Rougher Night

I was hoping that last night would be a better night, but in fact I actually got less sleep last night. I went to bed around 8pm, and Paul gave Ian a bottle shortly after that. I got up a little after 10:30 and woke Ian up and nursed him. Around 11:30 I started trying to put him down in the crib. Sometimes he would last 10-15 minutes, but I was up with him until 2:30am at which point Paul took him downstairs so I could sleep for 45 minutes. I was so tired it felt like my head was going to explode. He fell asleep after I nursed him a little, but he only slept in the crib for 20 minutes before he started crying again. This time I brought him to bed with us, and thankfully I was able to get 2 hours of sleep before it was time to nurse him again. I expected Nadia to get up earlier this morning since she took 2 naps yesterday, but she didn't get up until 6:50. Getting Ian to sleep in his crib (in other words not in someone's arms) has moved up to my #1 priority. Nadia didn't take a morning nap since we went to church, but she did take a long afternoon nap.


One thing that amazed me this morning was that she said "Abbey." Neither Paul or I had mentioned that she'd be going to church. I am not sure if it was just a fluke (although she hadn't mentioned Abbey's name all week) or if she made the connection because Sunday is the only day she wears a dress and tights? Abbey's family wasn't at church this morning, but she did get to have fun playing with Grandma and PopPop who came over to visit us this afternoon. I took a long nap while she napped. I really hope tonight is a better night.


I added a couple of pictures to yesterday's post. One is of the cross stitch that Paul's Gram made for Ian. I hung it on Wednesday. It hit me that I used to hang things when I was single, and that I didn't need to wait for Paul to do it. Paul hung the boat on Thursday, the airplane on Friday, and the video camera on Saturday. After he hangs the car, Ian's room will be done. I will take a picture of the wall that has the airplane, clock, and car after Paul hangs the car.

Rough Night

Last night was definitely the worst with Ian, although that might have been the norm when Nadia was this age. Paul had given Ian 2oz of formula shortly after I went to bed. I got up to nurse him at 10:30pm, and within 5 minutes of my return to bed, Nadia woke up at 11:05pm. I tried getting her back to sleep, but it was Paul who eventually got her back to sleep. Ian woke up at 1am, and I nursed him (including a diaper change in the middle) for 45 minutes. I then made the fateful decision to put him back down in the crib swaddled in the corner (not in the boppy). Within a few minutes he woke up, and it took me 45 minutes to get him back to sleep. Unfortunately even then he only slept a few minutes before he woke up again. After I had been up from 1-3:30am, I brought him to bed with us and finally we both got some sleep. I nursed him again at 6:30am. Thankfully Nadia slept until 7:15am, which was 2 hours later than she has been waking up lately. She wouldn't take a morning nap yesterday (first time that happened in a long time); I think that's why she slept later this morning. She did take two naps today, but I'm hoping she won't get up any earlier than 6am tomorrow morning. I know I need to wean Ian off of sleeping on the boppy, but I won't be working on that tonight as I am really, really hoping to get a much better night of sleep!

Unfortunately the weigh-in didn't go as well today. I hadn't weighed him since Thursday morning, and during that time span he only gained 1/2 an ounce. I was bummed when I saw that he still needs to gain 1.5 ounces to hit 6lbs (2.5 to reach his birth weight). I really was hoping he'd reach his birth weight by the time he turned 1 month old. Well hopefully he'll at least hit 6lb by then (Tuesday). The lactation nurse on Monday said he should gain at least 4 ounces a week, and I think he will still achieve that goal (presuming he gains at least 1/2 ounce by tomorrow).

Things I need to work with Ian on (aside from continuing to gain weight) include #1 weaning him off the shield, #2 getting him to start sleeping in the crib or pack & play during the day (he's almost always in someone's arms), and #3 weaning him off of sleeping in the boppy when he's in his crib. The process toward achieving these goals won't be fun, but I know it will be worth the efforts. Paul installed the video camera in his room today. I was waiting for that to happen before I started putting him in the crib during the day.

Sharing with Ian

I can see that sharing with Ian isn't going to come naturally for Nadia (does it come naturally to any 18 month old?). It's helpful that the swing is new, and therefore she doesn't think of it as being hers. I put Ian in the rocker/bouncer one time and she had a fit. She definitely thinks that's HER chair. Today I put Ian down in the gym for the first time, and both kids were crying. Ian isn't fond of tummy time, and Nadia wasn't fond of Ian playing in "her" gym. I was surprised about that as the gym has been packed away for probably about 10 months, but she definitely remembers the gym and doesn't want to share it with Ian. She was turning it into an obstacle course this morning as she was crawling under the bars and such. Right now she's outside being pulled around the yard in a sled by her daddy. FUN!!

