2020: Time to see the West Coast (but still find time to go to Orlando too)! complete 10/22

[pkondz]

Thank you! Me too- it was scary for sure.

Others have told me the same! Seems I have quite a long ways to go lol

It'll fly by.

I keep telling myself that. Still waiting...

Yup! My parents have a cabin in the tiny town of Blenheim up there in the middle of nowhere and it's such a nice change of pace from the city.

I bet! Sounds really nice.

We've gotten some devastating news about Mike's mom this week. She's still undergoing more tests to try to figure out exactly how bad things are and we're hoping for some good news by the end of the week but the doctor doesn't think it looks good.

Sorry to hear that.

If you could keep her in your thoughts and prayers, I'd really appreciate it.

I certainly will.

 

[suse66]

Instead, we took a trip to my parents' house in the country and spent the time relaxing in nature, complete with our own semi-legal personal fireworks show.

This looks beautiful!

We're tentatively planning to travel to Florida in September when we'd originally planned for Cali. Obviously this is subject to how things progress in the next month and there's a very good chance it will be cancelled.

If so, we'll just look ahead to 2021!

Baby's first Disney trip is planned for February 2021 which I know will get criticized by some but rest assured, we will not do anything without baby's safety as our first priority. It will be a driving trip, primarily to introduce him to Mike's family, coupled with a few days at WDW.

I hope you get down to see Mike's family but I know you will make the right decision for

We've gotten some devastating news about Mike's mom this week. She's still undergoing more tests to try to figure out exactly how bad things are and we're hoping for some good news by the end of the week but the doctor doesn't think it looks good.

If you could keep her in your thoughts and prayers, I'd really appreciate it.

Keeping you all in my thoughts and prayers, you guys have been having a rough time of it. Hoping you get some some good news soon.

 

[disneyAndi14]

Sending prayers and positive thoughts to you and Mike!

 

[piglet1979]

I am so sorry to hear about Mike's mom. My prayers will be with you guys.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Prayers lifted

I'm so sorry about Mike's mom, Courtney You guys have been on a real-life roller coaster lately.

Praying for her ❤

I'm so sorry to hear about Mike's mom. Good thoughts to her and your family.

Prayers for Mike's Mom!!!

I'm so sorry about Mike's mom. Keeping her and you guys in my thoughts

Sending you all the positive vibes and hugs!

I certainly will.

Keeping you all in my thoughts and prayers, you guys have been having a rough time of it. Hoping you get some some good news soon.

Sending prayers and positive thoughts to you and Mike!

I am so sorry to hear about Mike's mom. My prayers will be with you guys.

Thank you all for the good thoughts and prayers. They are so greatly needed and appreciated.

She is doing as well as possible right now, discharged from the hospital and in a rehab center. We are still in a holding pattern right now as we can't visit her until she's home and neither of us can afford the additional time off work to quarantine upon our return with the baby coming.

All we can do now is stay positive and see what else 2020 holds for all of us. ​

 

[pkondz]

Thank you all for the good thoughts and prayers. They are so greatly needed and appreciated.

She is doing as well as possible right now, discharged from the hospital and in a rehab center. We are still in a holding pattern right now as we can't visit her until she's home and neither of us can afford the additional time off work to quarantine upon our return with the baby coming.

All we can do now is stay positive and see what else 2020 holds for all of us. ​

 

[tundra1]

New Plans!

Anyone remember me

Obviously a lot has changed since my last update here, both for me personally and for all of us in this crazy world.

1. We've learned there's a hitchhiker making his way into our little family in December.

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There's his newest ultrasound. I haven't had the best time being pregnant which accounts for a lot of my absence from the boards. I was vomiting for most of the first 14 weeks and even found myself a patient in my own ER one day as I apparently passed out in the bathroom and didn't know it until Mike came home from work (thankfully everything was ok minus the dehydration).

Thankfully that's resolved in the last few weeks and I'm trying to eat and hydrate well now. My new issue is charlie horses that wake me up nightly and leave my calves in terrible pain the next day. Someone let me know when the wonderful part of pregnancy starts?

