Continental Airlines Nightmare #1:

12:00 am

Greg, Jackson and I arrive at the airport for our 11:55 p.m. flight, that we called ahead to find out was 2 hours delayed. Since arriving 5 minutes later than its “scheduled” departure time, we were bumped from our seats and forced to take the next available flight (6:00 am). Mind you, we DID arrive about 1:45 minutes BEFORE the flight actually left (which was 1:45 a.m.), but they said their hands were tied.

I am pregnant and I am already so weak from the flu. I don’t even cry, just sit in disbelief with my head in my hands. Jackson keeps asking to see the planes and happily runs around the airport in his pajamas like it’s noon. (the $500 worth of vouchers made the situation a little better. Only slightly)

1:00 am

We wander the airport looking for the darkest quietest place to sleep for the night. We find the perfect spot in the corner taken by a man on a laptop. Greg approaches him and discusses our plight. “my wife….pregnant…flu…son…sleep…dark…” says Greg. “I gotta sleep too.” says the man. No room in the inn.

We find a spot that is as light as day in the middle of all kinds of activity. Jackson doesn’t sleep, and I make a new resolve to redesign airport benches to accommodate sleeping women (and children).

2:00-4:00 am

Heidi: I try my best to get some rest on uncomfortable benches, bright lights, and announcements every 3 minutes reminding me not to “leave my bags unattended.” I scoot closer to my bags, and try to ignore the commercial sized vacuums and the too loud strangers on cell phones who can’t take a hint from a tired sleeping pregnant lady.
Actual sleep : 10 minutes. Maybe.

Greg: after realizing Jackson wasn’t even close to slowing down, he takes one for the team and wanders the airport after our much-too-active-for-the-time-of-night toddler. After an hour on the play structure, two visits to the bagel store, one free balloon and much too long wandering from one thing to the next, he returned to bring me breakfast and see how I had fared.

4:00 a.m. to 6:00 am -- Went through security, followed Jackson around for another 90 minutes, and then boarded our flight. We are both zombies and Jackson is finally yawning as he watches another song from Lion King on the laptop. He falls asleep immediately after takeoff in my arms (full flight=lap child=nightmare). We are hoping for the best.

7:00-10:00 am
Wrong. After no sleep all night Jackson decides he’s done sleeping after a little less than an hour. He wakes up angry and two tired parents with bloodshot eyes want to cry. Thank goodness for a patient girl next to us and plenty of snacks. We make it to Houston, but wonder if $500 was enough.

The Return: Continental Airlines Nightmare #2

(coming soon)