Nadia is now using the word "okay" to answer her own requests. She'll say something like "Bob" as a question (meaning she wants to watch VeggieTales) and then will change inflection to give the answer she wants to hear me say "okay." Unforutunately when I don't agree, she then has a temper tantrum.

I didn't weigh Ian this morning. I feel so relaxed about his weight gain that I thought I don't need to keep weighing him every single day. He didn't have any formula or bottles yesterday. I'm hoping the next time I weigh him that he'll weigh 6lbs! We've taken a step backward in terms of weaning him off the shield though. He was doing better with that a couple of days ago. Now he works himself into a total frenzy if he has any trouble latching on (with or without the shield). Maybe I'll call the lactation nurses to see if they have any advice. With Nadia I just had to go "cold turkey," but she was far more motivated to nurse than he usually is. I'm afraid he'll just choose not to nurse.

Dollhouse

Nadia enjoys playing with the dollhouse we got her for Christmas (I got it used on eBay). It has a doorbell that rings and a phone on the kitchen wall that makes sounds also. She likes to put her reindeer (stuffed animal) in the bathtub.

Let me say I am very impressed with Nadia's memory. It has been at the very least two months since she went to the library with me. When we walked in the door, the first thing she said was "bear," and then she turned down one hallway and walked into the room in which there is stuffed animal (bear) sitting on a chair. I couldn't believe it! Something that cracked me up at the library was that even during our brief visit, she said "okay" enough times that one of the librarians commented that "okay" must currently be Nadia's favorite word. Yes, it definitely is!

Last night I went to bed at 7:30pm. Paul gave Ian 2 ounces of formula at 8:40. I came down to feed him at 9:30, but since Ian had already been fed (and was asleep). I pumped 2 ounces. Paul fed him the bottle of my milk after 11pm. This meant I got five hours of sleep before I got up to feed Ian at 1am. WOOHOO! I woke him up to feed him at 1am and 3am. He didn't sleep much between 3-5am, and then Nadia woke up at 5:15. Even though I got almost no sleep after 3am, I still got way more sleep last night than I had the previous night. I felt soooo much better today than I did yesterday! Ian gained another ounce yesterday. He's up to 5lb 14oz. YAY! He gained 3 ounces in the last 3 days!! I am no longer stressed about his weight. The doctor's office called yesterday to ask if I wanted to bring him in for another weight check. I told them that he was doing much better this week and that I was weighing him every day. It's much easier to weigh him at home. Going to the doctor's office takes at the very minimum one hour including driving time, and that's not including the time it takes to get the kids bundled up and such. Speaking of weight gain, I weighed Nadia yesterday, and she's up to 26lbs 6oz. She certainly feels heavy compared to her almost 6lb brother!

These last two pictures were taken yesterday. Nadia asks me many times a day to hold her brother. I take that as a good sign that she's warming up to the idea that he's joined our family!

5lb 13oz!

Ian gained another 1/2 ounce yesterday! I was very happy to see 5lb 13oz when I put him on the scale this morning (with just a dry diaper on). He gained 2 ounces in 2 days which is a vast improvement considering the first 2 weeks he was home he only gained 2 ounces. An ounce a day is MUCH better than an ounce a week. Just four more ounces and he'll be back to his birth weight.

Paul didn't end up going to PSU yesterday, but he did go in today. We three are on our own for the first time today. I commented to Paul how I wasn't sure how I functioned when Nadia was this age because I was getting less sleep at night with her. He reminded me that I slept a lot more during the day when she was sleeping. Very true. My only chances for napping now are when Nadia is napping (which is a lot less than how much a newborn naps), and usually I am nursing Ian during at least a part of each of her naps. The adrenaline that was keeping me going the first few weeks seems to have vanished. I am pooped. I am not even reading during the night time feedings. I read five books in six days, and now after several days I still haven't finished the 6th book that I checked out last Monday.

