a 1-2 month old and everything went fine. However both Zach and I have strong gut reactions against it, and honestly aside from the worry of exposing him to all sorts of germs that young, I'd be more worried about how I would fare with traveling that soon after giving birth than I would be about Loki.
It's really gonna suck missing out on this wedding... I'll have to rely on looking over all the pictures and the video afterwards to feel a part of it. This also brings up other questions... like, without the wedding as a reason to go home in June, do we want to still make that trip at that time? If not then, when would we go? I'm not gonna lie, there's a good part of both of us that's excited about getting an extra 2 weeks to enjoy summer in Europe, especially since this will probably be our last one here. But part of me also feels like we should take advantage of the one company-paid trip home we get per year, which has to be at least 6 months away from whatever our final departure back home date is, which could be as early as this November/December. And I'm not sure I'm thrilled about the idea of waiting till then to visit home, as that will mean I'll have gone nearly 1.5 yrs between visits to the US. So I don't know. These changes are all pretty recent and we still have some thinking to do.
What a bummer! I'd still go home in June though. There isn't much going on at the beginning of June over here anyways. Plus the weather's usually lousy at that time of the year.
ReplyDeleteGo. Take the baby to meet the family. Speaking as a loving aunt, I know that I would appreciate it!
ReplyDeleteKeep your options open to attending. Depending on when Loki arrives it could be a really good time to travel. I flew with my daughter when she was just two months old, and it was one of the easiest flights ever. She seriously nursed almost the whole time, and when she was not nursing she was asleep in her car seat. So if Loki arrives a little early, I would consider it!
ReplyDeleteTrying to juggle company trips, trips home, trips for holidays, and figuring out when you're moving back to the US can be so overwhelming - and I don't even have a baby to think about! :) I also think you should keep your options open, especially if it's a paid trip from the company.
ReplyDeleteI WANT TO SEE THE BABY!!! BRING ME THE BABY!!!
ReplyDeleteYes, come in June. We will buy you cute baby stuff if you come. For a 4+ month-old baby, who by then will have outgrown all his Christmas and shower presents.
And you can buy cute no-longer-pregnant stuff for yourself, too.
Unless you decide to come in March. Then you can skip the June trip.
For what it's worth, before I had DD, I was adamantly against planning any sort of travel while on maternity leave (12 weeks) - partly because I didn't know how the baby would be (ie - would she arrive ok?) and partly because I knew I'd be wiped out and visiting CH is always exhausting. As it turned out, DD did have major problems at birth and stayed 3 weeks in NICU (they didn't think she'd survive at first). Frederic had a conference in Switzerland at 9 weeks, which meant seeing all the relatives (and work was paying). The doctor gave DD the all clear to travel (and me as well). Yeah, I was tired, but not as much as I thought I'd be. That was the *best* time to bring a baby on the plane because she slept the whole way and back between San Antonio and Geneva! The only issue was that we had to rush order her passport, but that came in two weeks.
ReplyDeleteNot trying to change your mind, and if your gut says don't go, then listen to it. But also keep your options open, as you may feel differently once Loki has arrived. I am so glad we went, it was so important to the in-laws to meet DD, and the trip was a lot easier than most our trips!
And if you decide to miss the wedding, definitely go in June!
I would second (or third or fourth) keeping your options open for March (maybe just don't commit to being *in* the wedding!). I flew internationally--alone!--w/ Ellie at 7 weeks and even though I was still recovering from a nasty episiotomy, it was totally fine. The hardest part was managing all the baby gear on my own, but that's b/c we were actually moving back to the US and had to travel w/ much more than usual! Just check w/ your OB and pediatrician ahead of time. You'll be anxious to show that baby off anyway!
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