petronia

Well, I got what I deserved for calling last week uneventful. Alan developed a high fever and mild diarrhea the weekend before we were to leave for Shanghai; I took him to the clinic on Monday, where he was diagnosed with a "mid-grade" ear infection ("come look at this classic presentation," said the white-haired doctor to the young woman medical student) and prescribed two large bottles of sugary amoxicillin solution, which had to be taken on the plane and refrigerated. In retrospect I believe he also had a mild viral gastroenteritis, as did I on Saturday. It had been circulating at daycare, and the family upstairs came down with a bad case the previous weekend.

The plane trip itself was what one might call uneventfully horrible. We bought exit aisle seats with an extra for Alan, but he wouldn't sit in his car seat for more than an hour at a time. I used to sleep quite comfortably in the old Air Canada 747s, but it's almost impossible to sleep in the so-called Dreamliner seats without hyperextending this and cramping that, and that seemed to translate to the baby, who couldn't find a comfortable position on our laps either (no way to put up the armrests, even though we had the entire row). The lighting was "twilight" for the first twelve hours, as if the passengers were feedlot chickens to be kept docile, but there's no physical shade on the emergency hatch windows, and the sun shone directly through like a bright turquoise spotlight. At one point the lady behind me put her smelly socked feet on the backs of my armrests. And so on. We were actually complimented on how unfussy Alan was, though fuss he did for much of the trip. Perhaps it's just that his whining is fairly low-pitched and blends with the engine noise, rather than the alarm-like shrilling of some babies.

Then there were last-mile miseries: an hour-long taxi ride through Shanghai traffic, having dumped the diaper bag with the rest of the luggage in the trunk so the baby had no water. The building's elevator slamming shut on Alan and me, bruising his hand. Finally we were able to bathe and go to bed... The next morning I realized Alan had a rash from the amoxicillin, as opposed to a heat rash from all the humidity and travelling, so much of the day was lost in trying to get pediatrics advice in a foreign country. Eventually elected to keep giving the antibiotic, backstopped by the unopened bottle of baby Benadryl I'd brought along for just such an eventuality, and the rash went away by itself.

That was day 1. Yesterday was day 2, and we went to IKEA to buy Alan a cheap crib setup and some toys. Today's day 3, and I'm writing this while waiting for the IKEA delivery. XD;