...Starting the countdown...

The day nurse advised me at 8:15am on Thursday (day after surgery) that once Lauren's car seat was brought up and approved by another special nurse on the ward that we were free to leave.  I quickly called Garry and told him what car seat I wanted him to bring up as we were ready to get out of here. It's amazing how quickly you can adjust to a situation, specially after weeks of resisting it in your head.  Lauren and I just walked around the ward like nothing had changed while waiting for Daddy.  Lauren was a champ while I changed her diaper for my first time and allowed me to put her down while packing up the room.  Wow, after hearing that "kids are so resilient" and actually wanting to say to people that I didn't want to hear that anymore and that I was so sick of that comment as this was going to be awful for my little baby~well, Lauren was proving them right and me wrong! :)

Trying to get Lauren to fit into her car seat was interesting.  She is in a "froggy" position with one leg pulled back further than the other.  I called all of the numbers in the Spica Cast informational booklet provided by the hospital to see if we could possible rent if not purchase the recommended car seat "Britax Hippo" or any of the "E-Z harnesses".  Well, needless to say, that booklet was a waste of time with no real valuable information and the phone numbers of places provided no longer carried any approved car seats for special seating requirements or knew what I was talking about.  Health Canada no longer rents/sells these car seats as there weren't enough renters so it wasn't profitable enough for them (effective Sept 2011).  TJ's was just rude and had no idea what I was talking about and the last number there was no answer.  Great, why have an informational booklet if there is no useful information?  The nurses told us that Lauren kinda fit into her car seat and it would preferred if we went home via ambulance.  No way, I had to find something that worked because for 3 months we weren't going to be home bound and having to transport her via ambulance to every medical appointment!

While walking around I spotted the community health nurse that had discharged Brayden and diagnosed Lauren with DDH or CDH.  While holding Lauren on my hip I went up to her and asked her if her name was "Sue", told her who I was and she looked at me and said "I know, I'm here to see you guys!"  I've never been so blunt with someone, but I told her that she wasn't Garry and my favorite person at the time, but over the last few weeks we had come to appreciate the horrible news she had given us about our little girl on Aug 3.  Turns out that Sue had actually done her paper on DDH and that had Lauren not been diagnosed over the next few months she would have had to have had major surgery(s) once her condition be identified and funny enough once Lauren was diagnosed her limp lessened and it was harder to spot, so the chances of it being noticed sooner rather than later by anyone would have probably been slim to none.  We are very grateful for meeting Sue, although she has thrown our lives in crazy turmoil for the moment, she has saved our daughter from years and years of medical issues some of which could have possibly included hip replacements, arthritis, major surgeries etc.  That was a full circle moment for me, we had the closure with Sue that I wanted, it had crossed my mind to go and speak with her on the maternity ward and tell her now that we were so thankful!

Sue turned out to be a wonderful advocate for us that morning.  I told her about our car seat situation and she was all over it.  Her and I were shocked at the lack of resources for parents dealing with kids in spica casts.  What does everyone expect us to do, just go home for 3 months and make due with nothing?  That isn't the kind of parents Garry and I are, we tried to be organized and have as much stuff ready for Lauren coming home and knew that some additional stuff would need to be purchased once we try fitting her in the equipment (such as stroller, skateboard and car seat).  I placed Lauren in the Britax Marathon car seat and showed the nurses that she fit, they weren't exactly pleased how she fit and thought that the transport should be our option.  It was noted that I could actually refuse transport and call a taxi to take me and my daughter home with no car seat should I choose!  I said, you don't have to give me an all clear, just know that she is not going anywhere in the car seat except home and that from there I will figure something out (she couldn't go anywhere with that cast and the straps being fully pulled out to secure her-she was pretty safe).

Our last few days home have been better than Garry and I thought they were going to be.  My brother in law and Garry built the special spica cast table we pre ordered for Lauren and it has worked out great! http://www.freewebs.com/arymanth/  We ordered the purple rocking chair with the flowers and butterfly for Lauren.  We asked to not have her name printed on it so that we can donate it to the hospital afterwards for another child to use during there treatment time.

We were able to swap car seats with a wonderful friend who has been so supportive (all of you Langely ladies have been amazing)! Lauren fits into the Sunshine Kids car seat perfectly and as it turns out her son didn't mind having to sit in Lauren Britax Boulevard car seat as he got to sit up high and see everything :)  Thank you so much Jessi, Lauren is now safely able to travel out in the car much more comfortably.

The other awesome thing we have for Lauren that I was able to slightly modify for her to use while casted is her little push bike.  Having her be able to go outside and get fresh air every few hours has really helped pass the time and make it more enjoyable for Lauren.  Last night Nevan was over and he got to push "Boo Boo" all around!  I'll take a picture once we go out again as it is just the perfect fit.

We have also borrowed Lauren's little friends wagon and are looking forward to trying that out later on today!  The wagon we have has seats and there is no way of us fitting her in with the awkward casts in there, this other wagon is perfect as it is just one flat bed.

I also just want to give a shout out to our amazing friends and family.  Without all of you, and you know who you are, we couldn't or should I say, I couldn't have made it this far.  Your love, prayers, support, messages, dinners etc have been greatly appreciated and do not go unnoticed.  It really takes a village to raise a child and we are so lucky that our "village" is made up of amazing, loving family and friends!!  So thank you again!  We feel so blessed!