Worst Ending to a Disney Trip EVER! (and other things that happened) - UPDATE 6/22!

Let's start with updates!

Yay you're back!

You can see who is sleeping well and who is not! Haha. I can laugh about it now and how I looked like a zombie but it was very difficult at the time. I was diagnosed with postpartum anxiety (PPA). I was so scared to set him down to sleep on his own and fall asleep myself in case he stopped breathing while sleeping. I felt he needed someone to be alert with him 24/7.

Aw, I'm sorry you had to go through that. :hug:

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(shoutout to @Raeven for the kick-@ss tank!)

Omg he looks so cute in it!

So fast forward through nausea, vomiting, a fun but tiring trip to Chicago with @Raeven where I did have some relief from my nausea but had to order my steak at Shulas....wait for it....well. done. (Quelle horror!!) and we sat next to the drunkest woman in a restaurant on the planet

:rotfl: yes that lady. And I still feel bad you had to order your steak well done :eek:

multiple miscarriage scares, buckets of tears in examination rooms, a fun but stressful trip to Disney with my MIL (not her fault, after all my problems I should have known better) where I ended up in the ER and left early to go home and see my doctor to find out that there was nothing wrong with the baby (Thank God!) but I had a horrible infection where the sun don't shine, being schooled by my colon, tons of hard core braxton hicks, a very strange visit to labor and delivery in trimester 2, and throwing out my knee at the end of the third trimester because I was a whale.

I'm so sorry you had such a rough and stressful pregnancy, it's a lot to go through and I think you handled it better than I would have. (Side note: I am never ever having children now :rotfl:)

My dad was startled to see me rush back into the house. (My mom had left to help my sister with her son. Apparently, it isn't exciting anymore when your sisters have already had kids. :rolleyes2) I told him that I think my water broke and I need an old towel. He shouted and leaped down the stairs to the laundry room and came back with three towels that he quickly shoved in my hands and then shoved me out the door.

:rotfl:


I hope you've seen Community or this won't make sense, but at least you didn't give birth on a classroom floor like Shirley :rotfl:

That wasn't it at all. I soon learned what "it" was when he actually started using his tools of torture. I will not go in to the details of the very very horrible experience that transpired but there was a lot of screaming, DH's hands looked like they had been crushed, and he was covered in tears, snot, and spit.

Omg I hate needles that sounds awful :eek:

He then implied that I was weak since I asked for an epidural right away and I jerked in pain even when he had only been using the marker on my back to mark his spot. Even though I was thinking the same thing myself, I did NOT appreciate him implying so. Henceforth, the anesthesiologist was referred to in my mind as AH. For a$$hole.

You went through so much with your whole pregnancy and birth, and I don't think that's weak at all. He sounds like a real jerk.

AH comes around to me and says, "I just had to move over a few centimeters. That's all! There must be a bundle of nerves right there."

I hate when drs do something wrong, and then act like it's all in your head and it wasn't a big deal!
 
It's kind of funny, I have an extremely high pain tolerance, but I feel bad reading about someone else in painful situations. Like, a little queasy sometimes even! No idea why someone else's pain causes me more stress than going though it myself! :p
 
Oh wow, what a roller coaster. I hope things went more smoothly from here on out. I also had a prolonged induction and an awful epidural experience with my first, and your post gave me flashbacks! I'm so sorry you had to endure all of that.

I went without an epidural the next time and despite the pain I was much happier - just so you know it is possible :)

Whew...whew....whew....I'm sitting here gasping at the thought of no epidural! I wonder though if the pitocin made it worse.....


OMG, sorry to read that your anesthesiologist was so lacking in empathy and compassion.

From the other women that I've talked to about it, it seems that anesthesiologists are either very neutral (not bad, not good, just there) or really really big jerks.


Wow!! You are a trooper!
Thanks for sharing your story, your son is beautiful.
I never had time for an epidural, that's a whole other out of control experience.

You all will get back to Disney when the time is right and will really enjoy seeing through your son's eyes.

