Drifting World Citizens: Hawaii

Traveling to Hawaii with Thumper for our best friends', Beaver and Nurse, wedding was truly one of the most amazing and fulfilling experiences I've had. Seeing both Beaver and Nurse for the first time in months was wonderful, and the closeness between Thumper and I certainly grew after enduring two 14-hour flights together and a vacation trip to the emergency room at 4am.

Surprisingly, the flight to Hawaii, through Dallas/Ft. Worth, went really well. Thumper was still recovering from a cold earlier in the week, but he was his never-failing smiley and social self. Other than his stuffy nose and occasional coughing, you would have never known he was sick. Upon boarding the plane I was greeted by a wave of smiling faces and animated waves back at me as we moved down the aisle. Thumper gave everyone the appropriate amount of face time as he scanned his audience switching from his side-to-side wave to his up-and-down wave, then occasionally blowing a kiss. Although he hardly slept during the 14-hour trip to Maui, he was an absolute joy to be around. More fun even than an in-flight movie, conversation with a stranger, or a refreshing travel nap.

We arrived in Maui around 4pm local time and by the time I retrieved all of the baby items from baggage claim (car seat, pack 'n' play, stroller) and arranged a shuttle to our hotel it was close to 5pm. I have to say that I looked like a true professional with the car seat strategically attached to my rolling carry-on suitcase, the pack 'n' play stacked sideways on top of the suitcase, my baby backpack over my shoulders, pulling my carry-on contraption with one hand while Thumper lounged in his stroller being pushed with the other hand by papa bear. Thumper looked exhausted as he tried to smile and wave at everyone in baggage claim and on the shuttle.

We finally got to the hotel around 6pm and the baby supplies (food and milk) were depleted. We checked in and arranged a ride down to the local mini-mart where we picked up some good stuff for dinner...bananas, yogurt, and milk. I got Thumper back to the hotel room and sighed in relief that we had finally arrived and I knew that we didn't need to go anywhere else that night. I got Thumper fed and ready for bed by around 8pm (2am our time) and he was sounding pretty rough. Being sick, staying up for so long, and traveling so far really took it's toll on Thumper. He had regular coughing fits, he struggled a bit in his breathing, and his voice sounded weak and about three octaves higher than usual. I gave him some children's Advil and finally put him down hoping that he would sleep like a log and we would wake up around 10am-11am the next day fully refreshed and recovered from our long day. My face hit the pillow about 10 minutes later without eating dinner (except what was left of Thumper's bananas and yogurt), without brushing my teeth, without even unpacking some pajamas.

Unfortunately I was awakened about two hours later by Thumper in a coughing fit and he sounded like he was struggling to breath. I did my best to sooth him and he quickly fell back asleep, but woke up again and again coughing and wheezing. I tried sleeping with him on my chest or letting him sleep upright with his head on my shoulder as I walked around the hotel room, but nothing worked for more than an hour or so. Around 1am-2am I decided that I would take him to the hospital in the morning. I just wanted to wait until normal business hours; however, at 4am I couldn't take listening to Thumper suffer anymore and I asked the hotel desk clerk to arrange a taxi to the emergency room.

Maui Jim picked us up and had us at the hospital around 5:30am. I explained Thumper's symptoms to about four different people, all of them staring at me like a deer in the headlights. Finally a doctor came back and quickly diagnosed my little man with croup. He recommended a steroid injection, gave me some papers to look over, and was on his way. Luckily for me, Mama Hillbilly answered her phone when I called to ask her if this guy was crazy. She said that either the oral steroid or injection were perfectly fine and work very well for croup. To make a long story short, Thumper got the injection, I called Enterprise to come and pick me up and rent a car in case I'd need to take Thumper back to the hospital, and we went back to the hotel. We got back around 10am and I put Thumper down for a nap. Luckily he slept better this time, but still only for about two hours.

We took it easy for the rest of the day and Thumper continued to quickly improve. We met Beaver and Nurse and both their families at a sushi restaurant for dinner and I got Thumper in bed at a reasonable hour that night. I was so thankful that he slept through the night! I was awakened by a phone call at 4am; however, I felt obligated to answer it, since it was Mama Hillbilly calling to make sure Thumper was okay. She just hadn't quite realized the time difference :-P I didn't really even care that she was calling so early. I was so relieved the day before when she answered her phone and gave me some much needed advice.

After that incredibly rough first day and a half the trip got exponentially better. Thumper made a full recovery and we were out enjoying beautiful Maui, and enjoying the wonderful company of the wedding party and their family. They took us out to amazing dinners where we shared fish that I'd never even heard of, we swam in the ocean, lounged on gorgeous beaches, and I got to be a part of one of the most beautiful weddings ever. As Legs already posted earlier, they even Skyped her into the wedding. All-in-all the entire trip was an incredible experience in my lifetime, one that I will surely never forget. Hawaii is a beautiful place, but I'm sure the experience I had was largely shaped by the kindness of Beaver and Nurse's families and the happiness I felt radiating from the two of them beginning their lives together. They are wonderful people and I hope that they remain in our lives forever.

Without further adieu, here are some pictures!