Anna’s Big Adventure

Allen and I took Anna for a long weekend to PA to visit family. Anna was able to meet almost all of my family on both my mom and dad sides. Despite the snow and ice, it was a wonderful weekend and well worth the little bit of anxiety we had over flying with a two month old. I don’t have all the pictures uploaded yet but will be sure to share them soon. There are lots of great ones including some four generations pictures and lots of cousin fun. We had a really great trip and can’t wait to see everyone again.

Now let me tell you a story….

This story is dedicated to GAL, my aunt who’s been here and done this.

Ok. Raise your hand if you have flown on an airplane? Ok good, most of you. Now keep your hand raised if you’ve gone to the bathroom on a plane. Perfect, most of you will be familiar with the setting of this story. For those of you, who haven’t gone to the bathroom on a plane, think of a small phone booth complete with a miniature bathroom moving along a bumpy road. Got that mental picture? Now add a changing table, a messy baby, a diaper bag, and a mom. WOAH!

Let me back up a little to set the stage for this one.

On our way back home from Anna’s big adventure we were on the plane around 5:45. I nursed Anna during takeoff to help her deal with the cabin’s air pressure changes. While nursing her I almost fell asleep, so Allen said he would hold her while I slept during the flight. Once she was finished nursing, I handed her over to Allen, made a comment that I hoped her diaper wasn’t dirty, and then got comfortable to sleep. I could hear my two – one was a little fussy and the other was doing his best to keep the fuss to a minimum. He was doing a fine job so I didn’t think anything of it. And then IT happened. I heard Allen say, “Well if her diaper wasn’t dirty it is now.” There was silence and then, “Oh no!”

IT had happened.

That extra outfit I always have in the diaper bag in case IT happened was finally going to be needed. We asked the flight attendant if there was a changing table in the bathroom, (something Allen refused to believe possible) and she said yes above the toilet. So off I went with the baby whose diaper had leaked and had a back covered in poop.

Now’s the time when I have to let you all know that Allen offered to take care of this but I figured it wouldn’t be that bad and I might as well just do it. Ha.

Once I got back to the bathroom and opened the door I realized I had forgotten how small the bathrooms are on a plane. My comparison earlier to a phone booth probably isn’t very accurate because in actuality you can fit two plane bathrooms in one phone booth. So I attempted to get all of us into the bathroom and failed miserably. The man sitting across from the bathroom held open the door for me after being elbowed by his wife to do so. This helped. I got half way in, pulled the changing table down, laid Anna on it and tried to get the other half of my body in the bathroom. I got in but when I tried to shut the door the diaper bag was in the way. I kicked it and tried to squish it but still couldn’t get the door shut. Allen and I had talked about only taking the essentials with me but then it’s all loose and the essentials in this case was a lot because I needed a new outfit and a wet bag for the poopy outfit. So the diaper bag was a necessity, and I had to figure out how to get it in there. After reassessing the situation I realized that there is a lid for the toilet. I reached under the changing table which was holding my very happy smiley baby and put it toilet lid down. This made a spot for the diaper bag and I was FINALLY able to shut the door.

I’m sure you are wondering how Anna was at this point. She was ever so content in her poopy diaper and outfit. She was smiling up at me on the changing table kicking her legs. Now Anna’s 23 and a half inches and she took up all but a few inches of this changing table. I saw the weight limited on there was 40 lbs (Anna weights 10 and a half). Where in the world does a 40lb baby fit? I was having trouble with a fourth of that!?!

Back to the story - It was time to see how bad IT really was. I got the wipes out and cautiously opened the diaper. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed. For a blowout, this diaper was empty! I couldn’t figure it out… IT must have happened just right to blow out the back…but that was not the time to figure out how or why there was poop all over the outside of the diaper and not inside. I did however think more than once that cloth wouldn’t have betrayed me like this. I cleaned her up the best I could with all the messy stuff under her. I pulled some fancy moves to get her off the dirty clothes and on to her changing pad which I hadn’t had a chance to get under her during the challenge of getting into the tiny bathroom. I think this move was successful because her naked bum never touched the plastic changing table.

Ok So, now I had a dirty diaper to throw away and dirty clothes to put up. Clothes were easy to deal with and I slipped them into the wet bag I had standing by. The diaper wasn’t as straight forward…. I had to find which compartment built into the wall was the trash can, so many choices! Once I had the diaper in the trash I turned my attention back to the naked baby. She was happy as could be – she was smiling, cooing, and kicking. While enjoying the moment with my sweet little girl, all of the sudden I panicked – she was totally naked which translates to armed and dangerous! I said I quick prayer that she wouldn’t pee all over everything and put the new diaper on as quickly as possible. It was just about this time when the plane hit a bit of turbulence. Nothing much but it was perfect timing nonetheless. So I held on to Anna and we rocked back and forth a few times. Once that stopped, she was still happy and now contained so I took the chance to wash my hands. I was thankful the water was so cold because I was sweating at this point. I’m sure half from stress, half from the actual temperature, and half from the hard work of diaper changing!

 I pulled out the extra outfit that had been waiting for just this moment and slipped Anna into it. I picked her up, folded the changing pad up one handed, slipped it into the diaper bag, zipped up the diaper bag, put it over my shoulder, and then realized I was stuck and couldn’t turn around to get out. Now, I could have back out of the bathroom but I couldn’t reach the lock/handle unless I turned around. I folded up the changing table, put the diaper bag back on the toilet lid, and turned around. I opened the door, grabbed the diaper bag, flashed a smile at the couple across the aisle, and never looked back. I got back to our row, sat down, handed Anna back to Allen, and guzzled my Sprite that I had ordered just before I left for this adventure. I commented that I felt like I had been gone forever and Allen quietly said, “you were.” But we survived and poop only got on one outfit! I’m happy to report the outfit has been washed and you could never tell it was the victim of a blowout diaper.

So there you have it the story of the week. The end to a great weekend and a story to embarrass her with for years to come!

The pictures were taken in the airport while we were waiting to come home.  This is the baby that boarded with us.  Too bad we didn't take an after shot!