Experiences in a Waiting Room

I had to bring Simon to the pediatrician’s yesterday for his flu shot booster. While I was there, I popped into Clare’s cardiology office to see if they would do a blood pressure check for me (the luxury of having Clare’s specialists right next door to the pediatrician). We have been monitoring Clare’s blood pressure at home, but Shawn’s machine is out on loan right now. It has been ten days since we have been able to check her blood pressure. The last time we checked, her top number was still 130, so I wanted to alleviate that concern. Thankfully, it was down to 109. The increased dose must have finally kicked in!

Upon exiting the doctor’s office, I was busy bundling the kids back up in their jackets, hats, mittens, in the waiting room. I had noticed two women sitting in the chairs – one in her 50's, the other probably around 30. Clare was walking around making friends with a little boy on the other side when the older of the two women suddenly asked me, “Does your daughter have Williams syndrome?” Shocked, I replied, “Yes, she does!” That is when the younger woman piped up, “I have Williams syndrome, too!” I took a closer look at this well-groomed, beautifully-coiffed (what a great word!), beaming woman. And sure enough, behind her glasses, I could see the puffy eyes. I saw the button nose. She had a wide smile with gorgeous teeth. She instantly started cooing over Clare and Simon. I had tons upon tons of questions flashing through my brain (Do you live with your mother? Are you here to see the cardiologist? Did you have your teeth done?) but clamped down on the urge to let them spill out, not wanting to be rude and nosy. Instead, we exchanged small talk as I continued to gear up Simon and Clare. The mother stated that she could tell instantly from the moment we walked into the waiting room that Clare had Williams syndrome. The daughter told me that Clare looked just like she did at that age, with the same curly hair. I did not get any answers to the burning questions in my mind, but, strangely enough, I did receive some peace in my heart. A little glimpse into what the future would be like – me bringing Clare to the cardiologist’s, even when she was 30 years old. And it wasn’t so bad.

On another note, Clare has made the transition out of the crib. One of our goals upon leaving Louisville was to transfer Clare into the toddler bed. When we arrived home, Shawn set up the bed in Jamie and Clare’s bedroom. Our plan was to leave both the bed and crib in there for about a month, and then slowly have Clare start transitioning into the bed. (This is how we transitioned Jamie out of the crib.) That night, however, Clare refused to go in the crib. “No, no, no,” she yelled. Shawn asked her where she wanted to sleep. She emphatically pointed to the toddler bed. And that was that – her crib days were over. Shawn snapped this photo a couple nights after Clare stopped sleeping in the crib. It is a bittersweet milestone to watch your once baby girl sleeping in her big girl bed. Or at least near it. (And, yes, the mess is Clare’s post-bedtime mess that she likes to make before falling asleep on the floor at night. And the big lump of pillows, blankets, and animals on the left is Jamie somewhere.)