The long flight home

Yesterday we flew from Guangzhou to Hong Kong to Newark. The first flight from Guangzhou to Hong Kong left at 8:25 AM and was about an hour. After a brief lay over in HK we took off for Newark. That flight was 15.5 hours. It was hell. We knew it was going to be bad but we had no idea how bad until about 45 minutes after takeoff when the cabin lights were off in all the other parts of the airplane except for the rear cabin where we sat. The flight crew could not get the lights off or turn off the air conditioner in our cabin so it was bright as day the whole time and really cold. Needless to say the babies and parents sitting in this section - including us - were wigging out.

Sadie probably screamed and cried for 10 of the 15.5 hours. She would not sleep and the more tired she got the more wired and cranky she became. We walked her up and down the aisles of the plane to entertain her but she grew bored with that too. We fed her cheerios constantly which mollified her but only so much. She finally conked out about hour 11 for a 2 hour nap. We made a little tent out of the airline blankets to shield her from the light but the noise in the cabin was intense and nonstop. The kid behind us, a boy about 3 was melting down hourly with shrieking screaming. The guy sitting right in front of me coughed constantly every 30 seconds or so. Sadie was laying between Jackie and I - we had 3 seats together on the right side of the plane but with Sadie going nuts between us - constantly throwing herself back and forth between us and with 2 carry-on bags on the floor at our feet it was really uncomfortable and tedious.

To make matters worse, the flight crew were a bunch of bitter old ladies who should have retired a long time ago. One particularly nasty shrew commented loudly to the other shrews that if the passengers didn't like the lights they could put on their sun glasses. She didn't know I was standing in the back next to the galley with Sadie. Another time one of the nasty hags said she was going to turn off the entire flight attendant call system because she was "tired" of people ringing for service. I'll never fly Continental again.

But despite all this at the end of the long flight we were so charged and happy to get off the plane on American soil with our baby. Mission accomplished as the saying goes. Walking through the terminal to immigration and customs with Sadie were the happiest moments of our lives. We did it. We couldn't believe it. We traveled to the other side of the world and came home with a baby and the baby is ours forever. We're a family now. Incredible.


First family photo on American soil.