Travel Day to Beijing: June 8th- 9th

Our day began very early in the morning, 4am to be exact, on Monday to get to the airport in Omaha to start our first leg of our journey to meet Ella. Matt's parents arrived in Omaha on Sunday so that we could all travel together. Our sweet friend Laura offered to take us to the airport so that we didn't have to leave any vehicles at the airport for 3 weeks. Yes, she is a very sweet friend. We got all checked in our flight left Omaha at 6:30am and took us to Detroit. From Detroit we boarded a very large plane which seated 2, 4, and 2 across the plane. Things were smooth sailing most of the way. It's a long, long plane ride and we didn't hesitate to get up and walk the isles or stand in the isles to talk to each other. We also made frequent trips to the bathroom with Ava to avoid any accidents.

Ava did fantastic! Seriously, we couldn't have asked for her to do any better. She was happy, took several naps. She feel asleep in my arms as we were boarding the plane and sleep for the first 45 minutes. Then later in the trip she took a longer nap. We even had an extra seat next to us, so she was able to sprawl out and sleep on the plane. Perfect!! Otherwise, she watched a few movies; Penguins of Madagascar, part of The Incredibles, and Disney Nature Bears; colored, read books, and played with toys. She was a great trooper! We couldn't have been more proud of her.

The airline provided a lunch shortly after we boarded and then snacks throughout the trip followed by dinner shortly before landing. They also provided complimentary wine and beer. Don't mind if we do!!

The trip for me was great until about 7 or 8 hours into it...then I began throwing up. I felt ok at that time so I thought maybe I had just eaten something that I shouldn't have or I got motion sick. But I quickly noticed that I had a temp as well, although I couldn't tell how high my temp was at that time. I quickly lost my appetite as well and didn't eat for the rest of the trip. I then threw up one more time shortly before we landed. Yuck!! It was not a fun trip. As we were preparing to land the stewardess made an announcement that after landing; anyone who has been sick, had a fever, or respiratory illness would need to go through a medical clearance...”oh great!!” However, at that time they made it sound like they were just evaluating people for ebola. I thought, I should be fine because I haven't been to Africa at all, right??? And honestly at this point, I felt a lot better but could tell I still had a temp of some sort. After we unboarded the plane, I thought to myself that I would just put on my best front because nothing was going to stop me from getting to my daughter. As we made our way to customs I could see the medical exam/quarantine area. Here we go... But immediately they called me over to be examined...dang it!! I later found out from my family who had to wait an hour for me that just prior to the exam area was a quick temperature scan of some kind. So apparently anyone who has a little elevated temp would get called into the exam room. I had to go back by myself, which was kind of terrifying but luckily I could still see and hear my family once I was in the room. There were 3 nurses in the exam room all with masks covering their faces; none of them able to speak English. Each time then needed to communicate with me they would call in another guy who only spoke a little English. Luckily we were able to make it work. As soon as they took the old mercury thermometer out from under my arm the nurse reading the number gasped. That's not a good sign! I asked her what it was and she said 39 degrees Celsius...what does that mean?!! I later found out that was close to 102 degrees Fahrenheit. So they made me take my temp again. After the second time was too high they began asking if I was feeling poorly, had any dizziness, or any respiratory distress. And then told me that I needed to rest for a little while to see if that helped to bring my temp down. I told them that I was feeling fine but that it was super hot in their room which wasn't helping matters. So then they gave me a stack of papers to fan myself with...Thank God! By this time I also had on a mask and felt like I was getting hotter by the minute. Fanning myself definitely helped to bring my temp down. Finally they took my temp for the 3^rd and final time. I'm not sure what it read at that time, I was just thankful that I was going to get out of there with my family. Before I left they made me sign a paper saying that I hadn't been to the Middle East or South Korea. Apparently, there has been an outbreak of MERS (Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome) in China from people coming from these areas. Now, if we could have started with those questions maybe we could have avoided all that. Who knows, but they finally let me go. In the end, the guy who was helping me did say that he hoped that I understood that this was their job and they have to protect their country. Well absolutely I understood that! I was just glad the entire situation ended the way it did. As I excited I told them that I definitely understood as I was a nurse in the United States. And then told them thank you and to have a nice day. Thank you Jesus for getting me through that situation!

After that ordeal, we made it through customs without any issues and were greeted by our guide to take us to our hotel. By the time we made it to the hotel we were all wiped out! But it was only about 6pm in Beijing. Ava and I took baths and headed straight to bed while the other 3 went out to get a quick dinner before coming back for bed. We all slept pretty solid until midnight and then Ava decided it was time to get up and play. She did however play quietly so that Matt and I could still sleep. Ava fell back asleep a couple hours later and slept the rest of the night. Matt and I both woke up numerous times throughout the night but were always able to get back to sleep. We needed our sleep! Unfortunately, Matt's parents didn't sleep as well as we did. Both woke around 3am and struggled to go back to sleep. That's what I remember from our last trip to Beijing. Hopefully, they'll be sleeping better soon.