Thank you! Both my cousins didn't have time for anything either! The one was born an hour after getting to the hospital and the other one just hers in her bathroom at home. She could feel that something was happening so her DH went out to get the carseats out from the backseat so that she could lay down and when he came back in he heard a baby crying!! :scared1:

OMG. This story is really making me glad that I've never had children! :rotfl:

Haha. Though I am glad to have my son, I would rather not have gone through it either!

Oh, I so feel your pain with the epidural. My experience was not even close to as bad as yours, but I, like you found a new respect for women that can do childbirth without drugs. I am a wimp. I knew that going in. Funny thing is, I had a similar experience with my water breaking. I went to the bathroom, and thought, hmmm...i did not actually (for lack of better description) release that water...had no idea if my water broke or not...doctor sent us to the hospital where we learned it had indeed broken. No contractions, so also had Pictocin. Everytime a nurse walked in I asked for an epidural (was told I had to wait until 4 cm...I was at 2 :) ) They finally decide to give me the epidural since I am not really progressing. I wait a few more hours and decide that if this is what it feels like with an epidural, they are going to have to knock me out completely. I tell the nurse this and she asks if I am feeling pain or pressure...how the heck would I know, it sure feels like pain but I have never had a baby before so what do I know, right? THe battleaxe AH (definitely appropriate name) comes in and says well if the first one did not take, a second probably won't either...said well you are going to try! I felt it pretty immediately once it was done right. Slept through till pushing time. Ending up getting through the birth and all was well, but it was a little unerving when the doctor stitching me up kept saying "oh sh$$, Oh Sh$$" ...I did not care at the time cause I then had good drugs and was glad to have a 9.5 lb baby out of me. Asked him about it the next day and he said at least I did not notice when he said OMG! when the baby's shoulder went back in after coming out! (He had the worst shoulder dislocation the doctor had ever seen...yeah, that's my boy!) :)
And btw, he is now 24, and I still remember it like it was yesterday.

Good for you for telling AH to try!! I felt so frustrated at having to advocate so hard for myself when I'm so distracted by the pain and the job that I have to do. And even more frustrated when my advocacy didn't even work the first time!

OMG. SUPER unnerving to hear the doctor swearing!!! Especially stitching you up! Why was he swearing at that point?

9.5 lbs - whew! I was very happy with my 7 pounder!

Seriously?! You stopped there?! You're killing me smalls! I'm on the edge of my seat! I wanna know how it all comes through.

:rotfl: It's coming!!
 


Congrats! What a roller coaster you've been on!

Thank you! It has been a very very strange year for me!


Omg he looks so cute in it!

It's so crazy that he fits in it! He's a little peanut! It's a 3 month size and he's 8 months!


:rotfl: yes that lady. And I still feel bad you had to order your steak well done :eek:

It was still very good. It was a nice dinner. As a steak-o-phile, I'm personally offended that I had to order a steak well done! I'll have to hang that over my son's head when he's older! :rotfl:


I'm so sorry you had such a rough and stressful pregnancy, it's a lot to go through and I think you handled it better than I would have. (Side note: I am never ever having children now :rotfl:)

That's me.....walking birth control! :rotfl2:


I hope you've seen Community or this won't make sense, but at least you didn't give birth on a classroom floor like Shirley :rotfl:

I haven't seen a lot of Community but I have seen that one. Luckily, before I was pregnant so I wasn't as freaked out as I would have been!


I hate when drs do something wrong, and then act like it's all in your head and it wasn't a big deal!

I think most doctors nowadays are a lot better at listening and treating the whole patient. But there are still quite a few high on the power trip. Ugh.


It's kind of funny, I have an extremely high pain tolerance, but I feel bad reading about someone else in painful situations. Like, a little queasy sometimes even! No idea why someone else's pain causes me more stress than going though it myself! :p

I'm sorry this is causing you stress! That means you are a super empathetic person!! I often have trouble in movies. There are some that I just can't watch because it literally hurts me!
 
The Birth Story - Part 3!

Okay, this is where it might start to get a little more medical-y. Brace yourselves.

