Animas it is...that's my final answer, Regis

No need to phone a friend and use up one of my life lines (a la "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?"((speaking of which, is that show even around anymore?)) ) I love that I just made a comment within a side comment...lolol...shows you how my mind is working these days! Definitely NOT like a steel trap to say the least! Anyhoo......we have made our pump decision...we are going with Animas!!! I am so relieved to have the decision making portion of this whole process done and over with. At least I can remove that stress from my mind now.
So, we met with Stephen from Medtronic yesterday evening and I can honestly say that I was way off in how I pictured him looking. I had this image in my mind of a paunchy middle aged man with glasses and a receding hairline, of course wearing the uniform of a plaid sportcoat and too short dress pants that make him look like he is actually wearing "man capris". In reality, Stephen was around my age, very tall and slim, light brown hair, and good looking. He was wearing a striped dress shirt and had a snazzy sweater vest over top of it. We sat down and listened to all of his statistics and percentages. We listened to him go on and on explaining how his pump is the best and how everyone and their brother was choosing Medtronic pumps. He offered up all of these freebies...spybelts, skins, etc. Before leaving, he even went out to the car and brought back a couple of stuffed animals and a book for Emma. I am sure he is a very nice man, but I found it extremely difficult to wade through all of his sales pitches and manipulation of things. It was very off putting to me to sit there and watch him hand over to Emma the nice glossy, laminated, and brightly colored booklet showcasing the huge variety of fun looking skins for the pump. What little girl is not going to change her mind about pumps when she learns that she can have one with zebra print on it, or bright pink and purple? I felt like I was sitting there watching someone dangle a gigantic lollipop in front of my kid and telling her that she needs to whine and beg until I buy it for her. I'm sorry....I am the grown-up in this situation...I am the one who will be purchasing the pump....not my 7 year old kid. Thankfully I have a smart kid. Once he left, she said she changed her mind and wanted the Medtronic now. I didn't comment at all really because I was disappointed that she was swayed by the glitz and glammer of a stuffed animal and some stickers...so I just went about my business of making supper. About 2 hours later, Emma came up to me and said that she changed her mind again...she wanted Animas. She said that she thought about it and realized that the only reason why she said she wanted Medtronic earlier was because of the cool skins and because Stephen gave her stuff. What a kid. I'm glad she came to that conclusion all on her own though...I think it will mean more to her now once she gets her Animas. She will feel more confident in it and be proud that she decided on that one all on her own.
In any case, I can honestly say that the best thing I saw of the entire visit was the one stuffed animal he gave Emma. It is a small version of Lenny the Lion and it has a zipper on its back. It is to be used for storing the pump in while your child is sleeping! How cool is that? Instead of clipping it to her jammies or wearing a spybelt or even just laying it on the pillow next to her, you just pop it in the zippered pouch on Lenny's back! I thought that was so cool!
So, we made it past this first hurdle of decision...and now we've turned the corner on our path and made it to the land of "freaking out panic because this is now a real reality-Ville"...population-1. I am so glad I have this blog to write about these experiences! Thank you all for all of your supportive comments and for being there by my side as I take these first steps into the land of pumping...it means the world to me to know that I'm not alone and have you there to stop me from getting lost on the way.