Traveling to Dubai - The Whole Story!

The Foote family before leaving the house early on June 3. Note: every picture of us up to 48 hours after this picture reveals the "we so tired we'z ugly" look and will not be shared publicly - at least not with my approval! So the rest of the photos for today are of luggage... boring....

well, except for Libby - she's so cute!

Traveling to Dubai – The Whole Story

Tuesday, June 2 – our house was all a buzz as we attended to the final packing preparations. Libby had been struggling with the croup and a low-grade fever since the previous Saturday. She started some steroids Sunday night and I can’t remember if she ran a fever on Tuesday or not. I remember thinking she seemed much better as far as cough and fever were concerned.  But Libby was emotional as she could sense a big trip and change coming. We put Libby down to sleep around 8 pm, but she talked and sang and played in her bed until at least 9pm. We kept packing and cleaning and Larry and Terry came over to pray over us about 10pm. Finally at midnight we laid down to sleep.  And then Libby woke up either coughing or having a bad dream (can’t remember), but by then a big storm was brewing and lightening was flashing brightly through our rooms and Libby was too scared to sleep. Billy put her in bed with me and then went to sleep in her bed. Libby was moving and awake for a couple of hours as the storm announced its strength and energy to our city. Finally around 2:30 or 3AM she fell asleep as the rain poured down. By this time I was aware that I would be waking up very soon so I couldn’t sleep. At 4am the alarm sounded and our travel day began.

It is so fun waking Libby for trips before the sun comes up because she gets so excited and she has a cute, sleepy, excited voice.  The night before Libby had said to me, “Mom when you come to wake me before the sun comes up say, ‘Baby bear it is time to get up’ and I’ll say, ‘okay mommy bear.’  She mentioned that several times before she fell asleep, so I was sure to follow her “orders”. I put my hand on her and said, “wake up baby bear” and she woke up with a big smile and kissed me a dozen times saying “mommy bear, mommy bear, YAY!”   So sweet.

We were packed and dressed – albeit tired –when Doug Martine arrived to take us to the airport. It was 5:15AM. By 5:45 we were in the airport checking in. Before I tell the next part I need to set it up by sharing that when we thought we were traveling 2 weeks ago and then had to change our travel dates, we had to pay $250 per ticket to make the changes. It was not that big of a deal, but certainly expensive. Well, some friends of ours gave us $500 to help with those change fees and that was so amazing! We were only out $250 from the change fees. When we arrived at the check in counter I realized that we had to pay a fee for luggage that I had not considered before. On American, the first piece of checked luggage is $15 and the second is $25. For us, that was going to be $120. Well, the lady at the American airlines counter was having a few computer/printer problems. When she gave us our tickets we headed through security not thinking about anything but getting through security with all the carry-ons we had. After security I realized that the lady with American didn’t charge us for our luggage! WOO HOO!!

We flew from San Antonio to Dallas. We arrived in Dallas around 8:30 AM. Libby slept the entire one hour flight. We didn’t have to wait too long before we boarded again and took off for NY around 11:30AM. Sometime during that flight Libby took another nap – this time 2 hours. This was good because she had so little sleep the night before. Once we landed in NY, though, we realized that Libby had a fever. Then we discovered (after working through the maze of the JFK airport) that we would have to go through security in our new terminal. We had heard from some friends that people were being scanned for fever before getting on international flights due to the whole swine flu outbreak (which should be called the “media flu” in my opinion).  I started to worry that we would not get Libby’s temperature down before we would have to go through security. By now it was 5:30 or 6, I think. We called Libby’s doctor to ask if we should start the antibiotics he had prescribed since her fever was back. He “just happened” to walk back into his office for a minute before leaving for the day so the nurse handed him the phone. He said to start the antibiotic. So we found a place to sit and eat and give Libby her meds.  All morning and all day – she had refused to eat. She only nibbled at a sausage biscuit and had a few pieces of fruit. She sipped on some juice one time, but that was it. And, my sweet Libby who has never given us trouble when it comes to taking medicines, was refusing to open her mouth. It got tense as we tried to force the medicines into her mouth. She finally swallowed it and then ate a few bites of spaghetti.  As her fever started to come down (thank you for praying for that!) her personality came back and she seemed happy and playful again. We decided that even though her fever was not totally gone we should try to make it through security because we didn’t know how long it would take to get through and we had to be at our gate by 8:30pm even though our flight was not until 11pm.  Oh – I almost forgot to share – when we checked in at the Emirates counter in NY they were supposed to weigh our carry-ons. Carry-ons are supposed to be 16 pounds or lighter. I knew that at least one of our bags weighed almost 20 pounds. Well, the guy at the counter told us to put our bags on the scale, so we did. And then the guy realized the scale was not working because it was not plugged in and he said, “I don’t feel like worrying about it right now so we won’t weigh your bags.” Ahhhh…. Thank you Jesus!

