Carseat and Stroller

As I mentioned, Ev's carseat is a loaner from the children's hospital where she had her surgery. She has the Britax Hippo, which retails for between $400 and $600 - thus, we are so thankful that they give us the carseat to use while she is in the cast for free!

It's an awkward fit because the angle of her cast matches the angle of the carseat - which would be great except her heels are lower than her bottom, so if she were to sit on her bottom, her heels would dig into the carseat. Not optimal. However, we found that if we put a small pillow underneath (actually it is one of those travel neck pillows) her heels are elevated just enough and she is able to be comfortable. Another thing we needed to get was sunshades for the windows - obviously this carseat does not have a shade like the infant ones do. 

As for the stroller, we knew it'd be a priority to get one that she could fit in comfortably (otherwise we're pretty stuck in the house - because of the bar on the cast, I'm not optimistic that any wearable carriers will work). On Saturday we took an excursion with Steve's mom (who is in town and has been SUCH a big help!) and tried out (literally) every stroller at Babies R Us. 

We bought the only stroller she fit in, but fortunately it's one that we were considering getting anyway (before all this spica cast business started)! We got the MacLaren Quest (http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11082692&searchURL=true) and it's awesome. We put a little padding behind her torso to make it a little more comfortable, and it's a dream. After her nap this afternoon, I was able to get the stroller out from the trunk of the car and unfold it all while holding her. The one handed fold and unfold is, as it turns out, even more essential than I thought. So it's worth the high price tag (well, given that it's the only one that fits her too, so not like we had a choice ...). There's a good chance that another MacLaren would work (although the Volo didn't because it doesn't recline, and the Triumph's seat didn't really fit her cast), but there is the Techno (which we'll get to try at the end of this month because our in-laws have one at the house in New Jersey). So check her out!