1a. Our flight going to Amsterdam is about 14 hours long departing at 11:55pm. Here is the situation the morning of.
2 Large and 1 Small Luggage, plus a Stroller for Check in.
3 Back packs as hand carry, plus baby carier.
Packed luggage includes a large Ziploc filled only with kids medicines for Cough, Fever (Low and High), Runny Nose, Diarrhea, Motion Sickness. Plus their daily vitamins and probiotics. Then a printed dosage guide for each medicine and kid.
Everyone also has an extra set of clothes in the hand carry for cases the kids release all sorts of bodily fluids accidentally.
One backpack is dedicated just for kids activities and toys.
Really gone are the days of travelling with just 0 to 1 piece of hand carry.
1b. Mae and Mika are healthy and excited.
I have a mild sore throat that’s not getting worse but also no better.
Baby Ju just started coughing and as a result has vomited a few times after meals when he coughs, including his previous meal.
So for the last minute packing we then prepared a few medicines for hand carry instead of check-in.
We depart and leave for the airport.
2. On the way to the airport we realized that we left behind the ziploc containing the kid’s medicines. Since Baby Ju was sick it was important we went back for it.
Good thing we were early to leave so our helper could follow us in the airport and give the medicines to us.
A small hiccup. But if we were taking score, that’s minus 1 already.
2a. We arrived 5 hours early at the airport so we could have dinner in a lounge and the kids could rest before our flight.
We were warry about giving Baby Ju food for fear that he might cough and vomit. Every time he coughed I was ready to catch if anything happened.
After a light meal, I walked around the airport with Baby Ju on the carrier and Mika on the stroller.
I knew the kids would just be all over Mae on the plane so I wanted to give her as much space before the flight.
I felt like a super dad when the 2 kids fell asleep and Mae was enjoying her time in the lounge. That was a good 1-2 hours.
3. When it was almost time for boarding, Baby Ju woke up and it was time for him to eat. I passed him to Mae to feed.
He fell asleep while latched. But we had to wake him up so we could go to the boarding gate.
Mae put him on the carrier. She placed baby Ju facing towards her so he could go back to sleep.
Baby Ju continued to cry.
Then he coughed.
Then it happened.
Fully strapped and locked to her mother, he gave back everything that which he had just taken from her bosom.
A clear minus 2.
4. We cleaned up, just as we have cleaned up all other times. This was nothing new after all.
It was a moment you wish didn’t happen but somehow the way we reacted was sort of a testament that we are no longer newbie parents (at least for vomit related matters).
5. Now that Mae had used up her spare clothes it was crucial to avoid any vomiting situation again.
This meant that we had to pace Baby Ju’s eating and avoid letting him cry for too long as that would make him cough.
5b. On my end I had flashbacks of all other times when Baby Ju vomited and I failed to prevent it from going to Mae.
That’s why during the flight not only did we have a ready open air sickness bag, I also held an open one at all times.
This meant that every time Ju woke up and started crying, or when Mae was feeding him I needed to pay attention ready to respond in those crucial few seconds.
5c. Since Ju was fighting off a fever he basically woke up crying every 30 to 45. minutes. This went on for a good 5 to 6 hours out of the 14-hour flight time.
(Technically this could be considered as another minus, but it was simply the process of having a sick baby on a long haul flight.)
What is actually remarkable is Mae’s patience with each and every waking and gentle soothing she does no matter how tired she was.).
6. Then Ju’s fever broke. He slept for real. We slept for real. Then it was just 2 hours to land.
Mika was an angel the whole trip. She slept throughout the flight. When she saw the screen showing how near we were to Amsterdam, she said, “Amsterdam, here we come!” And towards the end, “Amsterdam, I’m so excited to meet you!”
It looks like we’re all good.
7. Then the pilot announced:
“Ladies and gentlemen, we will be landing in Amsterdam around 15 minutes past 6 in the morning.
Ground temperature: Minus 3.”
It begins.