Day 15: Hong Kong to San Francisco to Denver to HOME!!! (4/19/12)

We checked out of the hotel prior to 9 a.m. and were at the United counter shortly thereafter.  It was a good thing.  Our flight was not until 11:30 a.m. but we ended up needed all of that time.  There was a rather long snaking line to check in but we were the problem children when we got our chance.  We were at the checkin counter so long, Tam caught a nap.  We were at the checkin counter so long that by the time we were done, there was no more snaking line.  We were told there was a problem because we checked in online the day before.  Ummmm...no we didn't.  All we could think of was that perhaps our travel agent was doing us a favor?  Anyway, there was some hiccup with that because the adults were checked in but the baby was not.  It took the counter clerk a long time and some consultation with a couple other people to sort that out.  Then, we inquired about moving our seats to the bulkhead or upgrading to more leg room.  Another delay and special phone calls made to the powers that be.  Only 1 bulkhead seat was available so we just sprung for more leg room. 

After checking in was the normal security check and then an immigration check and then another security search of our carryon bags at the gate.  We requested to preboard and were allowed to do that.  All of our flights have been full and none of them have announced preboarding with small children and infants.  We really did not want to have to gate check any of our carryon bags, so boarding early made sure we got a spot for them.

This is how the flight started...

...and that baby was not seen again for about 15 hours....

She just seemed overstimulated and miserable.  She could not sleep and did not really eat well.  She cried because she was tired.  She cried because she could not doodie.  She vomited because she was crying.  We sat with her.  We walked with her.  We tortured everyone on the plane.  The bulkhead people gave up their seats in hopes we could put her down in the bassinette and we all could get some peace.  The bassinnette became a good storage area for all the parephenalia we were using to attempt to make her comfortable.  She screamed if we tried to put her in it.  She finally passed out at hour 8 but only slept for 2 hours.  She woke up just in time to be miserable on the descent because she would not take a bottle to help her ears.  As glad as I was when we finally landed, I broke down over the thought of getting on another airplane after seeing Tam's pleading face looking for help when she was in pain over the landing.  It was awful.  We forged on. 

We had about 2 hours between flights, and once again, needed most of that time to make our next flight.  We went through customs with no problem but had to visit a second agent regarding Tam's paperwork and Chinese passport.  Once we got through, our Tamasyn became a U.S. citizen!  Both customs agents took the time to congratulate us, which was appreciated by a couple of parents with tired bodies and worn out emotions.

Once we made it to the gate, Tam passed out again and thankfully stayed asleep through boarding and the entire flight to Denver.  She stirred just a bit as we started the landing, so I got the bottle into her and she had no complaints about her ears this time.  Cousin picked us up at the airport and home we went to greet big brother, auntie, and cousins.