Picture Tuesday week 24. And a LoNg journey home!

This week was our big trip back to the US. And what an epic trip it turned out to be.  We left our house at 11:30 Sunday night and took a taxi to the airport in Bahrain. We didn't have any idea what to expect on the causeway so we gave ourselves plenty of time but it ended up being a breeze and we got to the airport with two hours to kill in the middle of the night before our flight boarded to Dubai. All of the kids did so well. They stayed awake and they were happy and sweet.  It was remarkable really. We kept them awake on the flight to Dubai hoping that they would then sleep a lot on our 12 hour flight to Boston. The layover in Dubai was pretty rough. My head had been hurting but it got a lot worse and I ended up throwing up a couple of times at the airport. Tate did just fine after a whole night of no sleep but Finn was a bit of a zombie. We didn't have our strollers since they were checked straight through but emirates airlines had some that the let people use in the airport so we got a couple of those for the girls. But we didn't have enough hands to push one with poor Finny.  He was exhausted and had to walk. He kept crying "I just keep getting so much tired!"  Poor boy.  We had a bit of time to kill so once we got to our gate we sat the boys down with an iPad to keep them awake. Taryn and Kenna were such troopers. They fussed when they were hungry and fell asleep when they were sleepy. We got on our flight and the boys were both out by the time we took off. We got the girls little bassinets set up which was so convenient for us to have somewhere to put them down but not super convenient for the people sitting next to us as it made it difficult to get out and get their tvs out too. Everyone around us was so patient. Taryn and Kenna only cried a few minutes the entire time. We fed them and played with them for a bit and then we'd put them in their bassinets and they'd fall asleep. It was miraculous. Tate and Finn didn't end up sleeping for a long stretch like we had hoped.  They both conked out for a few hours but then they were mostly awake the rest of the time.  Meanwhile, my headache kept getting worse and I kept taking Tylenol but it wasn't helping at all. A few hours into the flight I was checking the clock and wondering how I was going to make it for 9 more hours. After about 6 hours and a few trips to the bathroom to throw up, Glenn asked a stewardess if they could do anything. They ended up calling a doctor on the ground so he could prescribe some pain killers that they had onboard. I took those and they helped a bit but honestly not a lot. I felt kind of foggy and dizzy but the pain wasn't lessened like I hoped it would be. They also gave me oxygen a couple of times as the doctor said that might help too. I felt so sorry for those sweet stewardesses. They couldn't just leave me with the oxygen tank so one of them had to hold it and stand there for about half an hour each of the two times I had it. They were so wonderful and I felt so bad! I don't know if I've had a headache that was worse than that one. And at such an inconvenient time!  Glenn was amazing, as always.  He was so great with all the kiddos and so attentive and worried about me.
Tate and Finn started to get a little antsy at the very end of the flight. And we were all so so happy to land in Boston. Customs was a breeze. Getting all of our luggage took about half an hour and by then I was starting to feel pretty awful again. We got on our shuttle to the car rental place and while we were waiting for Glenn to get things settled I was  watching Finn walk along a low ledge by the window and jump off. I thought to myself, " I should probably tell him not to do that" but I was too sick and tired to do it. And then he slipped when he was taking a jump and hit his head on the leg of one of the chairs. He was screaming pretty hard so I knew there was sure to be blood. Aaaand there was. People rushed over to offer napkins and tissues and bandaids. It was so sweet to have so many people be so helpful so fast.   He had a cut and it bled down his face but it wasn't very big and seemed like more of a deep scrape than a gaping slice so we ruled out a rush to the hospital.
We got little boy bandaged up and got in our car and started driving to Brendaen and Jill's about 4:30. A lady at the car rental place had given us a cup of ice for Finns head. I ended up throwing the ice out the window and throwing up in the cup. Good, good times.
When we got to B's house I went straight downstairs after Glenn set up the bed and went to sleep. The boys were both zonked so Glenn got them bathed and in bed quick too and then he stayed up with Taryn and Kenna and Brendaen and Jill until they were ready for bed. Seriously, Glenn is amazing. I'm so grateful he had the patience and the energy to step up and pick up the slack even after a night of no sleep while I was completely out of commission. Taryn got up in the night but Kenna slept really well that first night. They were up once a night for the first few nights we were here but last night they finally slept until 6:30 again! The adjustment was much smoother than I anticipated as far as the night time sleep is concerned. Their daytime naps are a complete mess but I hope we'll get it figured out eventually.
We ended up at urgent care on Tuesday morning and found out that I have strep throat. I'm so glad it was something that could be treated very easily! And luckily no one else has caught it!
What an adventure. I'm so glad it's over. I think the kind trip would have been surprisingly easy had it not been for me feeling so terrible because the kids were all so wonderful.  I sure love my little kids.
The little ladies have been absolutely adored by their cousins and Aunties here. It's darling and so wonderful to see them love my little miracle babies.
Here's the girls' picture Tuesday for the week.  We've not been great at taking picture of our trip so far.  This one is of the girls playing on the floor of our room.  Sweet, happy girls.
Taryn and Kenna, 24 weeks old