Home Again

3:30 am. I woke up to the sound of gasping and choking and screaming from my son. I lay still for a moment, as is my usual habit, to see if he'd go back to sleep. Not happening. I jumped out of bed and ran to his room, to find him sitting in his crib sobbing, and a sour smell wafting up to greet me.
"Nooo, don't get sick the morning we're supposed to be on an airplane!" I groaned to myself. I picked him up and clean everything up, then put him back to sleep. Fifteen minutes later, it began all over again. He threw up several times during the night, and the next morning couldn't keep even formula down. After consulting the airlines about postponing our trip home, we realized there was nothing for it but to drag a towel, a small bowl, and a washcloth on the plane, and a change of clothes for each of us. Just in case.

Sometime around 1:00 on the plane, my busy little boy miraculously fell asleep. It became my mission to keep him that way. I'm sure I must have appeared a bit nutty to the stewardess and the passengers sitting next to me. But I considered them the enemy, and they seemed a bit nutty to me, so I suppose it was even. I'm sure from the stewardess' perspective, she was meandering down the aisles, calmly and politely asking people if they would like a drink. She had excellent customer service skills - smiling, offering refreshments several times, picking up trash after each round of drinks and food, bypassing the people who were passed out, but upon their awakening, immediately descending on them to offer them a cool drink as well.

This is what it looked like from my perspective.

Round one of drinks - I managed to fall asleep with Micah, my head resting back on my seat, my mouth wide open. I woke up several times to close my mouth so I wouldn't look like an idiot. Every time, I thought I saw one of the stewards looking at me as they continued passing out beverages. After a while, I woke up and stayed awake.
"Oh!" said the steward a bit louder than I thought he should, "She's awake! Ma'am, would you like a drink?" I shook my head quietly.
"How about a snack?"
Again, no. They moved on, almost hitting Micah's head with the beverage cart. I averted the disaster and pulled his limp body a little closer to me.
The trash bag and recycling were brought through. I shook my head at the offer of disposing my trash, relieved that it was finally over.

Round 2 - "They're serving drinks again? Didn't they just do that?"
All too quickly, the cart was there again, threatening to give Micah a concussion, pushed by a smiling, loud stewardess. She got closer and closer, bellowing to passengers, "WOULD YOU LIKE A DRINK!?" She came to me.
MA'AM!!! WOULD YOU LIKE THIS DRINK THAT WILL INEVITABLY SPILL ALL OVER YOUR BABY!?" 
I shook my head hard, trying to no avail to indicate that my son was asleep and to leave us alone. She pulled out a little, blue bag.
"OH! THEN WOULD YOU LIKE THIS CRINKLY, LOUD SNACK THAT WILL WAKE YOUR BABY UP!?"
I shook my head again, as vigorously as I could without waking Micah.
"HE IS SO CUTE! HOW OLD IS HE??? HE IS DOING SO WELL ON THIS FLIGHT, I'M IMPRESSED!!!" I quietly made some sort of response, fervently wishing she would go away.
The trash bag steward came through again, spending plenty of time with each passenger as he took their trash, and separated the trash from the recycling as loudly as he could. He stood in front of Micah and I for a good two minutes, providing excellent customer service and saving the planet at the same time. I glared at him this time. I don't think he noticed.

Round 3: "Ok, SERIOUSLY? I think they're doing this just to wake him up."

During round 3, out of the corner of my eye, I saw an arm snaking toward me from my right. I quickly looked over, to see a young man who looked slightly worried.
"I have to use the bathroom," he mouthed. I must've looked panicked, because he then decided to wait for another half hour. "I'll just tell you if it gets to be an emergency."
Half an hour passed far too quickly, and the young man declared it an emergency. I slowly unbuckled, and handled Micah like porcelain. To my great relief, he remained asleep as I neatly stepped out into the aisle and let the young man out. As I stood there, the eco-friendly steward was back again, making his rounds. He smiled a bit too happily at me and said,
"My, you are talented." I faked a grin back and shrugged.
"Nope," I thought, "Just desperate." I was in no mood to talk however because I needed to sit back down. Thank God all this happened only half an hour before landing, because Micah woke up around then. Fortunately, thanks to my vigilance, he'd gotten a decent amount of sleep. For what you can get on an airplane, at any rate.

And now I am watching my sweet, smiley little boy lay on the couch while grinning and waving at me. I got to be in my husband's arms again last night, which proved even more wonderful than I realized it would. All is right again.

I am thankful to be home.