The Flight home...

Before I even begin to write about our 5 days in Melbourne I must write about our trip home... mainly due to the fact that I traveled the final leg from Brisbane to Townsville on my own with 3 boys at 7.30pm (does this already ring alarm bells for those with children???)

Already extremely exhausted from the weekend's celebrations we arrive at Melbourne airport around 3pm for a 4pm departure. For those who have not had the pleasure of flying with Virgin airlines with more than one child let me give you a glimpse of our experience (which of course is a very different experience for Matt who traveled with Harry on the way down: Male; stunning blue eyes; dimples when smiles; traveling with cute little Harry who can charm anyone - especially the air hostesses!; sleeps when not distracted by older brothers etc...). OK... so you get my drift!

When flying with Virgin they put all families with children at the back of the plane. For those that don't have children you think this is GREAT! Those traveling with more than one child think this isn't so great as you need to board your children down a flight of stairs, then back up a flight of stairs to board the plane. In Melbourne we boarded first in order to avoid the whole stair thing.

With 3 children plus Matt the flight from Melbourne to Brisbane was uneventful. There were a lot of spare seats at the back so the boys enjoyed playing musical chairs. Of course, Harry did not sleep (which Matt says is my fault because he saw me... ??) Throughout the flight I continued to ponder the next flight to Townsville, feeling very uneasy about the whole situation. For someone who is usually up for a challenge such as this, I was not feeling confident about flying on my own with 3 children, pregnant, tired and extremely emotional.

Matt made a couple of innocent comments that for some reason did not fill me with a whole lot of reassurance or confidence.
Firstly he says,'We've missed our window with Harry (going to sleep) but at least he'll sleep for you next flight'.
and secondly,
'The plane will be even emptier on the flight to Townsville'.

As we are descending, I rethink through our plans at Brisbane airport. Initially we were planning to have dinner in the Qantas Club (C/O Matt's platinum status), however, as I am calculating time I realise that we only have 35mins before we need to re board the plane - it would probably take that long to get the kids to the Qantas Club from Virgin! In 35mins Matt needed to collect his bags, re check-in to Perth on Qantas, and I needed to feed the kids and myself, plus toilet everyone (especially me who needs to go to the toilet at least twice within the hour!).

I order Red Rooster and then Matt dashes down to collect his bags. I am sitting with the kids trying to get them to eat quickly. Harry is past his used by date and I am contemplating having to start walking the kids down to the gate on my own including a toilet stop. Luckily Matt appears as I am getting the kids ready to go (Lucky for him!).

At the gate the boys are running crazy... I am starting to feel anxious and a little stressed. Matt reassures me that it will be fine, Harry will sleep and I was to pay for the Nickelodeon channel on Austar. This still did not fill me with confidence. With the pram packed up and bags on backs we finally board the plane. A lovely older lady who was also boarding first offered to carry the pram to the gate of the plane and then off she disappeared with the pram. I say a teary goodbye to Matt and the boys run full pelt onto the plane. I start to board the plane and the air hostess says to me,
'A lady brought your pram down... its just back there'.
Right... so carrying Harry and my handbag (did I also mention that I'm pregnant and carrying already an extra 10kilos?!) I double back past people to grab the pram. The boys are racing to get past everyone to find their seats and I am trying to gain control of them and to get them to 'stay with mummy'.

I stagger down the isle now holding Harry, my handbag and the pram while the hostess calls through to the back hosts,
'There is a mother in row 29 that may need some assistance'.
After awkwardly making it halfway down the plane, an air host was finally at my aide and helped me past the last 5 or so rows before we got to the second last row - ROW 29. By this stage we were met with oncoming travelers who were already boarding from the back.

While sitting in our seats the boys continue eating their Red Rooster. One of the boxes drop on the floor and food goes everywhere. With Harry on my lap I am somewhat disabled in being able to control their behaviour! Just trying to get them to sit still with their seat belts on was a task in itself - let alone also trying to pick up food from the floor!

The plane takes off while I give Harry another bottle and notice he is looking a bit sweaty and clammy. The boys are wanting ear plugs so they can watch the TV. It seems like an eternity for the seat belt lights go off and the air hostess comes with ear plugs. In the meantime the VISA card won't work on Thomas' screen (who of course is on the window seat and I am on the isle!). After several attempts while leaning over Zachy and making Harry cry, I decide I need help. The air hostess comes and swipes it for me. This then begins trial number one - the ear plugs.

