Logistics

Ever since we found out that Nick will be doing a fellowship in Madison, we have been pondering the logistics of moving 1,100 miles with a week-old baby. Yeah, as you can probably guess, there's no great answer. We thought we had it figured out- I have a breast pump with car power adapter, so we could feed the baby a bottle while we're on the road. Nick's parents are helping us drive, so the plan was for me to sit in the back with the baby and be a one-woman milking/feeding machine. We'd still have to stop more than normal for changing and the occasional burping, but it would be fairly doable.

Then I went to a breastfeeding class and learned that you shouldn't introduce a bottle for the first several weeks if you want to breastfeed. Apparently a bottle is a lot less work and the kid could get too lazy to come back to you. Then you're faced with the dilemma of pumping and bottle feeding or switching to formula, neither of which sound like good options to me.

We realized that if we had to stop to feed the baby, who will be eating every 2 or 3 hours, and each feeding takes somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 minutes, it would take us approximately 3 years to drive from Texas to Wisconsin. (Just in case you were wondering, taking the baby out of the carseat is simply not an option, I don't care of it is legal as long as you're "tending to their immediate needs." Yes, probably nothing would happen....or the worst thing imaginable could happen and I'd have to live in an asylum for the rest of my life.)

So the new plan: Hannah and I will be flying from Austin to Chicago, hopefully arriving at about the same time as Nick, his parents, our car and the UHaul. His aunt and uncle live close to the Austin airport and have graciously offered to let the munchkin and me stay with them for a couple days. They have an 18-month-old grandson, so I'm reasonably sure they're aware of what they're getting themselves into!