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Where we left off, the heartbeat was back and at regular strength. They had moved the monitors around so that the contraction monitor was sitting on top of my belly and on top of my actual stomach because it was also sitting on top of my belly. (As an aside: If you want to get an idea of what it is like to be 9 months pregnant - find a table, sit on a chair next to it, suck in your stomach so that your ribs pop out, and then rest those ribs on the table. For as long as you can stand it. That's the very strange (and often painful) feeling of your ribs sitting on your uterus.)

This monitor is the new torture device of this experience. It's making me very sick to my stomach. I ask P'Young to move it and she tries but we lose our connection and can't tell when I'm having a contraction. I'm told that this is going to be important later so we have to keep it there. Great. And now that we have the baby's heartbeat back, P'Young wants me to start trying to push. So I try and I try. Not much happens except I get more nauseous with each try. She lets me rest on my side while I wait for the wave of nausea to pass. It doesn't so she hands me a bag to hold.

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Awesome.

Back to trying.

This goes on for quite some time. Eventually, I feel another change which I cannot describe just that something has changed. Again. Now P'Young asks me to push harder and we finally get somewhere.

And I throw up.

I had no idea that was a thing that often happens during labor. I tell you, the things I didn't know! And I researched a lot!!

The heartbeat was dropping again so P'Young had me move to my left side. Then, she'd tell me when a contraction was coming and I'd move to my back and push. Then on to my left side. And repeat. Over and over and over.

At this point, I have lost track of what exactly is going on besides what I am focusing on. Eventually, I can actually feel some progress. The epidural meds are definitely wearing off. It is a bizarre sensation. TMI ALERT (highlight between stars to see)*****I can definitely feel some hair down there!!***** P'Young says that we're ready to call the doctor in. I start to get worried about the baby's breathing if he's in the birth canal. I resolve to push even harder to get him out as fast as possible.

Before I know it, a whole ton of people are in the room. I have no idea who they all are. I haven't met the doctor before. She's part of my OB/GYN's team. She introduces herself and puts on a face shield while they get my legs situated! I was quite surprised but I suppose it makes sense! God knows what's going to happen in the next few moments!! I would not want anything gross on my face if I were her. Instead of feet stirrups like in the regular doctor's office, these hold your entire lower legs in whatever position is most "comfortable" and helpful. Which is great because then I don't have to expend any extra effort on keeping my legs steady. The lower half of the bed is dropped away and now I'm scrunched on this tiny piece of bed. The doctor is right there, the nurse is right there, and poor DH he has no choice but to be right there too! This is not like any movie where the doctor looks miles away from your head. Everyone is close to everything.


While they were getting everything ready, P'Young was telling my doctor what I trooper I was and how I was helping move myself back and forth from my side to my back. It felt so good to hear that. If I had buttons on, they would have burst.

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Yeah, I am working hard and I am doing great!!

The doctor asks DH and I if we're okay with waiting to cut the cord until a minute after birth. Apparently, there are a lot of benefits to waiting a minute. All of the good cord blood continues to go to the baby and it somehow helps regulate breathing. We both agree. I appreciate being asked but I wonder if anyone has ever said no? Why wouldn't you wait?

I get a local anesthesia shot and then we're going again. The next part happens relatively quickly. I think in the end it was a half hour. At this point, I can feel the contractions but most of the pain is still gone. I have a weird pattern of a big contraction and a little one and then another big one and so on. We try pushing at every contraction but the small ones don't give me any progress and I just wear myself out. Also, a nurse (not P'Young) was counting while I was pushing and I felt like I was not using the contractions as much as I could. So the doctor just sits back and tells me to push whenever I feel I should. This felt much better to me. I can tell which one is going to be a good one and which one is not going to be useful at all. I was really surprised that she just let me do my thing. I so appreciated it. The pushes themselves were very strange. Deep breath, hold your breath and push as hard as you can, like you are taking the biggest dump of your life, while P'Young and another nurse each push your legs to your chest. Rest. Ride through the small contraction and then gear up for the next big one.

Soon there is a lot of shouting and I'm told that the head is cleared and I just need one more huge push to get the shoulders. We're only at the shoulders???? That's IT???? What the heck have I been doing all this time!!!

