Colorado Trip

A few weeks ago I got to go out to Colorado to surprise my brother. I flew out there with my parents and the boys. My sister in law was going to Dubai to visit her aunt for the week, so we were going out there to take care of the kids while Nick worked. Nick had turned 30 the beginning of March so I decided that it would be fun to surprise him for his birthday and just to go out and see them. We had not seen them since last June when Joe was just 2 weeks old. Now he is 10 months old. It worked out great and he was totally surprised. We had a great, busy, fun week. The boys played great together. They have only met a few times before so it was nice for them to have a chance to spend some time together to get to know one another. Nick and Kristin bought a house a while ago and have been fixing it up so my dad helped him out during the week and made some good progress. In the mean time my mom and I kept the boys busy. We went to the park, zoo, swimming, the house a few times, gymnastics place, the mall, and just playing outside at home. We had great weather so they got to play in the sandbox a lot. My parents left on a Sunday and I stayed a few more days. That way I got to see Kristin for a few days. It was a great trip and I was so thankful that I was able to go spend some quality time with them. On the way home I braved traveling with both boys alone. I took my car seat, 2 bags, 2 kids and a stroller on the plane. I know, call me crazy, but it beat traveling 3 hours from Chicago and then another 12 back to NC. We had a layover in Detroit for a little bit so it was a pain unloading everything and then putting it all back on, but I had some nice people offer to help me. The last flight I sat in the very last row and was able to have to whole row to myself. It was so nice to have that extra seat. I usually had one kid in the car seat and then another on my lap or sitting next to me. We were on the descend into Charlotte when they came around with a bag of cashew nut mix. I shared it with PJ cause he was getting restless and was tired from traveling. When we were just about to land he started acting weird and I just thought he was overly tired. Well then he proceeded to start coughing like he was going to throw up. So I put Joe back in the car seat and took PJ out. He finally started to throw up. Luckily I had a blanket with me and all the dukes we normally carry with us. He threw up a few times then fell a sleep. Well by now we had landed and everyone was off the plane. The pilot came back to see what was going and told me that PJ looked dehydrated and that we needed to get him to the hospital before we go home. GREAT! just what I wanted to do after traveling al day. Joe had fallen asleep in the 5 minutes that he was in the car seat. So now I have 2 sleeping boys, 2 bags and a car seat to get off the plane. The staff helped me get Joe out and the bags and put me in a wheel chair since I was holding PJ. We were then put on a gulf cart thing to transfer us to Pete. They put Joe in the stroller and pushed him next to us. Well the guy driving the cart thought it was ok to stop and pick up someone else getting off a plane which took forever. The guy pushing Joe kept going and told me to have Pete meet him at gate B. Great, now Joe is out of my site and PJ is still sleeping not looking good at all. I was so mad and felt helpless. Well Joe made it safely to Pete and we joined him shortly after. We got everything in the car and was off the the hospital. Luckily Petes Dad was down by us so he meet us there to take Joe home. PJ woke up when we got there and proceeded to throw up again. Then he was just out of it for about another 20 minutes. When we went into triage he started to perk up a little more. We then noticed that he was starting to break out in hives. We got back in the room and was waiting for the doctor to come in. By now PJ was fully awake and fully broken out. He was itching all over. When the doctor finally came in PJ was jumping on the bed and messing around with Pete. I asked her if she thought he was dehydrated and she just laughed. She kinda just laughed at PJ the whole time cause he was acting like he had been confined on a air plane all day. It turned out that he had an allergic reaction to the cashews. So we were sent home and gave him some benadryl and he was fine by the next morning. He just slept in til 12:15. It was a combination of the 2 hour time change and the benadryl. It took him a few days to get back on schedule. We took him to the doctor the next day to get some blood drawn to have it tested. It turns out that he in only allergic to cashews. So we always have to carry and epi pen and benadryl with us at all times. I might still take him in to a allergist just to get more questions answered and just to make sure that that is all he is allergic too. So it was an exciting end to a week and a half long trip. Not a good way to come home, but I am just SOOO thankful that he did not stop breathing and that it was not any worse than what it was. Nut allergy's can be harsh. The perk to all of this was I wrote a letter complaining about the flight attendant that was sitting right behind during this whole thing. She heard him coughing, and then heard him throw up, and knew I was flying alone with 2 little ones and never got up to see if he was ok or if she could help me out. Even after we landed NO ONE paid any attention to me. The flight attendant casually said that she had nothing back there for me to put the blanket in and then proceeded to talk to the man that was sitting across from me. She said that she had had a long few days and was looking forward to her day off. The only thing she really did for me was call to have someone meet us. I was so mad and disappointed with her. She even told the pilot when he came back that PJ was coughing before he threw up so I know she heard him. So today I got an email with a 100 dollar voucher for both PJ and I. So I guess it pays to complain sometime. Here is a video of our trip. Sorry this post is long but I wanted to explain my story. Thanks Nick and Kristin for having us out there and invading your house for a while. It was a great trip and I hope we can do it again soon. Thanks Mom and Dad for all your help with the kids. Love you all.