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| Maia relaxing with her Daddy |
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| Snuggled up after her bath |
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| Maia's first bath |
Maia was born on a Wednesday afternoon and by Friday afternoon we were home. We decided to leave after the German pediatrician evaluated her that Friday and not spend the full 5 days in the hospital. (Yes, you read correctly!! German hospitals keep patients for 5 days!! You can stay 7 days after a c-section!) We were anxious to get home and out of the hospital environment.
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| Andrea, Halli, Maia, and Joy |
At 2 weeks old she was finally diagnosed with GERD (Gastroesophageal reflux disease) – Acid Reflux. We learned that Acid Reflux is actually quite common in newborn babies and doctors generally prescribe Zantac. She started taking it but we saw very little change in her symptoms. Poor Maia cried almost constantly from the pain. She was gaining almost no weight because she even though she was eating incessantly, she was burning all of her calories by screaming day and night.
Everyone ended up in hotel in Hyde Park for the night. The plans we had for Glühwein and Bratwursts in the markets was put on hold. They were stuck for the day in London…trapped on an island.
While everyone was with us, we went to Nürnberg to spend the day. Although the Christmas market was already over, we walked around a little and had a great dinner at an Italian restaurant. It wasn't quite the vacation we had been planning for a year, but we were (almost) all together and Maia was a big hit!
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We had an intensely busy month. My family was scheduled to arrive in Munich on December 17th and we had a full week of festivities planned. Christmas markets are a huge attraction here (and rightfully so!!) We had plans of visiting one each day until the 24th.
Uncle Bob left DC and arrived in London Heathrow on time. He purposely scheduled a long layover for himself in London in order to fly with the rest of the family to Munich. After waiting about 8 hours in Heathrow, Mom, Dad, Kristie, and Nana arrived from Phoenix. None of us could have ever imagined what was about to happen…
A huge storm hit most of Europe that afternoon, dumping snow throughout the continent. All flights leaving Heathrow that afternoon and evening were cancelled. England, or more specifically London, was not hit as hard as you might think. The real problem is that they are unequipped to deal with any winter storms. While my family sat in the airport with thousands of other people, they watched the airport crews shoveling the runways…yes, SHOVELING! They were salting with buckets and shovels. Not quite what you would expect from the largest international airport in Europe!!
And as one day turned into seven, we were forgot about our plans for Christmas Markets and just hoped and prayed that we would actually be able to spend Christmas together as a family.
On Christmas Eve we finally got the news we’d been waiting for: the rebooked flight was actually en route to Munich. Thank goodness!!
Sadly though, Uncle Bob was not on that flight. The next morning he boarded his flight back to DC. Uncle Bob had just flown all the way to Europe, spent seven days in a hotel, and returned back to the States on Christmas Day.
Kristie and Nana finally made it to Germany, but their visit was incredibly short. They left after spending only five days with us. Mom and Dad had the longest trip and stayed another week before returning back to the States as planned on January 6th.