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I gather my strength and push the hardest I have yet. I feel a weird whooshing sensation and then the doctor is holding a baby. Ah....what? It's over? I had no idea that once you cleared the shoulders the rest of the body just slides right out!

I can't remember the exact order but either before or after they cut the cord, they lay him on my chest. He is crying and crying. Holy crap, this is my baby! He feels at once familiar and a complete stranger. I did not get that huge high that some women describe getting right after labor. So that was a bummer. I tentatively put my hand on his head. Holy hair, Batman!! I look up at DH in disbelief. Oh poor guy, he looks exhausted. He gives me a weak smile and we exchange high fives, like this:

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Except not that coordinated. :laughing:

DH cuts the cord and they take the baby away to dry him off and do the APGAR thing. They never told me his numbers so I assume that they were fine at one and five minutes. DH goes to the table where they are taking care of our son and I'm super jealous. I'm stuck on this bed while they clean me up. Which does include stitches. I'm actually feeling pretty good now that everything is over. Except that I'm starting to feel the stitching so she gives me another shot. The doctor and I chat a little. I asked about the face shield and some other things. I make a comment on how I threw up a few times and she said that she's had a woman sit up during active labor and projectile all over the doctor's head. Yikes. She said that's why you always keep at least one extra pair of clothes in your locker.

The nurse taking care of the baby calls out his statistics 7 lbs 7 oz, 20-1/2 inches, 4:30am. She also says, Whoa, "frosted." What? My baby is frosted??

Here is a pic of my apparently "frosted" baby:

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The doctor finishes up and they bring the baby over to me. P'Young comes over to say her good-byes. No. Wait! She's not staying?? I thank her profusely and try not to grab her arm and beg her to stay while sobbing uncontrollably. She has been the best nurse ever. I was so so so so lucky to have her. And I was so absolutely wrong to be worried. A lesson I hope I never forget.

P'Young leaves and another nurse encourages me to try breastfeeding. My son latches like a champ but OUCH!!! This is the weirdest sensation in an entire day full of weird sensations.

And then, all of a sudden, Blair and I and our new baby, whom we named Rory, are alone. I think we stared at each other in panic. What do we do now??? I give him the baby to hold and eventually someone comes back and takes my vitals. She orders us to order some breakfast (it's now 6am) before we are transferred upstairs.

DH and I have been up for over 24 hours now and we're starving. The food was okay. I ordered two meals and we paid for the second meal with a credit card since mine was free. It was so weird to do something so normal like order and pay for food when there is this new person in the room. Hasn't the entire world shifted on it's axis??

The food comes and we put the sleeping baby in the little roller bassinet thing and eat. When we're done, a nurse comes and wheels us upstairs. I realized that I didn't listen to my playlist at all nor did I get aromatherapy! Oh well, I probably would have chucked my phone across the room and thrown up if I smelled anything so it was probably for the best.

When we get up there I asked DH what the doctor meant about frosted. He takes Rory out of his bassinet and brings him over and tells me to take off his hat. I do and his hair is sticking up everywhere!! I look closer and it looks like he has frosted tips! Funny! Unfortunately, I don't have a good picture that shows his frosted hair. :guilty: They disappeared within a few days for some reason. His hair stayed but the color changed and got darker. It was weird.

I did not care for my hospital stay with all of the constant interruptions. I think I got maybe four hours of sleep later that day and then another four hours the following night. I was relieved to get home but then the real work started!

Rory is an absolute joy now but it didn't start off that way at all! I joined a new mama group which helped and I got out of the house every day. And I had a lot of support. I always say, every day that we get farther from birth is a good day!

One foot in front of the other!

Now that he's crawling, he's definitely keeping us on our toes!

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That's all folks! Thanks for re-living my birth experience. I hope it wasn't too hard to read.

Next up...back to the Disney TR!
 
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And I throw up.

I had no idea that was a thing that often happens during labor. I tell you, the things I didn't know! And I researched a lot!!
I threw up with both of my births also. I didn't know about it either before hand. But man, I tell you, it's a great way to push with out realizing it!

