Here's the trip that lay before us:
Close to 3 hr drive from hospital to hotel near Minneapolis airport in Minnesota
1 Night in hotel followed by airport shuttle from the hotel to Minneapolis airport
1 Non-stop flight from MSP to PHL
Park n'Jet Shuttle from Terminal B to parking lot
Drive home
So, we put these tiny babies in carseats and felt like we were going to crush them under all those straps and buckles! Jon went to get our rental car (for which he had also perfectly estimated the amount of days needed when we first got the car the prior Tuesday) and we were off with our moms behind us in a 2nd car.
Photo courtesy of Joe Martin (zoom in on Jon's face - that is a recurring theme)
Given the frequency of early feedings, we knew we would not make the whole drive without a pit stop. Sure enough the babies began to stir about 2 hours into the trip and so we had our first feeding and diaper change at a random Subway and gas station parking lot. It was not ideal because the back seats of cars are slanted and prove challenging for diaper changes. There may or may not be baby urine stains on that back seat.
We made it to the hotel just fine and Henri and Evelena were all set up with a pack and play. Once they were situated Jon and his mom had to return the rental cars to the airport and then take the shuttle back to the hotel (after stopping at Target for more formula and Preemie diapers for Henri bc he was still under 6 lbs).
We were able to get adjoining rooms which was super convenient for the middle of the night feedings. After lunch at the hotel, in which Jon couldn't stop checking that the car seats were secure in the slings the waiter had provided, we boarded the shuttle. Fortunately, we were the only passengers.
If you've read all our blog entries, or simply if you know us, you know we've had A LOT of travel issues. So the flight portion of the program was the one that we were most nervous about. And when we say "we," we really mean Jon because he cannot hide nerves. We arrived to the airport without issue, rolled our 2 luggage carts up to check in counter and dumped 5 checked bags off to lighten our load.
But then we had to approach the dreaded security line. It's inconvenient as an adult traveling by yourself and now we had two newborns in car seats plus all of our stuff. They are too young and precious to be exposed to the grumpiness of airpot security processes! This picture pretty much sums it up.
We were able to relax (at least Rachel was) once we got to the gate. Jon was a little frustrated that not one American Airlines employee asked to see a form the website said we needed to fly with newborns and which took forever to acquire. Grr!
Ironically, given our history, the actual flight was the best part of the whole trip. That is because we decided to fly first class. It was the only way we could all sit together on the flight we wanted and honestly, it was not that much more expensive than coach. BEST DECISION EVER. It's amazing how being handed a craft beer minutes after sitting down and having delicious food even by normal food standards can lift one's spirits. Henri and Lena even got wings! Who knew they even still did this? It's going to be difficult going back to coach.
Throughout the whole journey, Henri and Lena were superstars. They just slept. Fortunately, stress is not contagious at this stage. On the flight, we held them in our arms for the first hour and a half. Then, once they got fussy we executed a perfect "Grandma hand-off" for the feeding.
We arrived in Philly on schedule and the rest of the trip went smoothly. Really, the trip couldn't have gone more smoothly. At long last, after leaving the hospital around 1pm on Thursday, we pulled into our driveway around 930pm on Friday. We were home. At last.
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