Well we kissed Jersey goodbye and we were off! Poppy and Gigi thankfully went and rented a big fancy ride for us to have first class service in getting from Jersey to JFK!
At one point i think we had three different GPS voices yelling directions at us!
After a (not expected by mommy) very long car ride to JFK we finally made it to the airport and this was the first time Aunt Tay Tay and Lola got to see each other!
It was also Daddy Lou and I’s SIX year anniversary!! Oh yes, can you believe it!? A whole Six years! I cant believe we have come this far, I can’t believe our lives have changed so much and I can’t believe we have stayed so much the same all at the same time!
This trip was doubling as Alex’s 30th birthday celebration and our anniversary! A win, win!
We literally LUCKED out on the way over, our good friend who is a fight attendant for Delta told us to quest the “ bassinet seating” (fyi for any mamas traveling with babies under the age of 2) it’s free and even if you don’t use the bassinet you get the bulk head seating! 
It was a row of 4 seats and Tara, Lu and I had three (lola was technically a lap seat) except no one booked that seat! 
It was a dream! 
We even had enough room for her to make a pallet on the floor with her blankets! Side note: we even had enough room for Lola and i to fall asleep together laying on the floor… oh yes, that happened! 
Shortly after taking off they feed you snacks, dinner and then turn the lights out to get some sleep… they brought us the bassinet and we gave Lola some Benadryl…. about 30 minutes later she was OUT! 
I finally exhaled and this was only the beginning of daddy Lou’s worry episode! He FREAKED out that the Benadryl made her go to sleep- I know crazy right! He literally thought we overdosed her because it made her fall asleep!
Um Hello? That’s why we gave it to her!
Around then he started his third drink of wine (he never drinks wine and he thought he would prep for this whole Italy trip) by two more glasses he was puking in the bathroom while Lo and i were fast asleep on the floor!
(Side Note: He didn’t drink the rest of the trip! Oh that boy!)
I couldn’t believe it, she was out so hard which is so unlike her, she climbed in my la and shut her eyes I put her in the bassinet for a bit but it was too small, she woke up when she tried rolling over so after about an hour is when we got on the floor! 
This is our WE SURVIVED pic just before landing! 
When we landed I was so worried who Lola would be, tired and looking for her crib? Cranky?
the worst part of it al ended up being my thought and concerns over how she would handle it! She did great!
We arrived and she was wound up, hyper and happy as could be with the giggles! I felt like a thousand pounds was lifted off of me!
Lola thought it was HILLARIOUs to watch the luggage drop on the belt!
We still had a log way to go with a layover in Rome, another hour flight to Milan and then an hour train ride to Milan Central Station and a 2 hour train ride to our final destination, Lugano Switzerland!
She fell asleep in her stroller in the train station and slept a good long while thankfully! She woke up just before arriving in Switzerland and oh was it breathtaking! 
We booked all of our apartments through www.Airbandb.com and our first host was super sweet! She waited for us even though we were about 2 hours late and hr apartment was gorgeous! It wa walking distance to the waterfront area full of restaurants and shops so we checked in and ran right back out the door for some exploring and dinner! No sleep yet! 
I think we were all exhaling that our traveling days were over… for now! 
We all had big plans for GOOD food that night! We were also starving and not every restaurant was serving dinner yet since it was a bit early so we settle at a delicious restaurant in the heart of it all! 
Daddy Lou had found chicken nuggets at a burger king for Lola! They were only 10$ lol- welcome to Switzerland! 
Oh yeah- half of them went on the floor! 
Cheers to our first night in Lugano, let the #ciscokidstakeitalia begin!
Sangria, pizza and fruit… just what i needed! 
I loved the views from here and this was Lolas first love of a water fountain (above)! 
Lola started getting heavy eyes after dinner! 
This was my most favorite picture taken while we were there, it was at a park near the restaurant and our hotel, it was so beautiful and our pan was to take Lola there the next day (obviously that didn’t happen!) 
First group pic! 
Just as we set the timer to take the picture, Lola was out! It was Mothers Day, my second one with the girl and i let her hear every word of how wrong it was to only want Aunt TayTay on mothers day don’t you worry! 
I can’t lie though, isn’t this the sweetest!? 
She was so tired that we all got a turn, it turned out to be the sweetest Mother Day by just this moment! 
Daddy got a turn too! 
I tried taking some pictures of each apartment before it got worn in! 