I did not get that huge high that some women describe getting right after labor.
I also, didn't geel that. I think I was still in a kind of shock.

His hair stayed but the color changed and got darker. It was weird.
I have never heard of this before. Interesting.

He is too cute!
 
weighing 7 lbs and 7oz
That's what I weighed!

Here is Rory 1 day old:

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So cute!

I ran the very real risk of falling asleep with Rory in my arms and him or I shifting and him then suffocating. I know of several people now who very very sadly had this happen to them.
I have a friend who had this happen to a friend of hers. So sad.

In honor of Joe and Ashley and their return to the Disney sphere as well -

"Until next time, see ya reel soon!"
Can you believe they are back??? I love it!
 
Little did I know that this would be a continuing problem even after birth.
:rotfl2:
In all seriousness, I'm pretty good now. It did get better. But there are still times, occasionally. :crazy2:

I just sat there when it was all done. I was completely stunned by what had just happened. The anesthesiologist asked how I was doing and commented that that was a rough one.
OMG...that did not happen to m, thank goodness. Glad you eventually got it all figured out.

P'Young grabs me and jerks me to my left side. (She is STRONG.) All at once, everyone gives a huge sigh of relief. The heartbeat is back and rising to an appropriate level.
Huge sigh of relief here....though I know the end result!
 
The doctor asks DH and I if we're okay with waiting to cut the cord until a minute after birth. Apparently, there are a lot of benefits to waiting a minute. All of the good cord blood continues to go to the baby and it somehow helps regulate breathing. We both agree. I appreciate being asked but I wonder if anyone has ever said no? Why wouldn't you wait?
I requested this with my boys. I guess back then people didn't do it much (it was only 6.5 and 4 yrs ago but its a new thing) so when I had my youngest, he was breathing really fast and they had to take him to the NICU. The NICU nurse asked the delivery nurse if there were any complications and she said in a nasty tone "delayed cord clamping." Seriously???

Now that he's crawling, he's definitely keeping us on our toes!

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Super cute!
 
Well Done!!! He is so cute!!! Remember the days are long, but the years are short. Take a ton of video and pictures. Enjoy!

I am trying really hard to stay in the moment and enjoy. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I have to remember that I'll look back and miss these days!!


Thanks for sharing your birth story! You were a trooper!

Rory is adorable :lovestruc

Thank you!! I think so too but I am pretty biased. :rolleyes1


I threw up with both of my births also. I didn't know about it either before hand. But man, I tell you, it's a great way to push with out realizing it!

The things they don't tell you! :sad2:


He is so stinkin' CUTE!!!!

Thank you!!! :yay:


That's what I weighed!

You and Rory must be twins! :rotfl:


I have a friend who had this happen to a friend of hers. So sad.

:hug: It is still my greatest fear. I feel so fortunate to have made it past the high risk zone for that. It makes me really worried if we were to have another one, though. We're going to be even more tired caring for our son and then be exhausted with an infant. I feel the risk is even higher with a second one!


Can you believe they are back??? I love it!

SOOOO HAPPY!!!!! :banana:


I requested this with my boys. I guess back then people didn't do it much (it was only 6.5 and 4 yrs ago but its a new thing) so when I had my youngest, he was breathing really fast and they had to take him to the NICU. The NICU nurse asked the delivery nurse if there were any complications and she said in a nasty tone "delayed cord clamping." Seriously???

My sister and I were just commenting on how some of the nurses were awful during our hospital stays. I researched delayed cord clamping and there really is no risk unless they need other immediate care. But it sounds like they were taking care of it. And I don't think that delayed cord clamping is a complication. And I think that if your son's life was in acute immediate danger, they would have ignored your request and gotten him emergency assistance. Ugh. People.


What a nail biter! He is such a doll! So glad your DH is able to stay home with your DS!

Thank you! We are really glad too! :thumbsup2


Congratulations! He is adorable!

So glad you decided to come back and finish the trip report!

Thank you!! :cheer2:
 
All right! Back to the trip report.

