Michigan Trip: Makaela's First Flight

Earlier this month we went to Michigan for a friend's wedding that I was lucky enough to be part of (the wedding was phenomenal and I can't wait to talk more about it in a special post). We weren't sure if Tim would be able to go or not due to his school schedule, and unfortunately at the last minute it ended up that he couldn't come. We toyed with the idea of making the 13 hour drive, but since me and Mak were going solo we thought flying would be the better bet. Thirteen hours probably would have turned into something like 20 hours, road rage and lots of tears and headaches.

Of course we've all heard the horror stories of flying with infants. The ear pain. The screams. Exploding diapers. Glares from fellow passengers. Man, I'm getting anxiety just thinking about all that COULD go wrong.

Honestly, I think I was most nervous about the logistics of traveling alone with a baby. Two extra hands would have definitely put me a little more at ease. Babies have A LOT of crap. I seriously had nightmares about toting all the baby necessities, plus normal travel necessities AND a little one through the airport....oh and then onto the shuttle to the car rental site. Hives anyone?

Sit here while mommy gets everything situated, okay?

Now that I've set the stage for a disastrous experience, let me blow your mind by saying the trip went better than I could have EVER imagined. Like blue skies, sunshines and little-birds-chirping good.

There were several things that got me through the travel...

1. I packed very lightly for myself. Normally, I'm indecisive about my outfits. But this was CERTAINLY not the time or place to be indecisive. Everything I brought I would have to carry. I planned each outfit carefully and matched things so that I wouldn't need to bring many pairs of shoes.

I kept reminding myself that worst case scenario, I could just buy what I needed when I got there if I left something out. I also checked with those I was staying with to see if I could do laundry at their homes.

2. I arranged to borrow the big stuff from friends and family. I would have had a serious meltdown if I had to tote a stroller and a pack and play through the airport. Thankfully, family and friends stepped up and offered to let little Mak borrow theirs while we were in town. They also offered toys and other helpful items like bouncers. I couldn't have survived without this help!!

I bought diapers and a majority of her baby food when we got to Michigan so I only packed what I needed for the flight and first day.

3. I checked her carseat with my luggage. Carseats are heavy and awkward and I complain just carrying it into the grocery store, so I knew I didn't want to lug the baby in that thing through the airport . We had a short layover, so I also knew gate checking would be a hassle because I would have to wait for them to unload the carseat, and then re-gate check it. Since our layover was only 40 minutes I had JUST enough time to get off one plane, change the girl's poopy diaper and jet over to our next gate (which of course was in an entirely different concourse, thanks Atlanta, thanks.)

I complain about Delta all the time, but I have to give them props on this one because they allow you to check carseats for free.

I wore Mak through the airport and it was easy-peasy and it freed up both hands. Hallelujah.

4. I accepted help when offered. Nine times out of ten when people offer assistance I respond without thinking and say "Oh that's okay I've got it, thank you though!" Not this time! On the way back when a Detroit Airport employee offered to have someone get me a cart and transport all of my stuff from the rental car shuttle to the ticket counter and oversized baggage drop, I jumped on the offer.

5. I let the TSA agents know I would be carrying on baby food and breast milk. I'm sure they probably figured I had that kind of stuff since, after all, I did have a baby strapped to my chest, but I gave them a heads up anyway. On our way there they tested some of the milk in their little bomb testing machine. It took about 5 minutes and then we were good to go.

6. When I booked my flight I told them I needed the "infant in arms" stamp on my ticket. On our first two flights (Dothan to Atlanta and Atlanta to Detroit) I had NO ONE sitting next to me. Yes, you read that right. The first flights I've been on in YEARS that weren't overbooked. On the first flight there were only two open seats, so I felt very fortunate to have one next to me. On the flights home, I did have people next to me, but the seats next to me were the last ones to be filled (they got taken by standby passengers). So here is what I think: If you have the "infant in arms" designation on your ticket early on, I believe that the airlines do their best to keep a seat open next to you if at all possible.

7. I let the baby do whatever she wanted on the plane as long as she wasn't disturbing others or harming herself.  That meant letting her look out the window, playing with the tray table, chewing and crumbling SkyMall, playing with her toys and nursing. I'm relieved to say she didn't have any meltdowns. I also had nice passengers behind me and in front of me that would make silly faces at her. She loved that.

8. I took my time. Slow and steady wins the race keeps their sanity. I didn't rush at all. I made sure to allow much more time than I would have normally needed. At one point when I was unpacking the rental car the representative started to take my luggage to the shuttle. Normally, I would have gone into panic mode and just quickly through everything together to catch that shuttle, but instead I told him I was going to need another 5 minutes and would rather wait for the next shuttle. No biggie!

The airport nearest our house is super small. Like, I'm pretty sure the ticketing agent also runs the gift shop and cafe. There is only 1 gate, and 4 flights a day. All of which go to the same place. With that being said, it made things less stressful on travel day. I didn't have to worry about crowds of people rushing, as I figured things out.

On one of our flights she decided to sing and entertain the whole plane. It was nice to hear everyone laughing instead of seeing glaring eyes. The girl is SUCH a ham though. She was literally hanging over the arm rest and flirting with anyone who would make eye contact with her.

On our very last flight, I do believe that her ears bothered her at one point because she pawed at them and fussed for a couple minutes. My ears bothered me almost that entire flight, which is odd for me, so I'm thankful that my little girl wasn't in too much pain.

Now the flights and airport adventures weren't completely flawless, don't get me wrong...

The plane we took from Dothan to Atlanta was SMALL and I mayyyyy have accidentally knocked Mak's head into an overhead bin as we were trying to find our seats. Oops.

And then on the plane ride from Atlanta to Detroit one of her bags of frozen milk some how thawed and leaked all over the floor of the cabin. Of course I didn't realize this until I picked up the cooler when we were deplaning and saw milk dripping all over the place. I was able to clean it up, but was stressed about losing milk!! I already was freaking out that I might not have enough to get her through the day she would be away from me, but more on that in another post, this is getting wayyyy too long.

Oh and I can't fail to mention the fact that Mak pooped on each flight. She's a master at pooping in the most inconvenient places at the most inconvenient times. She'll go days without pooping with no problem, but put her on a plane and apparently multiple poops in one day are absolutely necessary. Thankfully our flights were short, and she didn't poop until the end of each flight, so I was able to change her in the airport bathroom. Phew.

So there we have it. Mama and baby survived baby's first airport, flight, rental car extravaganza. It went so well that I'm not afraid to do it again. I mean, don't expect Mak to become a frequent flier just for the heck of it, but we definitely won't be afraid to get out!