Last night someone from the church brought us chicken and waffles. Neither Paul or I had ever eaten that before. Since I don't like gravy, I only ate the chicken (without the gravy or waffles), but Paul did eat the chicken and waffles with gravy. I thought the apple pie she brought was very delicious! I would have eaten the waffles with syrup if they didn't have pulled, stewed chicken on top. I think this is a Pennsylvania Dutch meal. I was surprised that Paul had never had it before since he's lived in PA almost his whole life.

Nadia is starting to adjust to having a brother. She says his name now. It's almost noon, and she hasn't had any temper tantrums today. YAY! She is definitely watching more tv these days though as that's one way to keep her happy when I am nursing Ian and Paul isn't around. I know it's just a temporary situation. As you can see from the photos below, she loves her kitchen. The third photo (below) cracks me up. I think she's going to be a multitasker like her Mommy - she's cooking and talking on the phone at the same time, LOL!

HE GAINED WEIGHT!!!

I am very happy, relieved, grateful, etc. to report that Ian now weighs 5lb 12.5oz! WOOHOO! He gained 1.5 ounces yesterday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I only did the technique of pumping for a few seconds before nursing him once because I really don't think that was the issue. The milk would come really quickly. However, I did the switch nursing technique the whole day. I didn't pump any more (since Diane thought part of the problem had been that I had pumped too much in the NICU), but that meant I didn't have any EBM to give him last night. Around my bedtime he usually goes through this phase where he won't sleep in the crib, but he also won't nurse well. He nurses a few seconds or minutes and falls asleep until we put him in the crib and then he wakes up and the cycle repeats itself for maybe 90 minutes unless we give him a bottle and then he'll go to sleep for an hour or two. So I gave him 2 ounces of formula last night (thanks, Jenn!). It worked like a charm. I got some sleep and then woke him up at 1:00 and 3:00. Both times he nursed well, which usually hasn't been the case in the past when I have awakened him. He didn't cooperate when I awakened him at 5am, but he woke up on his own not too much longer after that. He has had a couple of nursing sessions on the left side without the shield, but I think he's going to be using it a tad longer than Nadia did, which probably makes sense since he came 2 weeks earlier than she did. The bottom line is that I feel VERY encouraged by the weight gain since he hadn't gained anything the previous four days. He's gained a total of 3.5 ounces over the past 2 weeks since we were discharged from the NICU. He needs to gain 4.5 more ounces to get back to his birth weight. Hopefully we'll get there before he turns one month old. :-) I know we're not out of the woods yet, but I do feel much better about his weight gain today than I did yesterday that is for sure!

Last week I received the bill for my hospital stay ($16,126.10 this time compared to $19,678.97 with Nadia). Nadia's NICU bill was $51,096.48 so I was guessing Ian's would be over $70K since he was in the hospital 3 more days than she was. His bill came in the mail today, and it turns out I was right ($78,775.70). I am very grateful we have health insurance!!


I am also very grateful that I was able to take a nap yesterday afternoon. What a difference! It would be heavenly if I could take one today as well although the odds are not in my favor since Paul plans to go to PSU today.

As far as the kids' recent accomplishments, Ian rolled over for the first time the day before he turned 3 weeks old (last Friday). I had him swaddled in a blanket lying on his back in the pack & play, and when I heard him crying I assumed he wanted to be held (he spends most of his day in someone's arms). I was so surprised when I went in and found him lying on his belly! I am not saying he's mastered the art of rolling over yet, but still I thought it was amazing that the little peanut has already rolled over once! Nadia's vocabulary continues to grow by leaps and bounds. She is using more and more two word combinations such as "want more," "back up" (what she says when she's walking backwards), and "thank you." This morning when we were sitting at her table and chairs, she pointed to her crib and said "doggie out." I gladly went and retrieved her stuffed dog for her (a Christmas gift from Sarah). One of her newest words is "CD;" it's what she says these days when she wants to listen to music. The newest word that she uses the most frequently is definitely "okay." I love being able to communicate more with Nadia these days!