Day 8 Part 1 - We Meet a Turtle (But not the ninja kind)

Today I got to sleep in. We didn't have anything scheduled until 12pm.

When I got up and went to the balcony, there weren't any animals on the savannah. :sad:

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My parents were doing their own thing. I think my mom went to the pool. I didn't want to go so I read a bit and then decided that I would take a walk down to the lobby. It was really really busy. Lots of people come and going. Which makes sense. It was Saturday, after all. It was nice that we weren't leaving but it also felt weird. I thought I would like a little more relaxed schedule but I was itching to do something!!!

I saw that there were animals outside so I went out to the scenic overlook. It was like walking into a blast furnace.

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I immediately did a quick tour around the overlook and went back inside and back to the room. 'Cause it's hawt out he-yah!!!

Just before 12pm, my parents came back and we all got ready to go down to Sanaa for our Lunch with an Animal Specialist! I was really excited to do this. I love learning about the backstage and inside stuff about the parks and resorts, etc.

We went a little early and checked in at the desk at the restaurant. Other people were waiting for the lunch too. It was a little disorganized, it seemed there was some confusion over what was going to happen when with the CMs. It eventually got sorted out and as we passed who looked to be our animal specialist, she leaned over to the restaurant CM next to her and asked, "How many are there going to be?" "12 people" "That many? I wasn't expecting that many. That's a lot of people. I'm not sure I have anything interesting to say."

I could totally feel for her. I would wonder why people would want to lunch with me if I were in her position, too! I also wondered if maybe there was a mix-up and she got roped in to do this at the last minute.

We were seated at a long table. There were about four families all together. Two kids in one family and the rest of us were adults.

The Animal Specialist introduced herself as Jessica. And then she had us go around the table and tell her what we were wanting out of this experience. It seems to be a pretty standard question for Disney tours. I wonder if it's so they can head off complaints later?? I really hate doing this. (Probably as much as I hate the "Peace be with you" exchanges that are now standard at most Christian services. It feels so awkward. Like, yes, let's randomly stop the service and we'll all stand up and try and greet each other with "Peace be with...." oops, no, that person is peac-ing another person. Okay, let me turn to this other person. No wait, the first person is now turning to me so let's just snub the second person so I can peace the first person. Aaannnd we're back to the second person who just snubbed someone else in favor of me. Whoops. Peace be with you, random person. And Peace be with you, other random person. Let's look around and make sure I'm not snubbing someone else. Okay, it's just the backs of everyone around me. And now I'm standing here with no one to peace but other people are still peac-ing so I will just turn about in place to look like I'm totally doing this and not secretly screaming inside.)

Anyway.....
I didn't really have much expectations for the lunch besides learning about who she is and what she does. And that was pretty much what everyone else wanted as well.

Before we started getting in to her job, we were introduced to the restaurant by the manager CM and the chef. They explained what the vision behind Sanaa was and what we were going to be eating. They confirmed my mom's and my allergies and said it wouldn't be a problem. They went out to get the breads and dipping sauces - including DF/GF bread for mom and I!

Jessica was great!! She had no reason to be worried. She was personable and funny and really engaged. She didn't eat and said that she would have the restaurant box up her meal so she could eat it later. That felt a bit awkward - eating while she had an empty plate. I understand why - she wanted to give us her full attention and she was talking a lot. It was totally against the way I was brought up to eat at the table, though.

She was so engaging that I forgot to take any pictures of anything during the meal. Sorry!!

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Here is what I learned though! (You may want to skip if you plan on doing this lunch yourself!)

Jessica was a marine biologist who had been working for 3 years at Disney: 1 year as an animal encounter coordinator and 2 years as an animal specialist. She is based here at Animal Kingdom Lodge to take care of the savannah animals. The savannah animals transfer around between the savannahs at AKL Jambo and Kidani. The Pembe savannah at Kidani is their "nursing home". It's where all the geriatric animals go. In fact, they are the leading specialists of elderly animal husbandry and lots of zoos and organizations consult with them about older animal care.

