Where's there's Britt, there's Drama

Our adventure begins at 6 am, Tuesday morning.  Both boys are up with the excitement of our trek to Norway only hours away...well, nearly 12 hours away.  The flight to Copenhagen, Denmark leaves Newark at 5:40.  We have many hours to kill and they are slain with caring for chickens and prepping the house for our house sitters.

Uneventfully, we make our way down to Newark.  At the airport, I take Finn out of his carseat to find that he has peed through his entire out fit.  Not a catastrophe, we mamas are prepared for these things.  Ensemble change and we proceed to check in.  Bill and I were prepared for major hold ups at security as we were traveling with a small pharmacy of syringes and major meds should Finn eat someone's hunk of cheese on the plane.  Not to mention I had a whole bunch of soy milk, apple sauce, and other Finn friendly foods.  Nope.  Breezed right through and before we knew it we had three whole hours to kill in Terminal B.

Finn - approx. 10 min pre-puke

On board the plane things were going great.  The kids were excited, the four of us were seated in our own row across the center of the plane.  All was good.  They EVEN brought out the kids' meals early, which I thought was so smart.  They don't do that on all flights and it's a whole lot easier to get the kids settled in first.   I brought spaghetti from home and Finn started eating his dinner.

Well...as luck would have it, not an hour into the flight and a few minutes into his meal, Finn gives that tell tale gag/cough and I KNOW he is about to puke.  I fumble to unbuckle our seat belts and grab him, facing away from me, and dash to towards the bathrooms.  We don't make it.  He projectile vomits spaghetti and banana and god know what all over the aisle.  yeah.  THAT happened.   In the bathroom he's hurling into the toilet and occasionally on me because, in his misery, he turns to hug his mama.  Bill is standing behind me, freaking out because neither of us is sure what prompted this, neither of us knows if we are in for a nightmare.  

Finn - Approx 30 min. post puke

6 hours into the 7.5 hour flight

In the end, poor little Finn stopped puking and there weren't any tell tale signs of a food allergy reaction (swelling, etc.)  He apparently just gagged on spaghetti...or was a little motion sick.  Bill held him as I scooped the vomit off the floor. (Thank goodness he projectiles straight and he didn't douse any poor passengers.)  

Not long after the ordeal Finn fell asleep in my lap.  Soon after the dinner service the cabin lights are turned off so people can sleep.  Bill is asleep with head phones on and this is, of course, when Liam starts crying ...whimpering...that he misses home and Austin and wants to go back.  Yeah...that was awesome.  I just wanted to hug and hold him while I told him that he was just exhausted, but my arms were full of sweaty 2 year old.  So I had to just pat his sad little head while he tried to fall asleep.  It took an hours and a half, but sleep came.  (It made me realize how I have completely taken for granted the fact that nearly every summer of my life flying to Norway to visit grandparents was completely normal.  I started at 3 months old, so the enormity of the trip for Liam didn't hit me until it hit him - 3 hours mid-flight.  He of course recovered and has been happy since we landed...but...before we landed there was...)

Landing in Copenhagen...about 20 min. late.  It was about 2 am our time, 7am in Denmark.  None of us had really slept.  We had to run, literally RUN, at top speed, me holding Finn, Bill juggling duty-free cognac for my mom and backpacks, across one or the longest airports.  They had already closed the gate, but luckily managed to hold the plane for us.  We sit down on the plane, all of us soaked with sweat, we begin to taxi, and then the pilot informs us that one of the air monitoring systems isn't working and we have to switch planes - which required a 45 minute wait AND a ride on a shuttle bus.  Awesome.

Finn at the window of my mom's apartment

However, WE FINALLY ARRIVE IN BERGEN!!!  My mother and great uncle Erling were waiting for us with hugs.  My mother's apartment is cozy and airy at the same time, but most of all welcoming.  It is located right in the heart of this old, old beautiful city.  We have a lovely lunch, nap for a few hours, and wake up to a delicious dinner of fish cakes and boiled potatoes.  

Before a walk around town for some fresh air, my mother gets a load of laundry started while I do the dinner dishes.  I suppose in my fatigue...or complete inability to handle knives, I dropped a very sharp and heavy knife on my left index finger.   It cut right through the rubber glove and all I saw was blood.  Bill immediately assessed that I'd need stitches or, at the very least Derma-bond and steri-strips (which he has in his work bag and left at home!)  Needless to say, our tour of the city included a stop at the ER (conveniently located around the corner from my mom's).  They were kind, efficient, and clean.  What more can you ask for?  We were in and out in an hour...maybe less.  I am SO tired I have absolutely no idea what time it is.  They patched me up with said Derma-bond and strips.

Pre-ER visit

 And now the drama is over...I HOPE.  It's been perhaps the longest 24 hours of my life.  Between the hours biting back tears hoping Finn was not having an allergic reaction on a 7.5 hour plane ride to making myself NOT faint while holding paper towels to my bloody finger has pretty much left me spent.

I am greatly looking forward for days spent with family and showing the boys the city I spent so many summers enjoying.

Over and out.

Post ER visit and walk in the rain