Flying not so solo....Part 1

So as you all can probably guess from previous posts by Heather (cuz I have been slacking this week for sure) I got to fly out to Cali for a most wonderful Sprinkle put on by my 2 best friends.  However....doing so meant flying 6.5 months preggos by myself.  I was nervous....but nothing that a seasoned flyer like me couldn't handle right?  I broke this into 2 parts cuz it's long....and the second part is highly entertaining and I think deserves a post of it's own....

Let me just start by saying....."uuuuggghhhh."  That's me...sighing and groaning with such a pre-conceived notion that this would be a piece of cake.  My day started pretty normal.....waking up the baby, feeding him breakfast (we both got a special treat....waffles!!!) and played a little before my father in law came to pick us up.  The only hitch to this morning was the wheezing cough that was eeking through my little man's mouth.  Uggghhhhh.  Here's me....crying as we dropped him off with grandma.....partially cuz I was going to miss him....and mainly cuz I was wracked with guilt about leaving him at his most desperate time of need.  Ok that's a little dramatic....but he was sick!!  And I was leaving!!  How horrible a mother am I??

(sigh) Anyway, I made it to the airport in a decent mind set, trying to tell myself that my son was in the best hands possible (besides me) and pumping myself up for a weekend of diapers, divas, sprinkles and Disney! Woot!  The one thing I didn't think about for the day?  How many times I had to ask people for help.  Help me put my bag on the securty belt, help take it off, wait patiently as I bend down to remove my shoes over my gigantic belly, and how much I kept apologizing to people for being slow, or cautious, or....well...pregnant!

Because my father in law is super prompt and sometimes outrageously OVER prompt...I arrived at the airport a FULL 2 hours early.  I hate waiting in airports....it's one of my peeves.  But thakfully I was hungry, so I head for the nearest restaurant.....which happens to be a bar.  Normally not an issue...but I had weirdness over single pregnant lady in a bar.  And all the tables from the entrance were the bar height tables with stools!!!  Are you kidding?  I mean, can you imagine seeing a preggos clambering to get up on one of those chairs? I just imagined my feet going numb from all the pressure, especially since I'm not tall enough to reach the foot rest on a normal day anyway, and then sliding down the chair ever so carefully only to fall flat on my face.  Wonderful.  So I managed to get the guts up to head in and go towards the back of the bar and found a nice, cozy, normal 30" high table in the corner.  I tucked my belly under the table and ordered some wonderful lunch.  I don't even think my server knew I was preggos until I got up to leave.  SUCCESS!!!

I prepped to board the plane then, not certain if I counted for pre-boarding as a person who needs "special assistance."  I decided I was too good for that and didn't need it....but from the countless stares from people....they apparently thought I did.  Hey, don't mind the belly people....think of it as my extra carry-on luggage.  Thankfully the male flight attendant was standing right next to my seat when I came hobbling down the aisle as the person in front of me was an 8 year old and the person behind me was a woman who looked like she was about to break in half.  Seriously...she turned sideways and disappeared.  I don't think she could have lifted a breadstick let alone a full roller bag.  Plus, I didn't feel bad about asking him.  It's his job right?

Ok....now...I chose an aisle seat so I would obviously not have to bother 2 people as I constantly got up to pee and stretch out during the 6 hour flight.  Yup...thought of everything (although that one was kind of a given....so....whatever....patting myself on the back anyway).  What I did not account for was the turbulence on the plane and the nazi flight attendants who would NOT allow you to get out of your seat with the seatbelt sign on.  I know it's all a matter of safety and security (especially now)....but really.  Do you not see the belly.  I WILL pee my pants.  And when I did have an opportunity to get up....maneuvering down the aisle was quite a feat.  I couldn't suck in, but had to avoid all the limbs of sleeping passengers in order to walk up and down the aisle.  I kept hitting this one tattooed arm with my belly cuz it was sticking out so much....whatever....sorry dude.  I also got a constant reminder that I was NOT flying alone by the nearly continuous kicking and pushing by my little wee nutty.  He apparently really liked the flight, but considering that I was sitting alot, he was also not being rocked asleep by my normal running-after-a-crazy-toddler movement.  Out of the whole flight....I think I spent 75% of it in my seat.....which later shows to cause some serious havoc on my poor swollen body.......

To be continued.....