Since I haven't done a blog post in a long time I decided to write one about my experience flying with Isabella. As most of you know, Isabella and I flew to North Carolina from Guam just a few days ago. Isabella was exactly 10 weeks old on the day that we took this flight. There were three flights total. The first flight was from Guam to Hawaii and was 7.5 hours long, the second flight was from Hawaii to Chicago and was another 7 hours long, finally there was the flight from Chicago to Raleigh that was 2 hours long.
To simplify the transitions between planes I wore Isabella in a carrier on my chest and carried a backpack and my diaper bag onto the plane. I also did cloth diaper during the flights as well! (Yes I know it was a little adventurous but I wanted to go all out with these diapers. As long as I am doing it I might as well do it continuously, go all out!)
We all woke up at 4am on the morning of my flight. We were out of the house by 4:35 since we had everything organized and ready the night before. We got to the airport at 5 am and had a time trying to get Isabella a ticket. The kiosk wanted me to scan her passport but we don't have a passport for a 2 month old! I mean really it takes at least 4 months to even get a passport to begin with! Luckily, I had her birth certificate for proof that I was her mother and she was who I said she was. Still, the guy that was helping us didn't seem to know what to do to help us out and had to ask around. Finally we got the ticket (a infant-in-lap ticket) and went to security. This is where I started to stress out because the security line was super long and our plane left at 6:25 (by this time it was about 5:30). But apparently when you are carring an infant in Guam you get special treatment! The security guard sent me straight to the front of the line via the employees entrance! That was pretty nice. So Isabella and I said goodbye to Matthew (or see-you-later) and headed for our flight. Getting though security was pretty easy. I carried some breast milk and all they had to do with that was have me take it out of the cooler and swipe my hands with some screen-er to check for explosives (or whatever that thing checks). Isabella was asleep by the time we got to security so that made it easy to get all my stuff together
Finally we made it to the gate and once again got the royal treatment and moved straight up the line to go through customs and get onto the plane priority boarding! Oh and I forgot to mention, we upgraded our seat so that we were in Economy Plus for the first flight. That was def worth it! That first flight was relatively easy. Isabella was sleeping at first and then woke up right before take off so she could nurse during the take off. I was sitting around a bunch of men (literally all men) so I used my cover to nurse her this whole flight. The extra few inches to the seat was a life saver and so was the nursing pillow that I brought with me. Isabella slept most of that flight and when she wasn't sleeping she was a relatively happy baby and didn't fuss much at all! She did however poop 4 times during that flight! Yepp, you read that right, 4 poopy diapers. Luckily only one was a really big one that almost (but not quite) blew out of her diaper. Still running with no poopy blowouts in the bum genius diapers! The 7 hours drug on for me though because I was not able to sleep (to uncomfortable with baby in lap) and there were no tv screens on this plane to keep me occupied. I tried to read a couple times but it was inevitable that as soon as I picked up the kindle Isabella would need me to nurse or move her or just snuggle.
The transfer in Hawaii was horrible! The worst part of the whole process! I had to take my checked bag through customs which consisted of a bus ride to the customs building, picking up my bag off the carousel and then dropping it off less than 100 feet away. That was easy but seemed pretty pointless to me. But it was trying to figure out how to get to my next flight that was so bad. The attendants just told me to got the elevator and the to the second floor. They didn't say that I would be walking about a mile with an infant, backpack and diaper bag on me to get to the security line! That was a long walk. That airport is long and the security check was all the way on the other side of it. Didn't get special treatment in Hawaii and had to wait in line this time. I just made it to my next flight when we had to board.
The flight from Hawaii to Chicago wasn't too bad. She didn't sleep as much but luckily we were in the very back of the plane and had a nice woman sitting on one side of me and an empty seat on the other side. I was able to nurse without the cover (so much easier) and to use the extra space beside me for multiple purposes. Isabella only let me put her down on the seat next to me for about an hour. She was still a happy baby though and didn't cause me much trouble but once when I believe she didn't like the turbulence and started crying.
Now by the time we got to Chicago we had been flying for 14 hours and been up for about 20 hours without a decent meal. I had a couple snacks and was able to get a pretzel in the Chicago airport. But in Chicago I was so relieved to be there because I knew that in just a couple more hours I would be in NC and off the planes for a while! I was looking forward to seeing my parents! Isabella made a friend in the waiting area in Chicago. A little 4-5 year old girl really loved shaking her had and playing with her feet. She was adorable.
Compared to the previous two flights the flight from Chicago to Raleigh was super easy and quick. I sat in the very last row of this flight as well and Isabella nursed during the take off and slept the rest of the way up until we put her in the car seat in Raleigh. When we finally arrived in Raleigh it was after 22.5 hours of traveling and hardly any sleep for this momma. I was able to get probably 10 mins nodding off here and there for a total of maybe an hour the whole time. Oddly enough, when I saw my mom, dad and Nina at the waiting area in the airport I was pretty exhilarated and awake.
Overall, the whole process went really smoothly. Isabella was such an ideal flying baby that I even had a few people comment to me that she was doing so well on the flights! I was able to cloth diaper the whole time with no problems. The biggest piece of advice I would give to any momma with an infant that is flying long distances is to carry a nursing pillow with you! It saved my arms many times and gave her a nice pillow-y surface to lay against.
We are now safely situated in North Carolina and making plans to visit everyone we can in the time that we have here. I am enjoying my time here so far and the NC weather is taking it easy on me since it is actually pretty nice weather right now.
Now just waiting until my other half can get out here to share this experience with us! We miss you Matthew!!
Thanks for reading! :)
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