Cardiologist Appointment

Yesterday was our quarterly cardiologist checkup. Despite the drought we've been in for over a year now, it never fails to rain the day we go to see Ethan's cardiologist and yesterday was no exception! Fortunately Ethan didn't seem to mind the cold drizzly rain as we walked from the car, through the parking lot, and into WakeMed's Heart Center. Ethan usually doesn't mind going for his cardiology checkups and behaves very well but yesterday he was just as fussy as he could be! Dr. Robinson said that all his patients were fussy yesterday and we thought it might've been the weather.

Ethan's fussiness began the second I put him on the exam table and undressed him and had to make him lay down so the nurse could measure his length. He calmed down for a few minutes while we went to the next room over to get weighed but then started fussing again when I had to hold him while the nurse measured his pulse ox. He was so wiggly that we weren't getting a very good reading at first - hovering around 76% but then I started singing his favorite song, "If You're Happy And You Know It" and he calmed down and we were able to get his normal pulse ox reading of 82%. Next, Dr. Robinson tried to listen to his heart and lungs with his stethoscope but Ethan was crying again so much that it was hard to get a good listen. From what he did hear, Dr. R did say everything sounded good and he wanted to get an echo done if Ethan would cooperate.

The echo technician was very sweet and patient with us. Usually this is Ethan's favorite part of the visit and he stays very still but he's at the age now where he doesn't like to stay on his back very long - he'd rather be sitting up playing or crawling around. The tech even brought in a TV/VCR for Ethan to watch an Elmo movie but that didn't last very long and he was squirmy and fussing again. We must've have a pretty skilled tech to do Ethan's echo because even with him not cooperating, she was still able to get a few clear pictures of his heart. The RV (Right Ventricle) function looks great with no leakage. Unfortunately they didn't really get a good look at anything else like the aortic valve or the pulmonary arteries (the ones that were worked on during the 2nd surgery) but Dr. R was confident enough with what he did see that he doesn't need to see us back for another 4 months - the end of January!

Thanks as always for checking in on us and continuing to keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We are so thankful for all the support but more importantly for the good health that God has blessed Ethan with over the last year. Please continue to also keep baby Gracie in your prayers as her parents patiently wait for her 2nd surgery next Thursday and also baby Lindsay is having her heart cath today in preparation for her 2nd surgery probably next week as well.