Plateau Continues

Ian hasn't gained or lost any weight over the past 4 days. He still weighs 5lb 11oz. Yesterday I pumped twice, and Ian was also given that milk as a supplement. I did the same thing this morning, and then I called the lactation nurse. From what I had read online yesterday, I was guessing that a good target weight gain was 20 grams a day which would be almost 5 ounces a week. I wasn't too far off the mark as Diane told me this morning the goal is 4 ounces a week (at least 1/2 ounce a day). Based on what I told her, she doesn't think Ian is dehydrated, but she thinks he's not getting enough of the hind milk to gain weight (not getting enough calories). I asked if I should pump more or start taking Fenugreek. I can tell from pumping yesterday that my supply has come down some. She said to wait on that as my supply might have been too large from all the pumping I did in the NICU. This might have led to too much foremilk. She gave two suggestions. First, I should have it so my milk is already coming out before I start nursing him (to make it easier for him and also so that the hindmilk will let down more efficiently). Second, as soon as he stops nursing vigorously, switch him to the other side (and keep doing this). "Switch nursing" is also supposed to help him get more hindmilk. She said to try this for 48 hours. I am to call back on Wednesday to let them know if he has started gaining weight. A friend gave me some formula samples yesterday evening. I am going to hold off at least until Wednesday on using them, but if he doesn't start gaining weight by then, I think I'm going to supplement for awhile at least until he starts gaining 1/2 ounce a day. I'd rather avoid all bottles for the time being, but my boy has only gained 2 ounces in the past 13 days - during which time he should have gained about 8 ounces. It's been a few days since he's had any really long nursing sessions - so nursing too long at one time isn't the problem. In the NICU they don't let them nurse more than 30 minutes at a time. Please pray that he'll weigh 5lb 12oz by Wednesday morning!!!!

On Saturday Ian's social security card and insurance card came in the mail. I mailed the form today to the human resource department at my university to add him to our insurance plan. I needed his social security number to be able to do that.Yesterday was a VERY hectic day for me. I was on the go pretty much nonstop. Before I even ate breakfast (which is what I normally do first), I gave Ian a bath. Then after eating breakfast I gave Nadia a bath, took my shower, put Nadia down for her nap, and then gave Paul a haircut. After I finished nursing Ian, Nadia woke up from her nap, and we headed to church. We were 20 minutes late, but since this church has a rather long morning service (often 90-105 minutes long), I knew we'd still be there for most of the service. It was REALLY cold yesterday (23 degrees when we left church). On the way home from church, we stopped at the grocery store to pick up some subs and a bag of ice for Paul's party. After nursing Ian, I had lunch, did some more cleaning, and then started decorating and putting out the food. I had the Steeler's football game on in the background. I didn't get any naps yesterday, and I went to bed later than usual (9pm) due to cleaning up after the party. Ian was nursing during Nadia's morning nap today. I hope to be able to nap during her afternoon nap as I am tired!

The rest of the week shouldn't be anywhere near as hectic as yesterday. The ironic thing is that I've thrown Paul 3 parties over the past 9 years, and two of the three have ended up being shortly after having a baby. His master's degree graduation party was held when Nadia was 5 weeks old, and his 40th birthday party was when Ian was 3 weeks old. The timing hasn't been great for me in terms of being very sleep deprived, but the nice part has been that our guests have had an added incentive for attending - meeting our newest arrival! :-)

Happy 40th Birthday, Paul!

Paul assembled Nadia's new table and chairs yesterday. She loves them!

For Paul's party this afternoon we had 4 large pizzas and subs. Between the leftovers from this party and the two meals that are to be delivered (on Tuesday and Thursday), I shouldn't need to do any cooking this week. :-)

Millie made the vanilla cake (Paul's preference).
I also served his favorite chips (Middlesworth sour cream & onion), cheese curls, cashews, fruit, veggies, cookies, brownies, cupcakes, and deviled eggs.

Paul's Aunt Debbie meeting Ian for the first time. I forgot to take another picture later. He was wanting to be fed when this one was taken.

Pop Pop holding Ian.

Nadia showing Great Gram the telephone that Great Aunt Debbie got her for Christmas.

Grandma's arms are full!

Nadia wore this dress to church this morning and kept it on for her Daddy's birthday party. I put Nadia in the nursery but took Ian with me into church.

Paul assembled his birthday gift from me today (a New York Giants office chair). Unfortunately neither of our teams are going to the Playoffs this year. :-(

Not including our immediate family, eleven people came to his party ( 7 relatives plus his master's degree advisor and his family).

My Sister Came!

