The Journey Home

Playing at JFK while waiting for plane number three!

Before we left, I had lots of worries about various parts of the trip.  For the most part, my fears were exaggerated.   Crying, fear, illness, and food issues were minimal.  However, the one part of my trip where my fears were warranted was the plane ride home.  It really was as bad as I had expected it to be. 

Our trip was broken up into three legs.  The first from Addis to Dubai was not too bad.  The flight was only 3 and 1/2 hours long and we had a bassinet.  So, Abe fell asleep shortly after take-off and then we laid him in the bassinet- no problem!  The lady in Addis assured us that we had a bassinett confirmed through JFK.  

However, when we arrived in Dubai, we went straight from plane one to plane two and when we got to plane two we found that there were 12 infants and only 6 bassinets.   Thus began the 14 hour flight flight from Hades.  Imagine with me... a 24 pound screaming toddler you've only known for 5 days aboard a plane that is COMPLETELY full.  You are already exhausted as it is 1:00 AM when you board the plane.  It was painful...I mean painful.  About four hours before we landed Ryan looked at me and said, "Let's open that emergency door and jump!"  

The thing is, Abe slept about 10 hours of the flight.  We actually resorted to giving him a small dose of Benadryl and I truly believed that helped.  So, when he slept, we just took turns holding him while trying to sleep (all 24 pounds of him).  But, the four hours he was awake felt like 24 hours.  We had put every trick we could think of in the bag: toys, snacks, bottles, cups, more toys.  But, it just wasn't enough.  We were exhausted and he was out of sorts and it was painful!

Then, when we finally got to JFK, it took about 2 hours to get through immigration and gather our luggage and schlep it from terminal 4 to terminal 8.  By the time we finally got through security for our last leg of the flight- I just wanted to rock in a corner for a few minutes.  Instead I resorted to some good old American cholesterol!  

For what it's worth, here are a few of my plane specific travel tips for future traveling families:

• Pack several changes of clothes for the child- Abe went through way more clothes on the plane than he had all week!
• Pack a variety of snacks and toys
• Pack Benadryll
• Be sure to have your child freshly diapered and changed before getting off the plane in the States.  We made the mistake of thinking we'd wait till we got off and the immigration process was painfully long for us, he was dripping wet by the time we were able to care for him.
• If you have a late day departure, nap before you leave Addis- you'll need it! 
• Keep reminding yourself that it will all be a memory very soon and that you'll never have to see those people who are shooting you dirty looks again!

The one part of our journey that was precious was our homecoming.  We had lots of family and friends waiting for us when we got off the plane and it made the yuck of the last 24 hours melt away that much quicker!

Our Welcome Home Committee!