Cardiology Follow-Up

Sorry in advance for the long post, but it's been a busy few days.

Bad news out of the way first. Clare had her post-cath follow-up with the cardiologist today. A slight thing that the doctors at Children's Hospital neglected to tell us was that they want Clare back in September for another cath. I was shocked when Clare's cardiologist casually brought it up that we were going back in three months, since we had no idea! (And I distinctly remember being told 6-12 months between caths, so I don't where the lines were crossed.) Anyway, the cardiologist performing Clare's cath had to do so much work on Clare's right pulmonary side (placing the stent and dilating six other vessels), that he was unable to work on the left side. There is only so much dye Clare's body can tolerate (or she would go into renal failure), so that is why Clare has to go back in three months to have her left pulmonary side worked on. I am still slightly in shock that we have to go through all this all over again in the fall. September's a busy month, too, with Jamie starting school, we will be full-force in Clare's preschool transition (since that is the six-month mark), and we have tentative vacation plans that we will now have to reconsider. At least we will enjoy the rest of the summer!

The good news about Clare's echo today was that she was unsedated and did beautifully. She was content to lie still and watch Blues Clues, as long as the echo tech allowed her to hold one of the wands as well (which she did). So the cardiologist has given Clare the thumbs up to remain unsedated for her future echos, as long as she continues to cooperate! Clare will have another echo in August so they can send her latest results down to Boston prior to her cath.

And it was echo one, get another free at the cardiologist's office today. They had a cancellation right after Clare's appointment, so they echoed Simon as well. He was not as content as Clare during his echo. (Lucky Simon was initiated into the joys of a cardiology appointment.) Thankfully Simon does not need to go back to the cardiologist's ever again. His heart is perfectly normal! And the little chub weighed in at 12 lbs, 5 oz. (He is going to pass Clare before long, since her weight is 19 lbs, 9 oz.) I can't believe he has gained five pounds in the short six weeks since he was born. No eating issues here apparently!

We did the Easter Seals Walk last week. Shawn's family from Maine joined us. It threatened to rain, but held off. The kids had a great time and everyone was a trooper for the long walk! Thank you again to all for your generous donations. Both Clare and Jamie had their hand-prints stamped on the Easter Seals banner celebrating the walk.

And the wedding weekend is over. My sister Christina was a beautiful bride, and we are so honored to have been a part of her special day. But I am not surprising anyone by stating how exhausting and difficult it was with three little kids. Late nights, early mornings, long days, and erratic meals. (Clare practically lived on bread and butter and Hershey kisses.) Everyone looked simply gorgeous in their wedding attire (poor Simon was left out of the loop!). Both Jamie and Clare were a big hit at the reception. Jamie with his slick dancing moves. We had to literally drag the child off the dance floor after 10 pm to go home because Clare was virtually comatose on my shoulder. He was a riot to watch - doing spins, slides across the floor, wild moves. I am sure the three champagne glasses of soda on the limo ride with Auntie Erin played a big part in our dancing king! Clare was passed from person to person as we had our extended family from all over the country meeting her for the first time. She is a celebrity on our blog, so they all wanted to hold her and hug her and kiss her. I was a proud mommy to show her off to everyone, but Clare could only handle so much, then she was done. (Sorry for the crying fit, Aunt Joan!!) I know it is not easy to meet so many new people at one time. I was on overload by the end of the night by all the noise - I can only imagine how Clare felt. But she was a trooper, as always.

Whew - it's been a long couple of weeks!