Mount Saint Quilla

For the Thanksgiving holiday, my husband and Quilla & I flew home to NYC to be with our family. It was, of course, the first time Quilla (8 weeks old) had traveled. We probably would've waited till she was a bit older to travel so far, but when she was born in September my Father had just come out of a two month coma. So, none of my family back east were able to fly out west to meet the newest addition to our family. I had promised that as soon as she and I were able, we would come to them instead.
I used to be quite the jet-setter, and would've packed for a week long trip back east in under 30 minutes. Well, let me just say ... packing with "baby on board" is NO joke! I started packing 2 days before the flight, and I am so glad I did! There is just SO much gear and stuff to remember, and my memory skills are not what they used to be pre-pregnancy! In fact, I think my memory is even worse now than when I was pregnant. I sometimes joke that my 2 month old is sucking out a few more IQ points every time she nurses. Anyway, it's a good thing I packed in advance because the one and ONLY thing I forgot to do the night before our flight was to set an alarm. My wake up call was my friend calling me from outside the house to tell us she was here to pick us up. OMG! We had 5 minutes to get ourselves and Quilla dressed and out the door. What a circus! While Raven jumped up and down on the luggage like a crazed gorilla trying to get the bags closed, I sang itsy bitsy spider in a very high pitched voice to keep Quilla laughing as I changed her in record time and got her dressed. In the meantime our two dogs barked at both of us and kept trying to jump inside any luggage that wasn't closed. By the time we got on the road I was a sweaty mess. Quilla was happy though! She seemed amused by the whole charade. I had pumped milk for her in preparation for the trip, so I fed her "breakfast" in the back seat on the way to LAX.
Sometimes I secretly wish I was part Inpsector Gadget so I could "go-go-gadget boobie!" and stick a breast in her mouth inside her car seat from where ever I am in the car. It would make life so much simpler these days!
Apparently, my child has some sort of magical powers. I have never in my life had such an easy time with airport checkin and security! We checked our bags curbside and went inside to get the elevator to our gate. There was a gentleman from our airline that took us to the front of the line at security. Another TSA officer carefully & quickly inspected my remaining 8 ounces of bottled breast milk and then asked if he could help me with anything else as I got Quill situated back in her stroller. After that we went to our gate to ask the woman at the counter if she could help organize better seats for us as my husband was going to be 4 rows away from us, and I preferred not to breastfeed in between strangers on the plane. The flight was over-booked, so my expectations were not high, but she promptly granted our wishes and seated us exactly where I asked her to. We were off to a fantastic start!
Prior to our trip, my brother-in-law gave me some good advise that proved to be very helpful. He said to sit over the wing of the plane as there is more white noise to help the baby sleep, and to feed her during take off and landing so that she is swallowing as it will help her ears to pop. Well, we sat in 27 A & B and my little eating machine NEVER turns down the breast, so eat she DID while taking off and landing!

You would think she traveled everyday since birth. She was an angel! Other passengers and the flight attendants all marveled at how cute, young and yet quiet & well-behaved she was! I was SO proud. She slept through the first 4 1/2 hours of flight. Then she woke, smiled and cooed at me to be fed. Half way through her feeding, I felt something warm on my stomach and then my legs. Oh NOOOOOO! Diaper explotion! She had peed and pooped all over her pale pink leotard, striped leg warmers, and ballerina slippers. It was as if her tiny tush had erupted all over 27A. I didn't want her "perfect little traveler" reputation marred, so I carefully wrapped her in her blanket so no one would see her soiled ruffles as I walked to the back of the plane to the WC with the changing table. Luckily, I had a change of clothing for her in the diaper bag. Sadly, I did NOT have a change of cloths for myself. I was now covered in poop, pee, and spit up from her feeding. I was wearing black though, so you couldn't see the damage. As long as no one stood downwind of me, I don't think anyone would be the wiser! Once she was freshly diapered and clothed, I walked back to my seat. Quilla's admirers whispered how darling her fresh new white outfit was. Her reputation in tact, we landed at JFK New York City.