How Do You Transport A Baby On A Ventilator??
Before we left the NICU, we did multiple “dry runs” to the car with Karlie to get a feel for transporting her. She came with a lot of equipment so we wanted to be as confident as we could be before bringing her home. Just a few days after Karlie came home, we had her first pediatrician appointment. I remember that being the most hectic morning as we frantically collected all her equipment and supplies and rushed to get there on time. In order to travel with Karlie, she requires her ventilator (obviously), suction, emergency bag, oxygen tank, feeding pump + measured out feeds, and a diaper bag. It may seem like overkill to bring all of that, but her life very well depends on it. You never want to find yourself in a situation where you need supplies or equipment and you don’t have it. We were never going to let that happen.
Karlie does not go anywhere without her emergency bag. Thankfully we never had any events while we were out and about but we were always prepared. The emergency bag contains a backup trach, all trach care supplies, Ambu bag, and feeding tubes with tube insertion supplies. There’s other miscellaneous items in the bag but those are the most important supplies.
Because of Karlie’s omphalocele, she required a special car seat called a Jefferson car seat. It’s designed specifically for babies with omphaloceles and the hospital was kind enough to let us borrow one for as long as we need it. The Jefferson car seat has straps that go over each shoulder and click together right on the baby’s chest and straps that go over each leg and click between their feet. This leaves the whole abdomen area open, so if you were to get in an accident there wouldn’t be any buckles or straps putting pressure on the omphalocele, which could cause serious damage. Karlie had a prosthetic shell made just for her before we left the NICU that she would wear while in her car seat. It was a hard plastic shell that covered her omphalocele and had a Velcro strap that went around her back. We used it for every car ride, no matter how quick it was. We were taking no chances and Karlie never seemed to mind wearing it.
Before we were even close to leaving the NICU, I was so concerned about what kind of stroller Karlie was going to be able to use. I knew she would have a lot of equipment so I had to find something that could accommodate everything. I didn’t know if trach babies needed specific strollers or if Karlie was going to need something custom made for her. I heard great things about Mockingbird strollers from other omphalocele parents so I decided to give it a shot. They have a large storage area on the bottom of the stroller which easily fits Karlie’s equipment. I was worried about the straps being uncomfortable on her omphalocele but we just kept them a little loose so her belly wouldn’t be too constricted. Our Mockingbird stroller has worked out incredibly for us to I would highly recommend it!
Going anywhere with Karlie felt like such an event so we spent most of our time at home for the first few months. We would typically only travel in the car with her when she had an appointment. It took a lot of time and practice to become comfortable transporting her. We also didn’t want to bring Karlie to too many places for fear of her getting sick. Karlie didn’t mind and we made sure to go on many walks with her so she could get fresh air and take in the world around her. Transporting her eventually did get easier and less intimidating. What felt so stressful before just became another part of our lives.
