Happy New Year! Our trip to Newfoundland was eventful…to say the least. Our flight home was great, G and I both had sinus pain on the decent to Deer Lake but Austin slept through it, which was great. Our bags arrived and we headed to Corner Brook. On the 23rd Austin started to get sick and by the 24th he had a fever of 104. He was up bright and early Christmas morning and seemed to have fun opening presents but was pretty lethargic the rest of the day. His fever broke that afternoon and he finally started to come around on the 27th. He had a great time at Mom and Dad’s and they all loved having him. The only bad thing was that I couldn’t leave the room. He would freak out if he couldn’t see me. I went out a couple of times without him and he was fine once I was gone but if he knew I was around it was a whole other story!
New Year’s eve we had a bbq and then had family game night. We played Wii games and then set off fireworks at midnight. It was a lot of fun.
Saturday came and I got us all packed and organized. There was a big storm in Halifax and I was waiting for the flight to be cancelled but it wasn’t so we headed to the airport. Our flight was delayed 45 minutes and then another 35 minutes. We finally boarded the flight at 8:20pm and my mom and dad headed back to Corner Brook.
After sitting on the runway for 20 minutes they decide to cancel the flight because of winds in Halifax. The airport shut down. They told us that they would stay in Deer Lake overnight and then leave in the am. I called my parents and got them to come back to the airport (they were almost home at this point). Another 20 minutes pass and they announce that instead of staying in Deer Lake they were going to send the flight to Montreal. I asked if we had to go to Montreal or if we could get off the plane. They told us that if we went to Montreal we would get to Halifax for sure on Sunday because there are flights leaving every hour but if we stayed in Deer Lake it would be Saturday before we could get a flight. By this time my parents have come back to the airport and decided not to leave until we were off the ground. Gordon had also left his id in Corner Brook and they let him on the plane with his Costco card for id. (Great security) So we were worried about that. The Gate agent put a note on his file so that we wouldn’t have any issues in Montreal.
At 10:45 the plane finally left Deer Lake for Montreal. We arrived at midnight eastern time (1:30am NL time), get off the plane and were told that there were no flights and that it might be a day or two before we all get to where we are going (so not what they had told us before take off!) We got signed up for a hotel and then went to get our luggage. At 1:15 we had our luggage and were waiting outside in the bitter cold for the shuttle. Austin was a trooper and didn’t cry or act like a monkey or anything. We tried to get a cab but were told that was going to take 30 minutes and at this point the shuttle had arrived but because we were out of the line we missed it. G took Austin in the airport and came back out when the shuttle came back 17 minutes later. At 2am we were finally checked into our room and trying to get Austin to sleep while I was on hold with the number that they told us to call for 2 hours! I gave up at 5:30am NL time and finally closed my eyes to get some sleep.
2 and a half hours later my cell phone rings and it’s my mother asking if we were all checked in and ready for our flight. I had no idea what she was talking about. Apparently we were rebooked to go on a flight to Toronto and then to Halifax. The gate agent had given my mother our flight itinery but no one had communicated that to us. I was livid. I was so tired and stressed that I just sat on the bed and cried for a good 5 minutes before pulling it together.
I decided that we would get dressed, feed Austin breakfast and then head to the airport to deal with it there. We arrived at the airport at 9:35am. I got in the ticket line and called the 1-888 number again. G took Austin for a walk around the airport to entertain him. I got through on the phone (I had only moved about 5 feet while I was waiting) and she booked us on a flight from Ottawa to Halifax and told me to go to the baggage check in line to get put on a standby flight to Ottawa.
I get to the check in desk and explain to the agent that G only has 14 hours of insulin left and that I’m out of diapers and we needed to get to Halifax that day or G would be out on insulin and in a hospital somewhere. After about 30 minutes of working with the system and her manager she had us priority standby on a flight direct Montreal Halifax leaving at 1:30. She put notes on the file for the gate agent and told us to check with her when we got to the gate. We check our bags and went on. She was wonderful and even gave us diapers for Austin.
We went through security and went to the gate to wait. The gate agent comes and I go to talk to her and she brushes me aside and refuses to hear me out. At one point she put her hand in my face and told me to sit down! She left the booth and I spoke to the other agent and explained our situation and told her how I tried to speak to the other lady but that was useless. They had already filled the flight at this point and could not put us on. G lost it and swore very loudly and threatened to go find the manager downstairs himself! At that point I sent him away and apologized. There was a younger gate agent there and she immediately asked me my name. She looked up our file and all the notes were there. The other lady wouldn’t even look. I was so upset but I kept my composure. The younger agent then took us over to the next gate where a flight was leaving for Halifax at 2:30. She spoke with eth gate agent and then handed me boarding passes for the flight. We were so relieved! We boarded the plane but didn’t get off the ground until close to 4pm because we needed to de-ice.
As we were seated on the plane I could see them loading luggage on the plane and I watched ours go up the ramp onto the plane. We arrive in Halifax with no luggage. Don’t know how that happened! They gave us a loaner car seat that didn’t have any anchors or anything like that on it. Needless to say I took a mental health day yesterday. Austin woke up at 9:45am and then I sent him to Kelly’s. G and I had coffee, went for groceries and then had a nap. I’m still exhausted today but at least we are home.
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