Our stressful and emotional arrival in singapore.

Taking a look at the first plane she'll
ever ride on!

What will a 19 hour flight, one-year-old, no sleep, and a chaotic move into a foreign country at 4 a.m. do to a person? Let me tell you... it will make you CRAZY! This mama has been such an emotional and stressful mess over the last 24 hours, that I was ready to pack up and go back home yesterday. Not the feelings I was expecting to have when arriving in Singapore with my little family of three.

Over-all, Linna did very well on the plane. She had a couple whiney moments, but over-all, she slept nicely, and did a great job staying in her car seat. Our flight was delayed by two hours, so we spent a few hours at the Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport. In an attempt to "tire Linna out", we let her crawl around and play before we got on the plane. When we got on board our plane, I gave Linna a little Benadryl, and after about an hour, she was asleep. Before she fell asleep, she was standing up and saying "hi" to everyone around us on the plane. It was pretty cute. At one point, when all three of us were trying to get a little shut-eye, Linna must have had a nightmare, or woke up not knowing where she was, because she let out this piercing scream (like a scream of terror). I got her out of her car seat, we cuddled in my seat, and she fell asleep on me. Although I didn't get much sleep, my baby slept like an angel. We had one stop in Tokyo for about a half-hour, then got on board Singapore Airlines for a seven-hour flight to Singapore (the flight to Tokyo was 12 hours).

Since we were arriving in Singapore around 2 a.m., there's not much I could do to keep Linna's sleep schedule as "normal" as possible. If she slept a lot on the plane (which is good for everyone involved), then she'd be up at 2 a.m. in Singapore. If we kept her awake on the plane, that's not really fair to her because she wants to move around and play, and there's not much room for that on a plane. So, I just kind of let her decide what she wanted to do, and our schedule went out the window. This meant we had a baby that napped a few hours here and there on the plane, but never her usual night-stretch of 12 hours. I could tell she was exhausted when we landed in Singapore, but in true one-year-old fashion, she didn't want to miss a thing, so she was up at 2 a.m. (I'll write more about "traveling with a one year old" later).

Airplane entertainment.

When we arrived in Singapore, we were told that we'd have a driver pick us up from the airport with the keys to our apartment. Well, since our plane was delayed two hours, we arrived in Singapore at least an hour later than scheduled, so our driver wasn't there. Papa Saigh didn't have the driver's number, and since it was 2 a.m. in Singapore, there weren't many people he wanted to call from his Singapore office at that hour, to help us figure out how to get our keys (the apartment's management office didn't open until 9 a.m.). So, we decided to stay in a hotel. This decision did not come without stress, because who wants to load eight pieces of luggage, a car seat, stroller, and a baby into a hotel room, only to have to load it all back up in a few short hours, and unpack it all in the apartment?! Not me. But, we were all exhausted and Linna needed to sleep.

Searching for a hotel in Singapore put me over the edge. We stopped at three different places, only to find that they each only had one-bed rooms available (which is fine), but the rooms were literally only big enough for the bed. We would have had to cram all of our luggage (which wouldn't have fit), and three of us in one small room. THIS is what put me over the edge, so I made Papa Saigh call someone from his new office to help us get our keys to the apartment. The woman he had to call was 9-months pregnant, so I felt awful having to wake her up by our phone call.

It took awhile for us to figure out where our driver was, how we were going to get our keys, etc., and during this time, I really started to "resent" my husband for the whole situation. I realize now that the situation was really beyond both of our control, but at the time, all I could do was yell at him for not getting the driver's info in case our plane was delayed (which it was), and for simply not figuring out an "emergency" plan for the situation we were currently in. It was a combination of the heat (Singapore is HOT, even at 4 a.m.), being WAY over-tired, having a baby to take care of, and not knowing when we were going to be able to get into our apartment, that sent my anger through the roof. I was OVER IT! 

At around 5 a.m., we finally had our driver pick us up from a hotel lobby, and bring us to our apartment. Even though we were FINALLY there, the stress and chaos continued. We couldn't figure out the elevator, OR (once we figured out the elevator) how to get our "key" to work to get us into our apartment. Thank GOD there was a woman awake in her kitchen (I saw her from her window), so I waved at her and asked if she could come out and help us (thankfully, she spoke a little English). In our Singapore apartment, the elevator area and hallways to the apartments are completely out in the open, which means NO AIR CONDITIONING until you are in your apartment unit. Papa Saigh Linna and I were sweating our as*es off, while this little woman (Elizabeth) showed us how to use the elevator and get into our apartment. Of course, once we were in our apartment, the air conditioner hadn't been turned on. WAAAAAHHHH!

Our luggage at the Singapore airport.

Finally, we were in our "new home", but I was still angry, frustrated, and SO tired! We let Linna crawl around to discover her new place while we tried to unpack a little. Since we shipped Linna's pack n' play (her crib) to Papa Saigh's office before we left, and it wouldn't arrive until the next day, Linna and I decided to try to get some sleep in the guest bedroom, while Papa Saigh slept in the master bedroom. The guest bedroom's bed is very close to the floor. I gave Linna a bottle and tried to get her to lay down. If you've ever tried to sleep in bed with a one-year-old who is over-tired, yet still wants to "play", you know it isn't fun or easy. She fell asleep a short time later.

Tokyo airport.

Here comes the part that completely put me over the edge, had me in tears, and wanting to go home. When Linna finally fell asleep, I started to nod off too, and during her attempt to get comfortable, Linna fell off the bed. She hit her head on the ground and started to SCREAM. Although this was only a six-inch drop, the situation was just too much, and I started sobbing. I hated that my daughter didn't have a "safe" place to sleep. I hated that I hadn't showered, our apartment was still hot (takes awhile for the air conditioning to cool the place down), we weren't unpacked, we had no food in the refrigerator, I had no idea what time it was, we had no phones that we could use, no internet, and the person that I was supposed to rely on for help (my husband), well, I was mad at him for bringing us here.

Singapore airport.

Once Linna fell asleep (on a blanket on the floor this time), I took a shower, and COMPLETELY broke down to Papa Saigh told him how I felt. He knew I was mad, but now I was just sad. I was an emotional mess! After talking to him, I realized that I was just over-tired (I was running on MAYBE three hours of sleep over a 48-hour period), and that these "bumps in the road" were making me act completely irrational. We had JUST moved in. Of COURSE there wasn't going to be food in the refrigerator, and things weren't going to be set up! I realized that I hated having our family (especially Linna) outside of our regular routine, but I made myself remember how amazing of an experience we were about to have over the next three months.

One of the pool areas at our apartment in Singapore.

I looked outside and saw all the lush, greenery outside our apartment, and realized how lucky I was to be in Singapore! Our daughter is only one, and she's getting an experience that some people NEVER get to have. She's not going to remember being "over-tired", hot, or falling six inches out of bed. I need to be grateful that she even HAS a bed! We are so fortunate to be in this beautiful city, and we have my husband to thank for all of it. Our family is very blessed.

Attempting to eat her first piece of sushi at
our apartment in Singapore. No go.

As I write this, I am waking up from eight blissful hours of sleep (thanks to the help of some OTC sleeping pills - I had to take them because my anxiety was so high). It's about 5:45 a.m., Linna and Papa Saigh are still sleeping, and I am ready to go explore Singapore! There's still a few things we need to figure out: internet, our phones, etc., but those things will come. I'm not going to let "being out of my element" turn me into an ungrateful b*tch. Linna and I have so many places and things to explore together, and I can't wait to share them all with you!
More to come...