2. COVID has stuck around with a vengeance, and although minuscule compared to the loss of lives, has clearly affected travel plans.

So, since you once came here for a PTR report, you may be wondering the status of those planned trips.

You and me both.

Jk... kinda.

The May and July trips didn't happen.

We were actually still planning to go down to Florida for the 4th until the week before. We were planning some Universal time, beach time and to visit Mike's family but as you probably know, Florida is experiencing a spike in cases at this time and we decided it simply wasn't worth the risk.

Instead, we took a trip to my parents' house in the country and spent the time relaxing in nature, complete with our own semi-legal personal fireworks show.


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So....what's next?

Our plan for the Fall had been 2 weeks in California in September and our annual WDW trip over Halloween.

Neither of those trips are going to happen.

We toyed with keeping the Cali trip but with so much uncertainty, I have reservations about being across the country. If we're going to travel anywhere, I'd like to be able to be in a reasonable driving distance from home.

And the Halloween trip is just too late in the pregnancy.

We're tentatively planning to travel to Florida in September when we'd originally planned for Cali. Obviously this is subject to how things progress in the next month and there's a very good chance it will be cancelled.

If so, we'll just look ahead to 2021!

Baby's first Disney trip is planned for February 2021 which I know will get criticized by some but rest assured, we will not do anything without baby's safety as our first priority. It will be a driving trip, primarily to introduce him to Mike's family, coupled with a few days at WDW.

Otherwise, we're hoping to take our Cali trip in September 2021 and then a short WDW trip in October for the 50th!

If you made it through all those words, thank you and I'm impressed! Hopefully I'll be back sooner rather than later with some more concrete plans but in the meantime, I'm going to attempt to make more progress on the 2 trip reports I'm very slowly writing!​

Those plans sound perfect! I hope you are feeling better soon! I was pretty nauseated with my son too. I worked a lot of triage shifts because I couldn't handle certain "smells"! Stay well! And I will keep Mike's mom in my prayers!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Those plans sound perfect! I hope you are feeling better soon! I was pretty nauseated with my son too. I worked a lot of triage shifts because I couldn't handle certain "smells"! Stay well! And I will keep Mike's mom in my prayers!

Thank you . I'm feeling much better these days thankfully and my coworkers in the ER have been great about working with me for assignments.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

.

 

[pkondz]

.

Short and to the point. A model for everyone.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Short and to the point. A model for everyone.

I posted in the wrong thread!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

We're going to Disney!



As with any travel these days, this trip has come together through a lot of debate.

The trip itself is bittersweet. Really the only reason we didn't cancel is because Mike's mom is home now so we can visit and she isn't doing well so it seems like visiting sooner rather than later is best.

Since we're traveling to Florida either way, I discussed with my OB how we were thinking of going to WDW. Mike and I discussed it at length, both at home and with the OB and we all agreed it would be ok with appropriate precautions.

Plus, this is our only opportunity for any kind of a "babymoon" so we're taking it!

We also discussed flying vs. driving at length and landed on flying (see what I did there ).

So we're flying down on September 6 and spending a night at Cabana Bay at Universal!



Universal had some great passholder rates so Cabana Bay was $79 a night! There's not much I can do in the Universal parks right now but I'm still looking forward to being there and getting some butterbeer! Plus, the hotel has a lazy river and a bowling alley so I'm excited to hang out and relax.

The next day, we'll head to Mike's mom's house and spend the next week there.

On the 13th, we'll come back to Orlando and finally get back onto Disney property! It's been a long time since I've been away this long!!

I took a gamble on a hotwire express deal and scored Pop Century for $89 a night so we'll be staying there for a week. I was tempted by the passholder rates for the deluxe hotels but due to the child arriving soon, the budget friendly options won out.

Crazy to think that in just over 2 weeks, we'll be in Florida!​

 

[pkondz]

Plus, this is our only opportunity for any kind of a "babymoon" so we're taking it!

