Monday, June 20, 2011

My great special needs find!

I have gotten so many great idea's from other special needs moms, that I thought I would share my great find for Jax.
We got Jax a new stroller on Saturday. We have been using the same one pretty much since birth, so its pretty worn! Although it still works great. He does have a special needs stroller/wheelchair, but I like a regular stroller for around town. His SN stroller is like a wheelchair, its super heavy, wide, and just not practical. I only use it for Disneyland (because some of the staff are dumb and won't recognize a regular stroller as a wheelchair!) And if he ever goes to school, he'll use it then.
I always take my time finding a stroller for him, because it needs to fit all of our equipment. We went to Babies R Us, because they always have the biggest selection. I was actually a bit overwhelmed, because I saw a couple of new strollers that looked like they would work great, but they were 4 and 5 hundred dollars! Yikes! We decided the one that looked the best was this Jeep Liberty stroller. It was only 150.00, so not too expensive. And when we used it for the first time yesterday at the mall, I really fell in love with it!

Here's what I fell in love with. The basket underneath is huge! I was able to put his suction, feeding bag, and oxygen all underneath with no problems! A medically fragile moms dream!

Since Jax doesn't sit up straight, he falls over, even while laying down. Yes, this kid has ZERO trunk support! I still have to use one of those baby head inserts to keep him sitting up straight. The one thing I'm starting to worry about, is Jax is getting to tall for most strollers. That seems weird to me, since the kid only weighs 25 lbs. His trunk is the size of a 3 year old, his legs a 2 year old. Like most DS kids, his trunk is long and his legs are short. So any moms of older kids, we may need your advice on strollers when his head doesn't fit anymore!

I love this! The stroller has a basket in front as well as the back. His oxygen fits perfectly under the front basket, and I can keep all his tubing there, and its not falling off the sides. It would only fit a C tank. If you had a D tank, you'd have to use the back basket.

Although I don't use this, because he won't play with it, and it makes it more difficult to get him in and out, it does come with a tray and a toy, if your child can use it. If this was Arina's stroller, I would leave this on.

A view of the huge basket underneath.

What really made me excited when I first used the stroller, was how the back seemed to be meant for my suction machine. (I know, I'm easily excited!) It fits perfectly right there, and its out far enough that if I lay him back, I can still easily access it!

So there ya go, my recommendation for a stroller for a medically fragile child!

Jax has surgery tomorrow, I'm not sure what time yet. I'm hoping we don't have to check in at the crack of dawn! I will update here and on facebook every time I get an update from doctors. The surgery is supposed to be at least 3 hours, probably longer since access always takes time before they can even get started!
Your support is greatly appreciated, I love knowing that he has so many people praying for him. Especially since I will be up at the hospital alone. Your comments are comforting! I have the greatest followers and friends!

Just got word that we are first case. Lovely, so he will go back at 7:30 am. We have to be there at 6. I better get the coffee ready!

18 comments:

Amy @ OurScoop said...

Looks like the perfect stroller! Good luck tomorrow! I'll be praying for you that things go well!

The Mac's House said...

I was thinking of you guys this weekend remembering his surgery coming up, prayer will be sent your way.

Love that stroller, we have an older model and love it too. Ours doesn't have the additional basket in the front so that is really neat. It does move smoothly and easy to control for such a big stroller, one of the reasons I love it so much.

:)
Teri

The VW's said...

Looks like a great stroller! Where do you put Arina...or does she have a stroller of her own? I was just looking into double strollers....since adoption is looking more promising for our future! :) ,but I'm having a difficult time finding a good, yet inexpensive one.

Praying for Jax! Hope the surgery goes wonderfully! I can't believe how quickly it came up! I'll be thinking of you! Hugs!!!

Michelle said...

Love that you found a stroller that works great for Jax. Will be praying for you all tomorrow. I have to tell you, I had a mini melt down over a stupid doctor's appointment and reading your post, just made me suck it up. Prayers!

I Just Love You said...

argh,, i hate early morning hospital trips. good luck tomorrow and i'll be looking for an update post.

suelmayer said...

Always keeping you and Jax in our prayers, we'll just ramp them up for tomorrow morning.

Heather said...

Love your new ride sweet boy and love your Babylegs!

Sending love and prayers for tomorrow.

Emma said...

Thinking of and praying for you and Jax tonight. I am sure God will be right there with you throughout.

Many blessings and prayers,
E x

Alison said...

Will be praying for you all for tomorrow.

To Love Endlessly said...

fancy stroller and a great price! Good find mama!

Heather said...

I love the stroller and it is great that you can fit everything in it that you need!!! Praying for Jaxson's surgery tomorrow (and for you while you wait).

Kellan's momma said...

It's too bad the stroller didn't have shoulder straps to help keep him upright. Maybe you could write to the company and tell them how much you love it, and offer a suggestion! Not many strollers have the shoulder straps and that's what we needed with Kellan for the longest time. I'll be praying for the little man tomorrow and thinking of you. Hugs!
Christina

Suzanne said...

Good luck with surgery!

Just an FYI about Disney, if you stop at the front customer service and show them Jax they will give you a tag to mark your stroller as a medical stroller. Then the rest of the park will treat it as a wheelchair. We have done that in the past.

Love the stroller!! One thing that helps us when the O2 tubing starts to get in the way is I bought some of the large claw type hair clips. They work as amazing tubing clips. It's the small things that make life happy :).

Tam said...

The stroller looks fantastic. I will be praying for your little warrior and his very special Mama and Daddy during this stressful time of surgery.

Scrappy quilter said...

Praying!! Hugs

Melissa said...

We have this stroller too, and love it! Your post reminded me that I need to find the toy bar and put it back on the stroller...not sure where it ended up, but I know Claire would probably like to have it back. :)

Erin said...

Yeah we got kicked off a Disney tram when I was 7 months preg because Charlotte's stroller, chock full of oxygen tanks and feeding pump, was not a "Wheelchair." It was an older Jeep liberty--awesome! Cried, started hoofing it, then another employee grabbed us and hooked us up on a private tram. Waved at the other employee as we passed him and resisted the urge to flip him off.

Graceus said...

Hi, I was looking at strollers that were suitable to hold an oxygen tank just in case our baby needed one, and the search engine took me to your blog. Will be praying for Jaxson that he gets his IEP. Your children are beautiful!