Baby, Come Fly with Me

It was bound to happen. Evelyn flying that is. 

Infant in arms.....

It was the perfect set up. My parents were going down to Tennessee to visit my little sister Katie. I had the weekend off, while Jordan had to work at the base. I decided it would be really fun for Evelyn and I to go visit too! Jordan would be able to stay at home with the animals, my parents could take the majority of our luggage and Ev and I would go fly. 

I hoped to fly out of our local, smaller airport but the flights weren't working in our favor. So off to Detroit we went. At 4 am. Ugh. 

Getting through security was fun! 

But we made it. I parked in the ramp adjacent to the terminal. Super expensive, but lets be real. 6 am, with a baby, first time doing this flying thing with her. I wasn't messing around. We fly for free so why not park close and make things easier on myself? 

Getting through security was easier than I thought. Everybody was really gracious about being behind a lady with a baby. By herself. I don't think I was too slow, but getting 2 of us through security with a stroller and car seat isn't the fastest way to get through security. And for my first time with a baby, I pretty much thought I was a rockstar! Whether others thought I was quick is a different story, buy I won't let them burst my bubble! 

After getting through security and putting ourselves back together I found the first bathroom that  I came across. Momma got an empty bladder and baby got a new diaper and we were ready to get to our gate! It was almost time to board, my blood pressure was slowly increasing hoping and praying that Evelyn wouldn't be THAT baby that cries the whole time and makes everybody have a miserable flight. 

I was nervous about packing everything up and getting onto the plane by myself with a baby. Thankfully there were some very nice ladies who offered to help me out. They made is SO much easier for me. I seriously wouldn't be able to do it without them. I wish I knew their names because they really made our experience so much better. 

Evelyn and I got to our seat and settled in. The plane wasn't super full so we had a row to ourselves! We were waiting for everybody else to board and every person that went by gave us a look. You know that look that says, "Ugh, seriously a baby on the plane?!" I felt super judged, but whatever, they were going to deal. Evelyn became fussy and was hungry, so she went under the "cloak of secrecy" as I like to call it, aka the nursing cover. 

We had a long taxi to the runway and Evelyn went into a deep sleep just before we were about to take off. My worst nightmare. Did I mention she had a cold? All I could think about was her waking up SCREAMING as we climbed. I had read having the baby sucking while the plane was climbing would help them not cry. And she was passed out. She wasn't going to suck on anything no matter how hard I tried! 

So the plane took off. I waited. Nervously waited. Waited for her to wake up, look me in the eyes and scream, like "Mom, seriously this sucks, how could you?!" But I kept waiting. And NOTHING!  She was staying asleep. She kept sleeping! She was perfect! I was beyond relieved. My baby was actually cooperating. 

Our only hiccup was when I had to pee. Like bad. Like there was no way I could make it the whole flight. But she was sleeping. She was passed out. But I had no choice. We, as plane passengers, were going to have to deal with whatever came our way after I emptied my bladder! We got back to our seat and she again, was better than I expected. She fussed for just a few minutes, went back under the cloak and passed back out. Seriously. Was this real life? 

The rest of our ride was quick, only about 1 hour total, and uneventful. We landed in Nashville and were super excited to see my sister! We got off the plane and I had to laugh at the audible announcements throughout the airport. "Hi, this is George Strait, welcome to Nashville International Airport, we hope you enjoy your stay in Music City USA" in his thick, thick southern accent. What a nice welcome. 

Our way back to Michigan went just as smooth. Evelyn may or may not be a super flier. That makes me very happy and hopeful that we can take fun family vacations all over the country. I can't wait for our next outing, hopefully with Jordan and hopefully to somewhere fun!