Around 5pm yesterday my sister, her husband, and their 4 kids (ranging in age from 13 months to seven years old) arrived at our home. Because they normally live in Turkey, they didn't meet Nadia for the first time until she was almost 14 months old. I am very glad that they got to meet Ian much sooner than that (he's 3 weeks old today). I had planned to make spaghetti with meatballs for dinner for them, but at the time I started to prepare the meatballs, Nadia had another fit of wanting Mommy. So Paul made dinner! I believe this is the first time he's made dinner since we've been married. Spaghetti happens to be one of the three things he used to cook as a bachelor (the other two being omlettes and grilled cheese sandwiches). He did a great job. The garlic bread, green beans, and spaghetti with meatballs were delicious. If you look at the color of Nadia's face (in the photo where everyone is sitting around the kitchen table below), you can tell that she liked the spaghetti! After dinner we opened our Christmas gifts from my two sisters and then had dessert.

They left earlier than planned this morning because their youngest seemed to be coming down with something. The trip had been planned at the last minute because for several days all of them had been totally healthy (which is a very rare occurence). I got confused a few times last night when I heard crying at times such as 3am because at first I thought it was Ian, but it was actually Nathan. My brother wanted to join them on the trip up here, but I had asked him to wait until he was healthy because he had a cold. Hopefully soon my parents and brother will be feeling well and will be able to come meet Ian.

Nadia had a BLAST playing with her cousins. She also really enjoyed Aunt Yvonne's version of "patty cake." She was often seen in the arms of Uncle Joe or Aunt Yvonne. For a few hours she wasn't jealous of Ian. I think the same thing will happen tomorrow during Paul's party. Hopefully next week she'll start to adjust to sharing me with Ian as I think we'll have a lot of time at home next week when the only ones who will be home will be Mommy, Nadia, and Ian.

Nadia's babysitter's mom is bringing us dinner tonight. The woman who brought us dinner on Thursday night lined up four other women to bring us dinner over the next 10 days. Those five meals will be greatly appreciated! We've been doing some cleaning for Paul's party, and I've done two loads of laundry today (one of linens from our overnight guests and one of clothes). Some people who are coming to his party (such as his Aunt & Uncle) have never been to our house before. They'll get to meet Ian for the first time, celebrate Paul's 40th birthday, and see our new home for the first time.

I appreciate the feedback I received regarding nursing yesterday (some by comments and some by email). Ian still weighs 5lb 11oz today, which means in 3 days he's only gained 1/4 ounce. However, when he was weighed at the doctor's office he had only gained 1.5 ounces in seven days. I do want to start pumping again, but I've had a hard time finding the time to do so. The three reasons I want to pump are #1 in case we need to give Ian supplements by bottle to help him gain weight, #2 so that Paul can do a middle of the night feeding now and then for me, and #3 so that when I go back to work we'll have plenty of my milk in the freezer so Ian won't ever need any formula again (he was given some via his NG tube until my milk came in while he was in the NICU but hasn't had any since). I'd love to just relax and not worry about his weight. He has plenty of poopy and wet diapers and otherwise seems to be doing fine. They didn't give me a goal as far as weight gain when we were discharged from the NICU or at the doctor's office. If he doesn't show improvement by Monday morning, I think I'll call on Monday and ask what is a reasonable daily or weekly weight gain goal for a preemie born at 34 weeks.

Although he does occasionally nurse for close to an hour, typically he nurses for 10-25 minutes. I let him stay on one side as long as he keeps nursing. If he starts falling asleep after only nursing less than 10 minutes, then I do try to keep him awake. Sometimes I change his diaper after he finishes one side as a way to wake him up before switching sides. Sometimes he just nurses on one side during a feeding, and other times he nurses 20-25 minutes per side. I try to nurse him every two hours, but sometimes he just won't wake up. Sometimes he cries while I change his diaper but then immediately falls back asleep when I try to nurse him. His best nursing sessions are when he wakes up on his own rather than when I wake him up because of how much time has passed. The NICU doctor said to nurse him every 2-3 hours during the day and not to let more than 4 hours pass at night. I appreciate the feedback and also the prayers on his behalf. I will be one VERY, VERY, VERY happy lady when I see the scale read 5lb 12oz. I don't want to see 5lb 11oz any more!