So – we headed through security and at no point did they scan for fever or ask any questions. We made it to the gate and Libby found some Indian girls to play with at the telephone booths.  We waited until 10pm and then it was time to board. Libby seemed fine at that point so I had not given her any more Tylenol or Motrin.

We boarded the plane. Emirates is a very clean, nice airline and there is a tiny bit more leg room so that was nice to see! We got settled in and Libby wanted to watch a movie. Realizing that it was 11pm I thought about saying no and making her go to sleep, but then I thought – who cares – her whole schedule is being rocked. So I set her up with a movie (which Emirates lets you watch even while the plane is being loaded and during take off – cool!).  Not long into flight, Libby found a way to lay down and she fell asleep. Only 2 hours into flight I felt her forehead and she was burning up. I took her temp and she had a 103 degree temperature. At this point we were all so tired. Remember, we had not slept much at all the night before travel and now it was around 1AM. I had been up for almost 24 hours and we were only 3 hours or so into the longest leg of the trip. I started crying thinking how in the world we were going to make it through this flight and I was so worried for Libby. We had the flight attendant bring some cold rags to put on her forehead. By now Libby is awake – but very very tired and miserable – and she started kicking and crying and having meltdowns. She refused to let her daddy hold her (which she always does when she is overwhelmed or sick –she just wants mommy) and she refused to eat or drink. Again, getting her to take the meds was a huge struggle. That fever was seriously persistent. I alternated between Tylenol and Motrin every 2 hours to keep the fever down.  The food on the plane (despite what I’ve heard from others who raved about it) was not good.  And Libby was laying across me in such a way that I had to eat with my left hand (I’m right handed). That was interesting. I was tired, hungry and could not believe how many more hours I would have to endure holding my sick baby girl in complete discomfort. But at some point I dozed off too and we managed to survive. After many meltdowns, lots of medication, virtually no sleep for a second night and numb rumps we were happy to see the plane land and get off that ride from #%^P. Don’t get me wrong – Emirates rocks! But our circumstances were less than desirable.

Libby’s fever stayed around 99 for several hours. By the time we got to the hotel she seemed a lot better. We arrived in our hotel room in Dubai a little after 9pm. We got settled in, emailed a few friends/family, and ordered room service. That was the first full meal I had eaten in 2 days so my stomach was happy for a few minutes and then….ugh! Libby ate a little so I was happy about that. Billy laid down and fell asleep around 10:30, but Libby and I decided to take a bath in our big tub! We played and got cleaned up. We got ready for bed and at about 12AM Libby wanted to me to read a book. I got about 3 pages in and she was out!

As I type, it is 7:45 AM and Libby and Billy are still asleep!!!! They both slept all night! YAY!!! I slept from 12AM to 5AM and that was it for me, but I am so happy that Libby is still sleeping. I checked her for fever several times during the night and she had none!! So I’m hoping we are past the trying part of this journey for now and today we can play, eat and rest. This afternoon, if Libby is doing alright, we will get into a land cruiser at 4 pm and start our desert safari and dinner under tents at sundown! Can’t wait!

We received word yesterday that a trip has been arranged for our family to meet Gracie’s birthmother. I think it is going to take place Saturday (tomorrow for us) after we arrive in Ethiopia. Please pray that we will be rested and ready for our flight to ET tomorrow morning (it is only about a 4 hour flight) and that our meeting with Gracie’s birthmother would be divine. Pray for God to give me the words to say and questions to ask. Pray that the birthmother would be encouraged and comforted. Pray that Libby will be calm and at peace so we can concentrate on talking with the birthmother.  Also, please pray that she will allow us to take a picture of her so we can give that to Gracie one day.

One last thing – the extra trip to meet Gracie’s birthmother is costing us an extra $500 because we have to pay a driver and a staff worker to accompany us for the journey. A week or two ago, Billy’s parents gave us twice that amount to use as needed. Thank you Billy and Winky! That extra money is helping us meet Gracie’s birthmother which will be a gift so special to her in the future.

So – the trip has been difficult – but along every step of the way, God’s provision has been amazing! We are well and looking forward to the rest of the trip (up until the flight home, that is! LOL!)