Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Conditions Were Perfect...

I always get nervous to travel with kids. It is hard for me to balance the amount of stuff I need to stuff into my diaper bag to prepare me for a terrible flight without having so much stuff that the diaper bag carry on is too heavy and bulky. In August the kids did great. Cooper asked if he could sleep on the plane and slept over half the time and the other half he played happily with his toys. Maggie is a little more tricky because she doesn't like to stay in my lap but she is usually pretty happy as long as there are fruit snacks and crayons.
Two weeks ago we flew to Utah. I wasn't as nervous as I had been in the past, despite being 7 months pregnant and traveling alone with a 3 year old and a lap child. Conditions were good for a nice flight. It was an early evening flight and Maggie had taken a short nap so she was ready for a second nap. Cooper went to the bathroom right before we got to the gate and both kids sat and ate chicken and fries as we waited to board. I was equipped with extra clothes for Maggie in case her diaper soaked through, and a plastic bad in case she had a stinky diaper. I had starburst, Cheetos, skittles and extra fruit snacks- all of the favorite go to snacks to make my kids happy. I had a good variety of toys, coloring books, Ipad games and books. I felt prepared and excited for the direct flight to Salt Lake, and since it was a smaller plane and everyone had checked in they let us board early and we took off 20 minutes early. We started off great, the kids were mellow and Cooper asked if he could sleep! About 20 minutes into the flight beverage service began. When the cart was two rows in front of us Cooper started whining saying he had to go potty. Taking my kids to the airplane bathroom is always a bad experience. I told him to hold it, I told him I would buy him any toy he wanted if he could wait until we got off the plane. He decided he would hold it if I got him the blue Iron Man costume. No more than 20 seconds later he was bouncing and said he couldn't hold it. The beverage cart was right in front of us so I either needed to buck up and take him, or make him hold it for another half hour.
I grabbed Maggie and pushed Cooper towards the back of the plane. Thankfully there was no one in the back row so I was able to put Maggie in a seat while I showed Cooper what to do in the bathroom. He was in there so long! I don't know what he was doing! Finally he was done and we made our way back to our seats. The flight attendant lectured me on the dangers of getting up while the seatbelt sign is on and told me they were not liable for anything that could happen to us. Some flight attendants need to chillax.
We sat down and they gave us juice and pretzels. Two minutes later the kids didn't want juice and pretzels so I downed two cups of orange juice and a cup of water to avoid any spills. A few minutes later I put Maggie on the floor standing between my legs so that I could bend down to get Coopers back pack of toys. I was trying to get Cooper situated when Maggie puked all over my lap! I quickly grabbed her blanket and started scooping up the puke when she started round two. I grabbed the barf bag and caught about half of round two in the bag. Then Cooper started whining saying it was so stinky and some had got on him. I tried as calmly as I could to tell him to relax but then he started saying he was going to throw up. I grabbed a barf bag and handed to him just as Maggie started throwing up for round three! So of course then Cooper started throwing up. The problem with Cooper is that he didn't have a good grip on the bag so the bag slipped out of his hands and he got some throw up on his shirt before I was able to grab his bag for him. It was at this time, as I was holding a barf bag in each hand for each kid that my eyes started to water and I started to gag. I closed my eyes and took a few breaths to get my stomach under control. Maggie had emptied her belly and I was helping Cooper when she started crying about her shirt. Cooper finished throwing up and I sealed both barf bags and started changing Maggie's shirt. It was then that I noticed all the people in the rows next to me were trying to hand me extra barf bags, water and crackers. I was so overwhelmed, this was so much worse than any worse case scenario I had ever imagined (is it terrible that I almost asked one of the other passengers to take a picture so I could instagram it!). I gratefully grabbed the extra barf bags just in time for Cooper to throw up again. Then came time for the clean up. I grabbed the baby wipes and wiped Coopers face, shirt and pants. He wasn't too bad to clean up. I changed Maggie's clothes and wiped up my pants with her blanket and stuffed all the gross clothes into a bag. I was grateful I had packed pajamas and an extra blanket for her. The hardest part of clean up was trying to get the little puddle on the floor. I had a hard time reaching the floor with my big belly. I think I used almost half the pack of baby wipes getting myself, the kids and the floor clean! By the time we were cleaned up the flight was almost half way over and the kids were pretty mellow for another half hour which was nice. Then they were hungry. I am sure everyone thought I was crazy for giving my kids a bunch of Cheetos an hour after they had puked everywhere but it was all we had. By the time we got off the plane the kids were hyper and ready to run around and aside from the stench of my now dried pants you would have never guessed there was a puke incident. From now on I will be glad for any flights survived without throwing up, although looking back, and now that its over, I don't  think it was as bad as having a fussy baby the whole time, that stresses me out....
Our flight home was awesome by the way. It was a late night flight and a fairly empty plane so Kevin and Cooper had a row of three seats to themselves and Maggie and I had our own row, it makes a big difference!

11 comments:

M. Dahl said...

You are amazing. I would have been a crying mess. Good job!

Mandi said...

Oh my goodness! I imagine that story will be told and retold for years. That is terrible! And . . . it was not a good day to read this. I was actually getting on the computer to find ideas of how to keep my kinds entertained on the airplane tomorrow. I am heading out by myself with 3 kids! I am sorry you had to go through that. You are amazing. Kevin owes you a million times over!

Maurine said...

Oh Linds that is horrible. I am not good with puke. I would have flipped out.

Mariley Johnson said...

Oh man!!!! You win the prize for best flight!

Rachel said...

I am sorry but I had to laugh. I can't imagine; glad the way home was much better! And I think I would take a crying kid over vomit (even though it stresses me out too).You deserve a prize for sure!
-Rachel

Anna said...

Wow, what a story. You're a hero for handling all that.

Anna said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
fashionshoppingcenter said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
AB said...

Oh my goodness...that is one of my fears when traveling. Glad it all turned out okay and that you didn't join in the fun!

On a side note, what's your email address? The one I have says there's a permanent failure.

Hope all is well!

AB said...

Oh, this is Ashleigh by the way. :)

Lindsey said...

Ashleigh how are you!! My email is lindselaine@yahoo.com happy thanksgiving, are you doing thanksgiving in Kuwait?