The weather ahead of Thanksgiving gave travelers everywhere in the States a huge headache. But for one mom traveling with her two of her four kids, it was not the weather that was giving her a run for her money, it was the world’s most epic diaper blowout. Jessica Paquin, a West Point, NY based mom of four and a military wife, found herself in quite a situation when her baby’s diaper exploded all over her only shirt. In a few swift moves, Paquin improvised and created a shirt out of receiving blankets. Yes. Receiving blankets.
“Picture it: there I was in the Newark airport, baby and 9-year old in tow for a quick visit to my parents for the weekend. We arranged for parking ahead and packed light since we didn’t need much in Nashville,” Paquin wrote in a closed group on Facebook. “Well, there we sat having a little snack before the flight and as my 6-month old sits in my lap, I feel his tummy grumble. And then all hell breaks loose.”
Paquin wasn’t kidding. Her poor baby had an upset tummy and Paquin knew that she needed to get to a restroom as fast as possible. But, if you happen to find yourself in the Newark Airport, you might not be happy to learn that you can’t just change a baby in the restroom. You have to download an app to unlock a changing pod called a Mamava. Who has time to download apps when a serious diaper blowout is literally happening?
It was too late. A “pootastrophe” slammed into their travel plans and Paquin found both her baby and her own shirt totally covered in poop. To make matters worse at that very moment, she was literally still fumbling to get the app downloaded so that she can get into the changing pod and take care of her now extremely unhappy baby.
“I clean baby and start to panic while searching through my bag. I DID NOT pack a shirt!!! I don’t know how but I didn’t,”
Paquin wrote in her post. Who can blame her for forgetting a shirt? When you’re traveling with four kids during a major holiday, it’s easy to put everyone else’s needs before your own and forget even the most basic things. Still, Paquin’s story gets better.
“So, I take off the poo shirt and zip up my fleece-lined winter Colombia jacket and make it to my gate in time to board. I get on the plane from hell, the hottest place I have ever been in my life, and start dripping sweat. These are desperate times. Necessity being the mother of invention, I fashion a halter top and cardigan from two baby blankets thank g!d for my inattentive seatmate. I strip down to my new muslin halter and narwhal cardigan for the rest of the flight. I mean the Mamava was great but who makes you get an app to change a baby!!!!!”
The brilliant idea for the improvised shirt was actually inspired by her baby. “I was so hot I just wanted to take my coat off but I knew if I took my coat off everyone would see my entire bareback so I have three baby blankets, one around the baby, one around my neck and tied around my waist, and I decided to fashion some sort of cardigan out of the third baby blanket,” Paquin explains to Momtastic.
Paquin tells Momtastic that her crazy adventures with a diaper blowout did not ruin her holiday. Once her baby was changed and she was able to nurse him on the flight, everything was totally calm…and dry.
So, the next time you find yourself in a crazy diaper situation, just take a deep breath and ask yourself, WWJPD?
