It is Wednesday morning and I have been away from Stella for over 24 hours. Yesterday I snuck away in the early morning darkness to catch my flight to Boston. I stole a couple kisses from my sleeping baby and disappeared into the night. I felt sad on the way to the airport but with the craziness of checking-in and airport security, my mind was filled with other thoughts. I had a video of Stella laughing on my phone and decided it would be helpful to watch her while I was waiting for our flight to board. BIG MISTAKE. I immediately started crying. Not sniffly crying, like when you get choked up about something but CRYING like when you are PMS-ing and you see a Hallmark or Folgers commercial (Remember that one where the college son comes home and surprises his family on Christmas morning? Yea, I have goosebumps right now.) My brother walked up to us and said he saw me and thought, "Oh, oh. Something just happened while I was gone and I am not going to say one word." The tears were flowing while I boarded, during take-off, and still three hours later when I was landing in Chicago for our layover. Once I checked in with my parents, and they sent some pictures, I finally was able to relax. I am sure the beer I had during lunch didn't hurt either.
I went wandering through the airport looking for a place to pump...yes, and dump. According to American Airlines I am not allowed to carry breastmilk on the plane unless I was traveling with a baby. TSA did say I could take milk on the place but it would have to be frozen. Since I didn't happen to bring my freezer with me, I decided I was going to have to dump this liquid gold until I could figure something else out. Since airports aren't exactly private, I chose to wait to pump on the plane. The nice flight attendants allowed me to use the back row and once they figured out how to turn the outlets on I was good to go. (Did you know there were outlets under each seat? I didn't. Pretty cool though.) Thanks American Airlines flight attendants for making it the friendly skies!
After checking in to the hotel, we went to a nice dinner and then partied like rockstars at the Dave Matthews concert (enter teenage fan scream here). I love Boston! We were able to have access to the backstage area, the VIP lounge, and also had amazing seats. It was a great time! After the show I checked in on grandma and grandpa who assured my all was good on the homefront.
Fast forward to now. I am getting ready to pack up and head back home. Who thought it would go this fast? I am so excited to get back to Stella and feel very fortunate having my family to take care of her while I was gone. It was a good test for me, and for her. Looks like mommy and baby passed. Now, I am off to go formulate a plan to bring home some breastmilk. I am actually considering packing it in my suitcase in bags of ice....Hmmmmmm.
Here are a couple pics from the side stage viewing area:
glad you had a great time!
ReplyDeletep.s. the thing about milk is actually per the TSA. the airlines have no choice on it :) it's all part of that liquid ban, and originally TSA wouldn't even allow milk/formula when traveling WITH the baby! at least they relaxed that part.
Sorry you had to go through that! I hate leaving my little one also. Thanks for following me at www.SheltonMade.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteOur babies are only 12 days apart!! =)
I'm your newest follower!
-Kimberly
Yeah flutiefan, I can't imagine they used to not allow that even with a baby! That is scary - I mean I understand what the reasoning behind it all is - but come on!
ReplyDeleteHaute Mom - Looks like you had a great time - DMB is the best! You are brave to leave your little one for so long. I give you a gold star! Let us know if y ou were able to pack the BM in ice in your suitcase LOL - I hope you were!