That night is when all hell broke loose! We were all tired and ready for a real first nights sleep after traveling al day and night but about 3am that morning I had pain in my stomach and around the same time Lola woke up crying… I remember Alex and I kept pacing with her in the bedroom trying to soothe her and scared she would wake everyone else… We assumed she was just mixed up with her sleep schedule… Alex eventually got her to go to sleep and i literally crawled out the room and headed for the bathroom!
I could tell this was not good!
It was a long night of bathroom runs, puking, pain and pure exhaustion! I quickly decided to sleep in the extra bed in Tara’s room (sorry Tay Tay) to keep from waking Lo!
The next day I was completely exhausted and running off two sleepless nights! I woke up thinking “omg we need milk for Lola bt there is no way i can move” since all the stores were closed early the night before and we had no time to get anything I loved hearing “Tara and Angela were on the way back from the store with all of Lolas favorites including milk”! 
Oh what a life saver they were for Alex and I- and Lola! I eventually made it out to the porch to try and make myself feel better but hour after hour i hated tying everyone up!
We were on vacation!!!!
So I asked Tara to take Lola out to lunch and to the park and assured them i would meet them there shortly- I felt so much better just knowing they could go out and have fun!
Leave it to the Vegans and Aunt Taytay to finally get Lola to eat a fruit! She ate strawberries- and her first popsicle!!!
As soon as they left I took Tara’s BC powder, washed it down with tap water and a peanut butter cracker.. I have no idea if this was related but minutes later i broke out in hives like never before (I have had hives almost every night since I quit breastfeeding in December-this was horribly different)
After Benadryl and lots more sleep I started puking again and went and laid in the bed…. about 30 minutes after going to bed Alex was continuing to check on me and suddenly my whole face was swollen!
To the hospital we go!
Billy and Angela went with us thank goodness and I was so thankful Tara slept with Lola that night!
The hospital experience was very sad and for Lou very scary but it was made so much easier knowing Lola was well taken care of and loving every minute with her Aunt Tay tay, Angela and Uncle B and the hospital staff was SO nice, sweet, caring and concerned!
The ER got me in literally right away and I was moved to a room all to myself later that night since they weren’t exactly sure what I had (typically they are 5 to a room) the next day we got an extended check out from our apartment and Billy had packed all my stuff, Lolas stuff and Alexs! The apartment was cleaned and ready to be checked out!
Aren’t they the greatest!?
The boys made a quick stop at the pharmacy for my meds before heading out to the train…. it was a beautiful view at the top! 
Everyone else over did themselves so that I didn’t have to lift a finger and although i was bummed to not see much of Switzerland i felt like the luckiest girl alive to be rolling with this crew!
Tara then insisted Alex and I take a picture at the top of the hill before getting on the train…. my sunglasses were thankfully BIG because my face was a scary sight… I remember considering taking the doctors up on their offer to stay longer in the hospital because I was scared for Lola to see my face so swollen… I felt unrecognizable and didn’t want to scare her.
The trip sure taught me a lot… Alex and I have never stayed a night away from our girl and we have never been away from her for waking hours to do anything except work essentially so as hard as it was to leave her i knew she was having a blast and never even considered worrying about her. I was SO , SO thankful for my siblings and Angela for taking on the Mommy and daddy role to our girl.
As always I am so incredibly thankful for this man by my side. He had taken care of me all day monitoring my every symptom. I remember as soon as we got to the hospital he was asking every detail of what they were doing, what medicine was going in the IV, what my temperature was, blood pressure etc. He was explaining and re-explaining every detail to every doctor or nurse who entered our room all while playing it SUPER cool for me.
I could barely open my eyes but I noticed a look the nurse gave Alex not 3 minutes after we arrived as he questioned every move she made…
I wanted to tell her “it’s not you, it’s me” but she soon after smiled at him and then me- i think she “got it” i hope she did anyway… Do not mess with this man and his girls. He cares so, so very much and it is so hard for him to see me go through something that he can’t fix and then to trust someone in a foreign country at a foreign hospital to care for me, I can only imagine, knowing him, how hard this was…
I remember when I worked in the hospital learning the statistics of those who had loved ones involved in their hospital care having better outcomes than those who didn’t… I think this is a perfect example of why…
Yes my husband may be the nicest man in the world but do not ever, think about doing one thing wrong that may harm me- he is watching you like a hawk and cross checking every move you make.
After being released he was ready to catch the next flight home- I had hopes Florence would be better! I also had to believe Florence would be better to keep my sanity!
So onward we go!
Next stop, Florence!
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