Sounds horribly amazing, right?
Because I had Brayden and Ava so close in age (22 months apart), I had always told my husband I had wished we went on a little vacation (alone) before Ava came along. We travelled every year before babies & always had so much fun together. It is also fun talking about “should-of vacations” after the fact because the reality was… I was never leaving Brayden. The only sleep-overs he ever had were at his grandparents house… 5 minutes away.
And then we found out about sweet baby #3! For the last 3.5 years, we have been so focused on our new roles, mommy & daddy. I was craving some 1:1 time with my hubby but the thought of leaving my babies made me sick. But… I knew if we were ever going to do it, now was the time. After all, life is about to get a littttttttle more busy around here. I made sure that I was out of the first-trimester yuckiness as I didn’t want to be feeling sick on the trip. I got a ton of questions about how I combatted feeling sick on vacation (thankfully I was good in Bahamas). But this has totally happened to me before- we went to Florida when I was 9 weeks pregnant with Ava. I threw up in the barf bag on the airplane (while Bray slept in my arms) which was soo much fun:|. But for me, combatting morning sickness means eating the moment I wake up. Snacks, room service, buffet breakfast… whatever I could get my hands on.
Let me start of by saying the anxiety & worry leading up to the trip is a monster and so much worse when you’re at home overanalyzing everything. Similar to when you’re going back to work after mat-leave… you feel sick, you can’t imagine it but once you’re there- you realize you are OKAY! There were a lot of tears (from me) the days leading up to us leaving but I knew they were in amazing hands with my parents. We kissed those beautiful babies goodbye as they waved to us from the window and hopped in the car to our first ever post-baby ADULT only vacation!
The Bahamas
We stayed in Nassau, Bahamas at the Riu Palace Paradise Island-it was all inclusive and adults only! It was a 3hr plane ride to paradise. We were there for 4 nights & 3 full days and that was perfect.
Zika
To be honest, didn’t even cross my mind until a few days before my trip. When I was pregnant with Ava, I was a lot more worried but I feel that it was more “mainstream” at that point and there were still cases floating around- which is why we always chose to stay on the gulf coast of Florida! There were atleast 5 other pregnant women in Bahamas… all baby-mooning! I saw zero mosquitoes and the thought never crossed my mind when I was there.
Worth it?
Holy shit, YES! I finished reading an entire book, I napped, I did absolutely nothing other then stare at the ocean… and it was glorious. I was so rested and relaxed (something I never thought would happen) and I knew we had made the right choice. It is so important to reconnect with your husband and with yourselves- pre baby! We weren’t Mom & Dad on the trip… we were a husband and wife having fun and enjoying paradise!
But ofcourse, on our first day there I get a call saying Ava had thrown up and was running a high fever. WORST nightmare come true! And there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. Thankfully, she went to the DR, found out it was an ear infection and within 24 hours, my baby was feeling better. That was never apart of my plan but I knew she was in good hands and for the first time (ever) as a mother, I had zero control. God bless my mama (& Dad) for taking such great care of my babes.
I have received sooooo many messages from you mama’s about how nervous you are, how it has been on your mind/you want to book… just do it. I promise, your babies will be fine (we FaceTimed every day and my mom had to bribe the kids to come to the phone LOL) and the R&R for you & your partner will be so so worth it. We had so much fun.
If you need a pep talk- just message me! Without the reassurance from my insta-friends- I never would have booked the trip!
You can also shop a few of my fave vaca looks over at http://liketk.it/2BowB!
happy vaca-planning!
XO,
Chelsea
