Monday, May 25, 2009

Tulsa: Getting Here

On Friday I boldly began my journey to Tulsa by myself with Kyra and Kylie. We had only minor drama getting through security which passed once Kyra got her Bear back after he rode the conveyor belt through the x-ray machine. I arrived at our gate with enough time to feed Kyra some pretzels and Kylie a bottle and then we boarded our flight to St. Louis.

As soon as I could, I put a movie on and the girls were both behaving good. I was beginning to relax a little as I fed Kylie some squash while she was seated on my lap. I was feeling confident about our flight, so I went ahead and had the flight attendant pour me a coke. Kyra immediately began harassing me for a drink of the coke and in my attempt to keep her away, I failed to notice that Kylie had moved within reaching distance. In 1.69 seconds the coke was all over my lap and the ice had conveniently fallen into my open backpack on the floor below. Then, in my effort to get the ice out of the backpack before it could melt, I again failed to note Kylie's reach. Before I could even get one ice cube out, the container of baby food was on my lap.

The flight attendant had been seated right across the aisle from me the entire time and never even flinched. I leaned across the aisle and, using all my restraint to keep from sounding too annoyed that he hadn't offered any help, I asked for some towels. Without uttering a word or even getting up from his seat, he reached behind me and pulled a wad of paper towels from a cabinet. He handed them to me with a sigh and then turned his body away from me and stared out the window. I got up, set Kylie in my seat, and cleaned the coke and squash off myself, the backpack, the seat, and the floor as best as I could with dry paper towels. When I finished the flight attendant left his seat and proceeded to collect garbage from the passengers, coming to me last as I patiently sat with a wad of gross paper towels in my hand. I figured the worst was over since all I needed to do now was just sit with Kylie on my lap and keep the girls entertained for the rest of the flight. But about 30 minutes before landing I realized Kylie had emptied her bladder and my skirt had somehow managed to soak up what her diaper didn't.

We made it to St. Louis where I quickly changed diapers and fed the girls another snack. We weren't there more than 20 minutes when I realized our flight to Tulsa had already boarded, so we quickly gathered our stuff and joined the rest of the passengers on board. I fed Kylie her bottle on the plane just before takeoff and with a full stomach, she fell fast asleep as we made our way down the runway. After we had been airborne a few minutes, Kylie began heaving. I sat her up and pulled her pacifier out of her mouth and without ever opening her eyes, she threw up all over the two of us. She then laid back and continued her nap as I began to try to clean her and myself with a burp cloth. I finally just gave up knowing that my parents wouldn't care what we looked or smelled like, they would just be happy to see us. Kylie slept most of the flight and wiith my one free hand, I did my best to keep Kyra entertained with coloring and stickers and looking out the window.

Finally, and 20 minutes ahead of schedule, we landed in Tulsa. We claimed our bags and waited for GP and Grammy to pick us up (they hadn't expected us to be so early). I was covered in coke, squash, pee, and vomit, but we made it. And even if Kylie couldn't keep her bodily functions in check, the girls still both behaved so great all day. All in all, I'd say we actually had a good trip.

Eating snacks as the airport in St. Louis:

4 comments:

Lyryn said...

Good to hear you got there safely!

Unknown said...

I have been thinking about you and how brave you were to fly w/them. Sounds like you did okay! I will be praying for a great visit w/family and a seamless trip home!

a blog full of weldons. said...

wow, you are totally my hero! i can't believe you had so many fluids sprung on you!!! LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU! have a wonderful time!!!!!

Cindy said...

Welcome to motherhood!! You survived! Glad you were here too!