When asked about her favorite animal she said, "Red river hogs. Of course! They aren't your favorites??" Blank stares all around. She laughed and said that we needed to see baby red river hogs because they are the absolute cutest. So of course, we all whipped out our phones to take a look.

And she was right! They are adorable!!!

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AHHHHHHH!!!!! Look at those EARS!!!!!

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I CAN'T STAND THE CUTENESS!!!!! :faint:

The red river hogs are also on the Pembe savannah. They introduce hogs to the transferred okapi through their gateway :rotfl: okapi who is called Armando. The okapi are in a separate pen next to the savannah and Armando is in the Pembe savannah already. He goes over and makes them feel good about the area and the hogs. When they start showing an interest in the Pembe savannah, then they bring them over. Olivia is an okapi living in Pembe who LOOOOOOVES the red river hogs. She desperately wants to be one. She follows them around and when the meal cue sounds, she goes with them over to their food! Of course! Because that's what you do when you are a river hog! (Later on, I did spot an okapi running around with the river hogs in Pembe. It was probably Olivia!)

Jessica also told us a couple of funny stories about the giraffes at AKL. One of the giraffes was "fired" from KS because he kept sticking his head into the ride vehicles! Like, "What kind of strange giraffes are those over there? I gotta see this." The guests LOVED it but the CMs were not so happy about it. I wish I would have been in one of those vehicles. That would have been too awesome. But yeah, it's asking for trouble for both the animal and the guests if they're THAT close.

Another giraffe on the savannahs at AKL ignores the little pokey zappers to just eat what he wants. The zappers that are all around in front of the guest rooms and the overlooks. He apparently loves to eat and just doesn't care. They have to watch him closely because he will take stuff off of people's balconies!

She said that all animals live their entire lives at Disney. They have zoo accreditation with lots of vets to care for all the animals. All the animals are fed restaurant quality food. Every morning at 7am there is a food cue on the savannah and all the animals go to the shed in the back if they want to eat. That's their main meal. The rest of the day they just snack on what the specialists put out around the savannah. Sometimes some animals don't come in for a few days and they have to go out and collect them to make sure that they are eating properly.

As for the food for the humans at Sanaa, for me it was just okay but my mom and dad really liked it. For one of the courses, they came out with three different curry-soup type dishes. Mom and I could only have two of the curries so we doubled up on one of them. I was eating the beef ones just fine but the last one, the chicken was really off. I couldn't put my finger on what but it was really really wrong. I was worried about eating it and I asked my mom if her chicken tasted okay. She looked at my dish and said, "You mean the fish curry?"

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Yeeaaahhh. I hate seafood. That would be why the chicken tasted so bad! :rotfl2::rotfl2:

We had a good laugh over that. I guess I can definitely say that my seafood aversion isn't because I know that it's from the sea!

After eating, Jessica took us outside to meet the very endangered radiated tortoise who lives next to the outlook and just outside of Jiko. We went through a small training session and then we were done!

Jessica said that a portion of our cost for the lunch would go to Disney's Wildlife Fund where they are helping to save the giraffes who are facing a "silent extinction". The pictures of giraffes are so prominent that people think there are a lot of them but there are only about 80,000 verses the 800,000 there used to be just a few years ago.

And I found a pic! This is Jessica with the radiated Tortoise:

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The entire experience took about two hours. We all really liked it and would do it again. My parents would eat at Sanaa again and I maybe would if everyone else was going. It would be nice to try something of my choice from the menu.

We went back to the room to change to get ready for our afternoon plans.

Next up....

Day 8 Part 2 - Things HEAT UP at HS!
 
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Well, I am so glad that you are continuing on with your review! That was great to hear about the dining with an animal expert!

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AHHHHHHH!!!!! Look at those EARS!!!!!
So cute!!!

They have to watch him closely because he will take stuff off of people's balconies!
I can see a family having an arguement about who left a towel at the pool or something when really the giraffe ate it!
Yeeaaahhh. I hate seafood. That would be why the chicken tasted so bad! :rotfl2::rotfl2:
Man, I guess you know for sure that you don't like seafood!
 

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