Plateau

Yesterday morning Ian weighed in at 5lb 11oz which showed a very slight gain since he had been 5lb 10 3/4 oz the previous day at the doctor's office. During the middle of the night last night Ian peed on his clothes during a diaper change; since I had to take off his clothes, I decided to weigh him. He still weighed in at 5lb 11oz. I am discouraged. He hasn't had any formula for two weeks, but I admit I am tempted to run to the store and buy him some. With Nadia I received free samples of formula in the mail and also received two diaper bags (one from the labor and delivery nursery and one from the NICU) that contained some formula (one diaper bag from Similac and the other from Enfamil). This time I didn't receive any diaper bags upon discharge. I am producing plenty of milk. That isn't the problem. I am not sure if it's because he's using the shield or just because he's not nursing enough. I do many things to try to wake him up and try to get him to stay awake while nursing. We just ran out of frozen pumped milk yesterday. I guess I could at least start pumping again and try supplementing with a bottle of my milk. I looked back to July 2008, and Nadia weighed 5lb 12oz when she was about 2 weeks old and 6lb 12oz when she was 1 month + 1 day old. Her birth weight was 6lb 2oz, and her lowest weight (recorded by a doctor anyhow) was 5lb 8oz. Ian's birth weight was 6lb 1oz, and his lowest weight was 5lb 9oz. So although she lost 2 more ounces than Ian did, she was 10 ounces above her birth weight by the time she turned 1 month old. There's no way Ian will be 10 ounces above his birth weight by the time he's 1 month old. I figure the best case scenario would be that he'll weigh 6 ounces above his birth weight, and that's only if he starts gaining one ounce a day starting today. Please pray that he'll start gaining weight at a faster pace ASAP. It's really starting to get to me emotionally. I weaned Nadia off the shield a couple of days before she turned 1 month old. I am making that my goal with Ian as well. He can latch on fine without it, but the problem is that most of the time he nurses for a MUCH shorter period of time without the shield than he does with it.

Nadia is still really struggling emotionally. There are some happy moments - like when Daddy pulled her around our yard in a sled yesterday afternoon (we got 2.5 inches of snow), but she also has been doing a LOT of crying. I am not sure what part of it is just her age (having a temper tantrum when she doesn't get her way such as when Mommy refused to give her pretzels for breakfast this morning) and what part of it is her adjustment to sharing me with Ian. I will say I am hearing my name 50 million times a day these days! They also take turns waking each other up in the morning. When Ian woke up at 4:15am, she also woke up and never went back to sleep although Paul didn't get her from her crib until 6:00am. I am sure losing sleep isn't helping her mood either. My sister and her hubby and four kids are planning to come up this afternoon to meet Ian. I think having other kids to play with will be a nice distraction for Nadia.

Yesterday I started the process of taking down the Christmas decorations. I think we'll finish that project today. There isn't as much to do since Ian came before we had finished (for example we hadn't put up the outside lights yet). Paul is going to head to Walmart today or tomorrow because the table, chairs, and bookcase I ordered for Nadia's room have come in. Once they're set up, I'll take pictures of her room, and once Ian's wall hangings are hung I'll post the last pics of his room. I'm hoping Paul finishes before his party on Sunday so people can see Ian's room as a finished product rather than a work in progress. Another of my accomplishments yesterday was that I edited some children's book reviews that my graduate students had written this semester and sent them off to the editor of that column. Thankfully I haven't needed to do much schoolwork over the past week. I didn't have to make dinner yesterday because a woman from church (and her daughter whom I had in several classes over the last few years) brought over a meal for us. She happened to bring turkey and mashed potatoes, which is Paul's favorite meal, and he didn't get turkey for Christmas this year (we had ham, which is my favorite) so it was a special treat.

For the last few months I've been researching options for our family vacation. Last year (my first time to speak of 2009 in the past tense) we invited Paul's parents to join us, and we had a great time with them in the Caribbean. It was great for Nadia to be able to spend a week with them, and it meant that Paul and I were able to go on a snorkeling excursion that we wouldn't have been able to do otherwise. This time we invited my parents to join us for a trip to Florida. Yesterday I booked a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom suite for seven nights in May (for $139 total). It will be different for Paul and I as we've gotten used to the beautiful, clear water of the Caribbean the past 9 years, but the flight to Florida will be shorter and cheaper. A nonstop flight from Baltimore to West Palm Beach is less than 2.5 hours long and costs less than $200 round trip. I doubt we'll bring our snorkeling gear on this trip. It will be our last time of flying before we have to start purchasing a ticket for Nadia as she'll be 23 months old when we go. The resort is right on the beach. Ian will be too little (5 months old) to get much out of it, but based on our last vacation, I am confident Nadia will have fun in the swimming pool and also at the beach. I don't think she'll eat the sand this time though. :-)