In order for us to go outside of the house we have to take most of Gwendolyn's machines with us — bi-pap, suction, pulse ox, oxygen, and sometimes her feeding machine. Most of the machines work on battery but the most important machine, Gwendolyn's bi-pap, does not. So we have to carry a battery source with us to run the bi-pap outside of the house. In the past we've used a Duracell Powerpack 400. We've made it work in Gwendolyn's red wagon but it's the size of a fishing tackle box and weighs almost 30 pounds so it's very cumbersome. The power on the Duracell also only lasts for approximately 3 hours so that could be an issue at some point. Our friend Josh (thank you Josh) found a much, much, much, much smaller battery option for us through a company called BatteryGeek.net — I'm not kidding, that's the name of the company. They make a battery specifically for bi-pap's that is perfect. It's tiny, weighs 4 pounds, and lasts up to 10 hours. It's definitely going to make going out of the house much, much easier for us and that, once we figure out the logistics, will be great.
For many reasons, going out of the house hasn't been the most stress free event for us in the past. Up until now, we have packed everything into Gwendolyn's red wagon and made due with me pulling the wagon like a yak and Victoria watching Gwendolyn like a hawk for suctioning. Most of our trips have been to the doctor with a few jaunts out to the park or the Mission. We were hoping that with our new BatteryGeek.net battery we'd be able to use our old Quinny stroller — which lays in a relatively flat position and has ample room for all of Gwendolyn's machines including the new battery. Yesterday we gave the Quinny a go on our walk to Gwendolyn's doctors appointment. The good news is that all of her stuff fit perfectly on the stroller and that the setup allowed Victoria and me to have a much more normal walk together and both be able to watch Gwendolyn for suctioning. The bad news is that the flat positioning in the Quinny stroller isn't flat enough and the seat is much too concave. This makes it very difficult for Gwendolyn to breathe. We've got a few tricks up our sleeve on how to make the Quinny work and we'll definitely be giving it another go but we'll also be looking into stroller options that lay completely flat as an alternative if our Quinny tricks don't pan out.
On a positive note, Gwendolyn's check-up went great. She is gaining weight again — up to just over 16 pounds — and is back on track from a weight development standpoint. She's got chunky thighs to prove it!!!