The ear plugs are not designed for little ears and they do not stay in. Two little boys were getting very upset and frustrated with this fact - combine this with extreme tiredness and you have a wonderful combination! I could not put up with the whinging anymore so I turn off Thomas' screen. Thomas of course was not impressed with this and chucked a wobbly (a loud one!). Trying hard to regain my composure I get Thomas to sit on my lap and place Harry next to me, squashed next to Zach.

I give Thomas a cuddle and let him know that mummy understands that he is a very tired little boy and to reassure him that mummy loves him very much. Thomas gets down off my lap in time for Harry to vomit all over me, himself and his blanket. I quickly pick him up and try to carry him to the back of the plane. He continues to vomit over me, the isle, the girl opposite and a little bit on Thomas. Not really knowing if he will vomit again I have to walk back to my seat to press the assistance buzzer. Thomas follows me to the back of the plane and anyone who knows Thomas can imagine his reaction when he sees a little bit of vomit on his shirt and pants!

By this stage, I am an emotional disaster! The Host (two male hosts were looking after the back of the plane... I know... useless!)comes to my aid with a dry cloth and starts wiping down my leg. OK... so dry cloths DON'T help when cleaning up vomit. He goes and gets his sterile wipes and starts cleaning up the floor. Eventually he comes back to me with some sterile wipes and says that this will help to take the smell away and he tries to wipe my pants down... (I am hoping that he will take Harry and I can wipe myself down thank you very much!).

I sit on the seats reserved for the hosties at the back of the plane and I cannot hold back tears. Thomas looks at me quite concerned and says 'Why are you sad mummy?'
I reply, 'Mummy just needs you to be good. Mummy has vomit all over her and Harry isn't feeling well. I just need you to be really good for mummy'.
Thomas then, pulls himself together and stops complaining that he has vomit on his pants. He turns into the greatest little 4 year old you could ever imagine.

Thomas helped me by getting the 'BOB' bag for me so I could get the wipes and change of clothes for Harry (hoping Harry won't vomit again as I have nothing else for him to wear!). We eventually go back to our seats to find huge chunks of vomit and Harry's blanket (also covered in vomit) on my seat. I again have to call the host to clean it up.

Eventually everything calms down. Thomas says to me that he is being very quiet in his seat and within about 5mins he is asleep.

Zach who had been sitting in his seat for the entire time now decides he needs to do a poo! So, up we get to go to the toilet. We wait up the back for an available loo and I realise I can't really do this with Harry. I have to ask one of the Hosts (who are just standing at the back) to take Harry for me while I take Zach to the loo. Unfortunately, there was no poo so we return to our seats. Zach now wants to eat more food so after much bending down over the baby in my tummy and Harry on my lap Zach is happy with eating the rest of his dinner.

Harry is still a bit unsettled but the girl who he vomited on starts singing to him and stroking his face and eventually Harry falls asleep. I have a few minutes of peace before Zachy says that he's eaten enough. More bending over baby in my tummy and now an asleep Harry. Another couple of minutes pass and he says with urgency, 'Poo coming mummy'. With Harry now asleep on my lap I contemplate what to do. I decide to lie Harry down on Zach's seat and then I feel the plane start to descend. Oh dear!

I decide that Zach is going to have to just do it in his nappy (which usually is no big deal for him), however, this particular time of course he doesn't want to do it in his nappy! So, I try and explain to Zach that 'mummy can't take you to the toilet now because soon we will be landing'. I tell him he can do it in his nappy. So, Zach chucks a wobbly (a really loud one!),
'But I don't want to do it in my nappy... I want to do it in the toilet'. Typical!

By now I am thankful that the flight is almost over. Zach eventually sucks it up and must have decided that he could 'hold' his poo. He sits down and I can sit peacefully for the final 15minutes of the flight. Thomas and Harry are still asleep and Zach is fighting to stay awake.

Once we land a few lovely passengers offer to help me get off the plane. I tried to put Harry in the sling so I could carry him off the plane easily however, he was unimpressed that I had woken him up in the process. Harry cried from the time we landed until we walked off the plane! Thomas was difficult to wake up and I wasn't sure how I was going to get him off the plane, however, when he finally did wake up he was a gem.

I was relieved to walk off the plane and have Caitlin meet me at the gate. She came home with me and helped me get the kids into bed. She also stayed while I 'debriefed' my flight and she even put up with the vomit smell from my clothes!

After recounting the entire flight I realised that my 4 year old provided more assistance to me than the air hosts on the flight. Needless to say I will not travel with Virgin Airlines again on my own with children, and Matt will never cancel flying with me over work committments at that time of day again!


Matt was lucky that he was still on a plane to Perth, however, from the text I sent him I think he was a bit nervous to ring me the next morning!