Pins and Needles

Okay so two steps forward, one step back. Last night was brutal!!! We tried six or seven times to get him to sleep on his back, but every single time he would startle awake whenever his arms went limp. Les and I are guessing it is because he is so used to being swaddled and all of a sudden after getting the cast on, he wasn't getting swaddled anymore. We have a trick up our sleeves to try tonight, let's pray that it works!! We've got to get this kid on a routine by the end of the week since that would be the end of my Spring Break.

Overall, Collin was the happiest today that he has been since cast day. He was smiling and laughing a lot and able to entertain himself every now and then. Things are continuing to look up. Aunt Aubrey sent Collin a bunch of clothes that will fit over his cast today, and we are so appreciative! 

The car seat situation has been a rollercoaster of ups and downs today. At the beginning of the week, we contacted a lady at Northwest who is a nurse and trauma specialist I believe, but also is a car seat technician. She is on the local board for SafeKids. Safe Kids Worldwide was founded in 1987 as the National SAFE KIDS Campaign by Children’s National  Medical Center with support from Johnson & Johnson. Safe Kids Worldwide is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in Washington, D.C. (copied from the SafeKids website) 

Julie has been absolutely amazing trying to help us out!!! She was on the phone all day with children hospitals all over Texas trying to find something that will work for Collin. At first, she found the Dreamride Car Bed by Cosco. This looked promising, but Collin's measurements from knee to knee in the spica were too wide.So that is out of the question now.

She doesn't think the Britax Hippo will work from the way I described how he is positioned, but I sent her a picture because I don't think I was very clear and I asked her if we could go ahead and try one anyways. It is the only current car seat designed for children in a spica cast. This is my favorite option because it looks the most comfortable for Collin and seems to me to be the safest. However, I am no car seat expert.

The third option we are looking into is a car seat vest. From my understanding, the vest straps the child down into the regular seat of a car. The problem with this is that it is not designed for children under age 2, so the manufacturer would need to make some modifications for us in order for it to be safe (it's been done before). They were closed by the time we reached this option, so Julie said she would call first thing in the morning. I am still holding out that I was describing Collin's position wrong and the Hippo will work out.

Speaking of the Hippo, I told Britkare to go ahead and order one today. I hate using 2 different people right now, but the safety of my son comes first and I don't want to ignore help from one place in case the other backs down. Anyway, they finally faxed the prescription over to Dr. Sims and called the insurance. They said the insurance usually doesn't cover things like that, but she said there could be a way. I told her that we don't even care, we will just pay out of pocket and if the insurance decides to accept it then they can reimburse it. I just want my son to be safe in the car!!!! They won't have the Hippo in until sometime next week, but if I can't get anything from Northwest before then, that might have to work. Hopefully tomorrow we will make some more progress and hopefully Northwest has a Hippo in stock that will work for Collin.

 Funny story as a closing note...

Les and I were hanging out with Collin watching T.V. and Sammy started acting like a guard dog because he obviously spotted something. We told him to "go get it" and he went over to the kitchen table and doubled back several times, growling and barking. It was totally out of the ordinary Sammy behavior and we were freaked out that we didn't know what it was, but it sure was hilarious!! As it turns out, he was scared of the sewing kit I had left on the kitchen table. I guess it looked menacing!!! I put it on the ground and he attacked it. Stupid dog ;)