Issues of the Heart

I have to begin this post with a huge praise to God for answering our prayers and blessing us with news that Tabor's heart is indeed a healthy one. We could not be happier.

With that being said the appointment leading up to the results was a NIGHTMARE!

Ty said he wanted me to blog about it since the results were good and he thinks everyone will have a good laugh at what happened. He says once I relax even I will think it's funny later. (we'll see)

First of all, I have to say that for being a pediatric cardiologist there was nothing kid-friendly about that office. Ok not nothing. Everyone was nice, but it felt like they had never seen a kid much less worked with one.

So we start off the appointment by trying to get his blood pressure. Ok I may be wrong but most pediatric offices have the little finger monitor right?! Oh not this one. They have the squeeze your arm off machine and they put it around his leg. Has anyone EVER seen Tabor keep his leg still?! Well she tells me he can't move. RIGHT! Needless to say we can't get a reading so she decides to try that again later.

Next test. She covers Tabor in stickers all over his chest. Tabor meanwhile helps her by removing each said sticker from his chest and flinging them all over the place or crumpling them together. Ok new tactic...she tries to get him to play with a doll. A doll. Tabor couldn't be less thrilled. Stickers continue to fly. Next comes a pinwheel, a ladybug chapstick keychain and a bag of wipes. Yes I know what you're thinking...seriously?! Yes I think even Tabor may have rolled his eyes.

She then decides to try and put them on his back. So (most) stickers come off chest and onto his back (keep in mind there are still stickers on his belly and legs and arms where they fell from the flinging). Now his back is also covered in stickers. Great moving on. Now she tries to clamp cords to each sticker. The cords are too heavy to stay on unless he doesn't move. As in even taking a deep breath will cause a cord to come off the sticker. So...cords are now flying everywhere as Tabor tries to escape the office.

She leaves and goes to get help. Tabor is crying out of frustration and snot is running down his face. I wipe and he cries harder. It's a full blown party in Exam Room 1.

Enter old nurse and new nurse. New nurse now announces the stickers are on wrong and wants to move them all. Pregnant momma bear steps in and says no. You will find new stickers and just add them because he will have a full blown melt down if those things are ripped from his skin again. Now Tabor is covered in nearly 3 packs of stickers.

Cords are reattached and the test is underway...but each time we start he moves and a cord falls making the test void. I honestly don't know if we got a valid test reading. I honestly don't care at this point. My poor baby is crying and calling out mama over and over again. My heart is broken and if those nurses tell me to keep him still one more time I may have lost my mind and punched one in the nose.

They finally are happy enough to stop and go back to trying to get his blood pressure. Everytime that machine squeezes his leg Tabor would go crazy crying and kicking his leg. The alarm that sounds when a test isn't successful went off more times than I could count. Again, I think they got a reading in the end but I can't remember and again at this point don't really care.

Now they move us to the Echo room where they tell me he needs to lay flat on his back and be still for about 30min. Are you kidding me!??! This kid has had enough! As we wait for the doctor I let him crawl around the room and realized all he was looking for was a way out.

The doctor arrives and introduces himself. Shakes my hand and tries to shake Tabors. HE IS A ONE YEAR OLD! He doesn't shake hands!

Now I have to pin my kid down on the table and hold him still while the doctor does an ultrasound on his heart. Easy enough but Tabor does not like the idea of sitting still and every time he gets an arm free he grabbed the wand out of the doctors hand and attempted to throw it on the floor. I know he sounds like a little tyrant but he wasn't. He is a one year old that does not sit still. Maybe other one year olds can. This one cannot. AND honestly at least before the ultrasound those tests could have been done much faster with the right equipment!

The doctor asks me to sing to him. Great. I love singing in front of people. I also realized by doing this I don't actually know a complete song. Dad is the singer. Not mom!

(this is not Tabor's echo - so if you see something wrong here don't freak out!)

We finally get good news that his heart murmur is a "musical" one and that it's completely innocent. I don't know what else he says because I'm consoling a sniffling/wiggling baby. I get Tabor dressed and we check out where to end the appointment very appropriately they offer him a sticker. He nearly jumps out of my arms!

About 3min later he is asleep in the car and now passed out in his crib. I hope his little memory erases while he sleeps and he wakes up thinking it was all just a dream.

The End.

Thanks to everyone for praying for our baby and thank you God for blessing him with a healthy heart.