That Time We Missed Our Flight….& Flying Tips for Preggos

Warning: This may sound way more dramatic than it actually was, but it felt like a MAJOR deal at the time!!

Big Jon & I went to Ft. Worth, TX this weekend for a FABULOUS weekend with our Advocare friends!! We had an incredible time!

We had such a blast that we didn’t really wanna come home back to reality….BUT I knew Jon had to work Monday (and actually had some stuff to take care of Sunday night) and that I would be exhausted from all the fun, so I booked us for the “early” flight back- AKA 1:15 pm on Sunday.  I also booked a shuttle to transfer us from the airport to the hotel upon arrival, and back from the hotel to the airport upon departure.

So here’s what happened. Delta changed our flight back in December- moving it up an hour (we would leave @ 12:15 instead of 1:15). Who knew when they changed times, the flight number changes as well?!? When I booked the shuttle, I told them the flight # from our original flight instead of the changed flight. Shuttles calculate pick-up time based on getting other customers, traffic, etc., and promise to still get you to the airport on time, so I didn’t really think much about our 11:00 pick up time.

SOOOO, when our shuttle sat in front of the airport trying to get everyone’s confirmation numbers (they had to do it multiple times- it was super unorganized) & moving/shifting people all around, I was starting to freak. We didn’t get on the road to the airport till 11:35! YEP- we sat there for 35 minutes!! 

We arrived at the airport at 12:00 for a 12:15 flight and were told they had given up our seats. ANDDDD, just for fun, that there would be NO seats for the rest of the day because it was a holiday weekend! Fabulous. I couldn’t believe it!! This was the first time we have ever missed a flight, & our chances weren’t looking good for standby. They went ahead and sent our bags on (with Jon’s tux in them- which had to be returned on Monday or you’ll pay an astronomical fee!) in case we could get on one of the flights standby, but made sure we knew it wasn’t likely.

Thanks to some awesome pregnancy hormones, I started bawling as we walked through security! Jonathan told me I was going to have to get it together, that it’d be okay and we’d figure it out. We went to the gate for the NEXT flight to Atl (2:45) & started calling other airlines to see if we could potentially get another flight.  They were all going to cost $1000+ because it was a holiday weekend and so last minute.

Sheesh! NOT good. This would mean we were going to have to either sit in the airport ALLLL day trying to get on a flight, or even possibly get a room for the night. More food, more cab fees, a late fee for the tux return, & it would mess up Jon for what he has to do Sunday night AND his work schedule for the whole week! (He already took off Thursday and Friday!) I just got totally overwhelmed and walked away so I could start bawling again! (I didn’t want anyone to see me because there were TONS of Advocare people we knew at the gate, but I had to be right there in case they called us! I was super embarrassed because I was crying uncontrollably.)

There were about 46 passengers on the standby list, and even though we were at the top, they were offering vouchers because they had overbooked the flight. PERFECT. I honestly didn’t know what we were going to do if we didn’t get on. Jonathan was playing it cool, but I knew he was tore up about it! That’s the biggest reason I was so upset….I knew this would mess him up & I didn’t want that to be on my shoulders or for him to have to worry/stress over it.

{This picture was old. By the end of loading, there were no unassigned seats and no unclaimed seats.)

About the time I looked up everyone had loaded and the gate was fairly empty.  There was a lady waiting to get on, but her husband wasn’t there yet. She was super upset they wouldn’t let her on without him and was even cussing at the lady. They really were trying to wait for him and kept asking her where he was, but she didn’t know and was making up excuses. They had to give her seats up because it was regulation and they didn’t want to delay the flight anymore.

About that time I heard the lady call for “Butler Party of 2” (FOR REAL, that’s what she said! Think she’s a blog reader? Haha!!) over the intercom. People started cheering!!  (Bless her heart…they weren’t trying to rub it in her face…,all these other people had been watching me sobbing for the last 15 minutes and must have felt sorry for me.) I really felt terrible for that lady, but I was SO thankful to get on that flight!!

Once again people were cheering when we got on the plane… (we knew several of these people though)…and can you believe we got to sit NEXT to each other?? Unbelievable! That was definitely a stressful couple of hours, but thankfully it all worked out.

It was a great reminder for me that no matter how much planning you do, life happens!! You CAN’T plan for everything, so be as prepared as possible and try to go with the flow when things don’t go as planned. Control the controllables (within the realms of pregnancy hormones) like your attitude, reactions, thoughts, and actions… because everything will work out exactly like it was supposed to.

Oh, and get to the airport EARRRRRLY (& always triple check flight times!).

Flying Tips for Preggos:

**Obviously I am not a doctor and you need a physician’s approval to fly. My doctor approved me at 7 months because I have had a healthy pregnancy up to this point, but these are a few tips I recommend to help make your flying experience as PLEASANT as possible while preggo!

• Get a copy of your medical chart from your doctor and keep it in your carry-on.
• Bring healthy snacks. I packed raw nuts, apples, Lara Bars.
• If you are nauseas, get some motion sickness bracelets & ginger candies.
• Bring a rolling carry- on so you don’t have to carry anything heavy.
• 
• Wear COMFY clothes & tennis shoes.
• Bring 2 empty water bottles. Once you get through security, you can have one of the restaurants in the food court fill them up for you.  Hydration is SO important!!  The stewardess also filled my bottles up when she walked by with the beverage cart. (They were all super accommodating about giving me water- I guess because of the bump?)
• Bring a neck pillow. You may need it to support your back.
• Sit in an outside seat so you can get up often.
• Make sure your airline doesn’t require any special documentation for you because you are pregnant.
• Wear compression tights/hose (I ordered some maternity ones off Amazon) & compression socks (I had some from my marathon training).
• Stand up often to walk around & take stretch breaks.
• Get to the airport REALLY early. Yea, lesson learned. We were crazy stressed on the way there too because I had a doctor’s appointment that morning and No reason to be
• Bring a pregnancy related book to read. Not sure about you guys, but I have am always so busy I feel like I rarely have tiime to read. What a GREAT time to bust out some of those pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting books!
• Do Kegels during the flight.