Summer Fun in Spica

Before my husband and I had Addison we used to delight in the fact that we could just pick up and go where ever we wanted. Yes, we had a dog and a cat that required some tending to but thankfully we had many friends or family willing to take them on if we chose to get away. We knew adding a baby to our life would change that somewhat but we promised ourselves that we would not let that change our social lives too much if we could help it. Well, like many things, that changed a bit when we got Addies HD diagnosis.

A simple trip to a friend or relatives house, even if it is just for a day, seems like a major undertaking as Addie requires a great deal of luggage to travel with her now (what a diva!). We have a bag for her changing supplies, a bag for her bedding, her Handy Sitt chair, her cast cooler AND the usual stuff that comes with an infant - formula, bottles, clothing, etc. It takes a full hour just to get her stuff packed up.

Unlike any other baby out there, diaper changes are a bit more involved, especially if the cast area gets wet while you are away from home! We need to pack not 1 kind of diaper but 2 plus abdominal pads. We also need to throw into the diaper bag the waterproof tape, the moleskin, the blowdryer AND the wedge to prop her up for her changes.

With her portable Handy Sitt chair and all her toys at grandma and grandpa's house

Then there is the stuff required for her naps! She needs her crib wedge and all the padding of her usual blankets and the one we use to prop up her little feet to help make her comfortable with her sleeping where ever she goes.

Her chair is very portable so that is an easy one to throw in. All this packing and unpacking is crazy...and definitely not what we had envisioned day trips being.

However, once we arrive at our destination and get her all set up, it is so worth it because the day just goes so much smoother. She can sit and visit with everyone, we can put her down for a nap (most of the time!) when she needs one and she sleeps comfortably. Because there is so much to pack for these trips it also means that we end up leaving little bits and pieces behind everywhere we go as I can't keep track of it all once we unpack it!

The cast makes a useful handle! At a recent family gathering, enjoying all the attention.

Summer means a lot of outdoors type events in Canada because that is our nicest time of the year, so most of us tend to want to be outdoors during the hot summer months from June-August. The biggest challenge we really have then is one that we cannot pack for - keeping her cool. Even moderately warm days can overheat our little one so we have to constantly watch her for signs of heat exhaustion and try to make sure when she naps there is a cool enough spot somewhere for her to rest. I am terrified that I am going to mistakenly overheat my poor little babe. I am sure I am a bit too overzealous when it comes to this, but I just keeping thinking how miserable I would be in a body cast...let alone if I was HOT and in a body cast!

Even though I moan about the packing and unpacking...it is worthwhile because Addison loves our little day trips. She is such a social butterfly...especially if those trips involve visiting her cousins or her grandparents. So I will just learn to love the packing...and maybe I will get better at remembering to bring it all back with us too!

Taking it all in at a family picnic...again, that Handy Sitt chair goes EVERYWHERE, indoors or out!

Adjusting to the Hippo Car Seat

Much happier in her Britax Hippo car seat

Well, I am happy to report that the days of loathing her Britax Hippo car seat are gone. Addison has become more and more accustomed to the car seat to the point where she now enjoys great naps in it on longer journeys (yay!). In hindsight I realize that it was probably her incisions that bothered her in those early days, not the car seat!

We found that tethering toys to her car seat helps her pass the time happily

One unfortunate thing about the Hippo car seat is that it does not have any place to attach car toys to...so we have used teething rings to tether toys to the Hippo seat for Addie to play with during car rides. We also bring along a few stuffed toys for her to play with in her seat and have installed a mirror that allows both her to look at herself (something that always brings a smile to her little face) and also allows us to keep an eye on her in the backseat!

We have had to customize the seat to allow Addie to fit. We have padded the back with memory foam and added a head rest for her to make it a little more snuggly.

The seat was loaned to us by the Stollery Children's Hospital, where Addison had her closed reduction, and it seems to me that it is meant for a larger child as we have had to pad the back of it with memory foam in order to position Addie far enough forward to sit properly in this car seat. We are very thankful to the hospital for loaning it to us, because we had no idea what we were going to do for a carseat for the duration of her spica-dom!

Playing away with her tethered toys

On particularly long car-rides one of us will sit in the back of the car with her as she has a tendency to lose her toys and get bored. With mom or dad beside her, she generally plays for a little while and then is able to easily fall asleep in the car seat (which is great news for her mom and dad who are no longer arriving at destinations with a tired and cranky baby!).

Now that we are 7 weeks into the spica cast and have a date set for follow up with her surgeon in mid-September...I am beginning to wonder what the next evolution of car seat will be? I am pretty sure she won't fit in her bucket seat we bought to use with her as a newborn...or maybe she will? I have heard lots of stories about babies who are quite sore following cast removal which makes me wonder if I will need a bigger car seat...and then there is the brace that she will be placed in following the cast removal which will keep her just as splayed out as in the cast. It might be time to start investigating new car seats!