So, on Friday evening we headed to the airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for the 30-hour journey back home to Michigan. For those of you who know me, this is the day I have been dreading since we began the adoption process. I have heard the horror stories about countless blowout diapers and hystarical crying infants on the airplane. I will admit, I was terrified to travel with a 5-month old. But, believe it or not, taking care of Eli was the easiest part of this trip. He was absolutely a dream and slept like a little angel on all 3 of our flights.
However, the trip still was HORRIBLE.
Our first Lufthansa flight was from Addis to Frankfurt, Germany. It was 7 1/2 hours long. We got to the airport 2 1/2 hours early because we wanted to secure a bassinet seat. These are the seats at the front of the coach section on International flights where you can have a little crib attached to the wall infront of you. When we booked our flight with our travel agent we requested one of these seats, then we asked again when we checked in, at the gate and again when we boarded. We have heard you have to insist several times to get one, so we wanted to make sure we talked to the right people and got the seat.
Well, guess what? We didn't get it. Nope. There were, "too many infants on the plane" and we drew the short end of the stick. (I would just like to note that we had the YOUNGEST child on the plane. Some of the people who got the seats could barely fit their child in the bassinet!)
So, for 7 1/2 hours we sat crammed in yet another middle seat with Eli stretched across our laps. By the end of that flight, a countless number of people kept telling us how shocked they were at how fabulously he handled such a long flight. He is a resiliant baby, that's for sure. I was still upset about the bassinet, but was determined not to let the same thing happen on our next flight.
So, then we had a 5-hour layover in Frankfurt. Remember how Mark and I got such great sleep in Frankfurt on the way to Ethiopia? Yeah, well... when you have an infant that just slept for 7 1/2 hours, that's not gonna happen. Eli was ready to play! The good news was that we were able to get real food and Diet Coke again! Whooohoooo!
So then we boarded the flight to Chicago. Otherwise known as: The beginning of Hell on earth.
Yet again on this Lufthansa flight, we did not get a bassinet. We requested it AGAIN, and we were denied AGAIN. I do hope the gentlemen that was without a child and was reading his paper the entire flight was happy with his bassinet seat. (And yes, I have sent a complaint letter about this to Lufthansa) So, we ended up crammed in the middle seats of the back of the plane AGAIN. It was SO HOT, we were SO TIRED and I was one breath away from going off on the flight staff. We also were put next to a teenaged kid who wanted to listen to his techno music on full blast for the entire duration of the 8-hour flight. There was one point I was so hot and exhausted I got up to just walk with Eli in the back of the plane for some air. Here is the conversation I had with a random old lady in the back of the plane a few hours into the flight. (This would be about 20 hours into our trip home and about 30 hours since the last time I slept.)
Random Lady: "Honey, are you doing okay?"
Me: (holding back tears in my eyes) "Yes, I will survive, I'm just very very tired that's all"
Random Lady: "This must be so hard, he's such a good baby though, you are very lucky."
Me: "Yes, I know.... but... I am just so tired... this plane is so hot.... and.... (crying begins) I just am exhausted."
Random Lady: "Do you want me to hold him for a minute so you can relax?"
Me: "Actually, yes. I just need a minute."
A few moments later Mark looks back at me from his seat and sees me without Eli and with a look of terror he mouths out to me, "WHERE IS ELI?!!" I mouth back for him not to worry and I compose myself. Thank God for that random sweet woman. I was able to sit down, take a few deep breaths and momentarily compose myself.
A few hours later we got to Chicago. Finally, I thought, 'Praise God! We are so very very close, nothing can go wrong now!'
Yeah, I was wrong. Chicago was pure and utter misery.
We got off the plane and I changed Eli's diaper. Well, I was so tired that I changed it wrong. Next thing I knew I had pee all over the side of me. (Mind you, we have not showered in over a day and a half now) So, I go to the bathroom and change him. Guess what? A few minutes later he pees on me again. This time, on the other side. I think I was just so tired that I kept pointing his you-know-what in the wrong direction. So, here we are, I have pee on both sides of me and we are hauling all of our luggage through the forever long line at customs, on the shuttle across the airport and over to the domestic United desk to check in for our last little 35 minute flight to Grand Rapids. We arrive at the gate and this is the conversation we have:
Mark: "Hi, we'd like to check in, Mark, Amy and Eli Post."
(Insert 2 minutes of silence)
Mean United Lady: "I don't have your name on the list of passengers."
Mark: "What? Here's our confirmation number right here, how can this be?"
Mean United Lady: "Well, Lufthansa must have messed something up."
Mark: Can you please just call Lufthansa and confirm that we have this flight? As you can see we have a lot going on here." (This is while Eli is SCREAMING at the top of his lungs because he is now ready for a bottle and I don't have one ready because we used them all on the last plane)
Mean United Lady: "No I can't, you have to go back to Lufthansa."
Mark: "So, your telling me we can't solve anything here by calling someone, we have to go all the way back to the International terminal with our 8 bags of luggage and our baby?"
Mean United Lady: says nothing. (This REALLY made me upset)
Mark: "Ma'm I really need to get this resolved here, can you please call someone at Lufthansa, we need to feed our son and we can't haul all this luggage back across the airport again."
Mean United Lady: "No, I can't. You have to take your luggage back on the shuttle to Lufthansa and ask them why they didn't transfer you as passengers to our flight"
Mark: "Wow, I just want to note that I think you should just call them and I think your customer service today has been terrible."
Mean United Lady: "Well, I don't like your tone."
Me: "Excuse me miss, what is your name?"
Mean United Lady: "Lisa"
Me: "Lisa what?"
Mean United Lady: "Lisa.... that's all you need to know!"
Thankfully, a nice security person called Lufthansa, they sent a rep over and they walked right up to "Lisa that's all you need to know" and confirmed for her that we were in fact passengers. However, we still had to go to the Lufthansa counter across the airport and wait for our transfer tickets. (We didn't have to take the luggage though, and I was able to make Eli a bottle while Mark checked it in) However, this process took about 2 hours. We had plans to take showers at the Hilton, but because of our new friend Lisa, that wasn't possible anymore. So, I changed out of my pee-stained shirt, got some Mcdonald's for Mark and I, and we sat at the gate and waited for the last leg of our trip. Then, finally we made it through our last short flight and landed in Grand Rapids where we we greeted by some awesome family and friends. (Thanks for coming guys!)
And some pictures from the airport:
So, we were home. I can honestly say I can barely even remember the airport now because I was so motion sick and sleep-deprived at this point. After this we went right home, and we were greeted to a beautifully decorated house and food made by my fabulous Aunt Jennifer. Right after that we went to bed and I was beyond thankful to be home with our Eli. It was finally over and we could start our life as a family. Finally.
So that's it! My trip recaps are over!! Yay! I'm looking forward to blogging about our life as a family from now on. Thank you to every one of you who have been with us on this journey. Eli is so amazing, we love him so very much and we are forever grateful for all the prayers that have gotten us to this point. We love you all.