We also discussed flying vs. driving at length and landed on flying (see what I did there ).

So we're flying down on September 6 and spending a night at Cabana Bay at Universal!

Nice!

getting some butterbeer!

You have to! I mean... you have to!!!

Plus, the hotel has a lazy river and a bowling alley so I'm excited to hang out and relax.

Wow, that sounds terrific.

I took a gamble on a hotwire express deal and scored Pop Century for $89 a night so we'll be staying there for a week.

I'm surprised you can get a Disney resort on hotwire!

 

[NJlauren]

Ah!! So jel! Have so much fun I loved being prego in Disney!! Allllll the snacks!!!

I am so sorry about mikes mom, I hope you have an amazing visit with her

 

[suse66]

Universal had some great passholder rates so Cabana Bay was $79 a night! There's not much I can do in the Universal parks right now but I'm still looking forward to being there and getting some butterbeer! Plus, the hotel has a lazy river and a bowling alley so I'm excited to hang out and relax.

That will be so fun! I know you will be safe, cautious and have a great time!

The next day, we'll head to Mike's mom's house and spend the next week there.

So nice that you will have that time with her. ❤

I took a gamble on a hotwire express deal and scored Pop Century for $89 a night so we'll be staying there for a week. I was tempted by the passholder rates for the deluxe hotels but due to the child arriving soon, the budget friendly options won out.

That is a fabulous deal for Pop! I stayed there on my Christmas trip and really loved it. Great food court, clean comfortable rooms and the Skyliner! Perfect!

 

[missangelalexis]

Wow!! Glad it worked out! And though it's not for happy reasons, I'm glad you guys will get a chance to visit with Mike's mom

 

[mnmrmustard]

Hello there Courtney! First off, congrats on the upcoming expansion of the family with the baby on the way. My DW had really bad morning sickness for the first two trimesters with both our kids. Hope that has calmed down for you. Thank you for the chapter links, they make the longer TRs much easier to navigate We were looking at flights at about the same time at the beginning of the year (we have a December trip currently planned). Crazy how things have evolved over the last few months.

I empathize with the situation with Mike's mom. My wife's mom is here in town in a nursing home (we took care of her for a decade but her health/body deteriorated to the point where we had to get her into assisted living, then she fell and broke her neck and is now in a nursing home). Her health has continued to deteriorate and we hosted family up from California to see her probably for the last time. We had to make up a doctor's appointment to even be able to take her out and had to be very careful about contact. But it was worth it. I'm glad you guys are getting out there to see her for a whole week - strength to her and to you and your fam.

Great that you are getting a little UO time to start off the trip. That is DW's favorite due to HP. And a full week at WDW staying at POP - very cool. POP is our family's go-to and with the addition of the Skyliner its even more of a choice resort to stay at. I look forward to hearing more about your plans and a possible itinerary. Since you mentioned it and are still looking to go to DLR next fall, I do have a TR from our last trip there back in 2017. All the best to you and yours!

 

[kastoney]

So happy to hear you are getting some Disney time in, even if it isn't under the greatest circumstances. You unquestionably deserve some down time in the most magical of places.

I did Disney pregnant with Casey and it was the best excuse to eat everything in my path. Just be sure to know where every bathroom is. Thanks to that trip I have them memorized and Jason still calls them "my favorite attraction"

 

[lvcourtneyy]

You have to! I mean... you have to!!!

That's what I'm saying!

Wow, that sounds terrific.

Agreed!

I'm surprised you can get a Disney resort on hotwire!

It's hit or miss but they show up as priceline/hotwire express deals from time to time! When they do show up, it's surprisingly easy to narrow down which one it is. Hotwire even has a draw feature where you can draw a circle around an area and it will only show you hotels in the circle you draw- so I drew a circle just around Pop Century and my "mystery" hotel came up!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Ah!! So jel! Have so much fun I loved being prego in Disney!! Allllll the snacks!!!

Yess all of the snacks is 100% my plan lol!

I am so sorry about mikes mom, I hope you have an amazing visit with her

Thank you