The flight

Posted on 13. May, 2009 by Jillian in Glycogen Storage Disease

We arrive at the airport. Take out all four car seats (did you know it’s $10 per day per seat to rent them with your car???) and load up all 12 of our suitcases and bags onto our stroller that we’ll be taking with us. At least we can check the car seats.

Ben: “Wow honey, it’s amazing how light you packed!!! This trip will be a breeze as far as luggage goes compared to the other years.”

My Dad: “What in the world did you pack in here??? Do you really need this much stuff? I’m at least checking my bag. There’s no way we can carry this much through an airport, let alone on an airplane!”

The boys (in unison): Mom, can I get a… Dad, why aren’t you coming!!! Wow, I luva Papa! Scream. Whine. No I wanna hold Papa’s hand….

(Okay, the boys weren’t that bad, but there was definitely noise coming from them.)

We get through security which, as many of you may comprehend is a little tricky when you have four boys under the age of 8 who all want to touch everything, 25 pounds of a white powdered substance in snack sized ziploc baggies labeled with their gram weight- complete with gram scale and 60 cc syringes and misc. tubes. Oh, ya, and all sorts of liquid in the form of soy baby formula and a can opener. We also had quite a few electronics to keep the boys from getting into trouble while in flight which needed to be x-rayed individually, and four sets of little shoes to take off and put back on again (not including our own). The double stroller had to be folded up and x-rayed as well- which was a little embarrassing when stray pretzels and cheerios fell out and onto the conveyer belt. Oh, and the two little ones took the opportunity of developing stranger anxiety while I was trying to coax them through the metal detector one at a time. So fun. And did I mention that they were all due for a snack anytime now since we didn’t have time to eat before we left.

I will say this though… All of the airport security was very understanding and helpful. Naturally they had to swab all of our bags- something about them looking a little suspicious- but they helped put all of our x-rayed stuff on a bench where I’d corralled the kids to get their shoes on and repack all of our stuff. By the time I’d finished, my Dad was back with our cleared as “drug free” bags and the single mom traveling with her baby had a new appreciation of how good she had it only traveling with one. There was also a dramatic improvement since last time because the two older ones can now take off and put back on their own shoes with minimal assistance. Ya woo!

Off to the gate: For the first time EVER we didn’t have the last gate in the terminal. They had to switch our seats around a bit so we could sit together on the airplane- pretty common. And my Dad went off to snag us some McDonald’s.

Boarding: Once we got to our seats we had to ask a grumpy looking soldier if she would please trade us seats so we could sit together (apparently she didn’t get the memo about her seat being changed). I felt really bad asking, she looked exhausted, and she acquiesced with poor grace. Once she saw that we had the nerve of bringing four kids on a plane- and she’d be sitting next to them- she seemed a bit more motivated to move to another seat. Funny how that happens.

Plane change in Chicago: We waited for “medical transport” for about 15 minutes while I did cornstarch and my Dad took the older two on a potty break. Transport never came, (I’m gonna die of not surprise) and we finally just made the trek (complete with my stroller they had waiting for us as we got off the plane) to another terminal. We had an hour layover, and we barely made it. Again, we had McDonald’s which thrilled the kids because they aren’t used to getting junk food. And the boarding assistant at the gate said the stewardess would take care of arranging our seats together.

Boarding: Stewardess incredibly upset that the boarding assistant would dare think of such a thing, and is it really necessary for us to sit together?!?! She had a mild panic attack. Again, people had to move seats so we could sit together, but again, they were happy to do so if it meant they weren’t the ones sitting next to a kid.

Flight: Time for more cornstarch on the plane. Now, anyone who has ever tube fed cornstarch on an airplane knows it’s next to impossible to do so without being a bit messy- especially when you have the kind of turbulence we had. Upset stewardess walks by me to collect garbage. She pauses, stares, and asks “What?”. I tell her, and all of a sudden she’s much more helpful. Luckily for me one of the kids had spilled a little complimentary water on their tray and I was able to clean up the cornstarch mess without too much of a problem. I’d even remembered to pack anti-bacterial wipes. Oh yes, I am that good. And, after every flight this trip we received compliments about our well behaved children.

A little while later the stewardess comes back with a handful of wet wipes for me to clean up the mess with and after seeing that I’d already done so she was MUCH nicer. She even offered to help us carry everything off the plane. My dad thinks she was just happy to see us go…

To be continued… again.