A LONG weekend!

When Brian and I were trying to get pregnant with Meredith, I joined a message board site dedicated to TTC (trying to conceive). When I got pregnant, a group formed with girls who were all due the same month, and through the now almost 4 years many of us have stayed together as online friends. I've been lucky enough to meet a good handful of these women and their August babe's in person. One of these women, Corey, lives down in Portland. I met her the first time when Brian and I drove his car up to Washington before he deployed in 2007. The second time Meredith and I drove up while he was deployed, and we stayed with Corey and David and their son Joey. Corey and I chat online a lot and have become really good friends.

When David emailed me saying they were planning a surprise baby shower for Corey, who is due with their second son in April, I was more than thrilled to plan a trip to Portland for it. The timing worked out well too, since it was just a week or so after Brian left and was a great way to take my mind off his departure. So last Friday I packed Meredith and I in the car and we headed down to Portland. I had no idea what was coming.

The night before, Meredith had a NASTY diaper. Probably the worst I'd ever seen. But I didn't think much of it. The next morning, another... but I was in such a rush to pack the car and get us out the door in time to catch the ferry that I just didn't put much stock into it. But 15 minutes into the drive, when she threw up all over herself, I started to worry. Meredith has not once in her life been pukey-sick. We've dealt with our fair share of colds and croup, but never stomach bugs. I had counted myself lucky. But I was in a hurry for the ferry, so I got her cleaned up and changed on the side of the road and continued on.

In hindsight, that was a mistake. Although I would have been really bummed to have missed Corey's shower (and missed meeting two of our other online friends), it almost wasn't worth the pain we endured... and inflicted on others... just for a baby shower.

On our way down we stopped in Tacoma and had lunch with Brian's uncle Michael. Found out later we got him really sick too. We ended up getting Corey's husband and son sick also... just the thing a pregnant lady wants to be dealing with! Friday night seemed to be ok... Meredith was having nasty diapers, but no more pukey incidents and she was happily playing with the other kids. Saturday was the shower, which was so much fun and Corey was genuinely surprised! After the shower we went back to the hotel to put the girls to bed and Corey & David brought over pizza for dinner. I started to not feel great... and by the time they all left I was running to find my own toilet. It was an awful night, including another throw up incident from Meredith too, which then neccesitated a bath and sheet change.

So not the best of trips. I was starting to get worried about how we'd get home since I really didn't feel up to the 6 hour drive. I contemplated calling my mother-in-law and having her fly out and drive us back. In the end I just loaded up on pepto bismol and gatorade and booked it home as quickly as I could. All in all we were both sick for a little over a week. If we'd been home when it happened I'm sure I would have taken us both to urgent care... it was that bad. But it was fun nontheless, and worth the trip (I don't know that Corey would agree! haha).

The mama to be, Corey

Meredith reading & playing at the shower