Running the Gauntlet

Ayden's most recent 3 month cardiology visit was this past Thursday. Besides a chest x-ray (which he sat up for like a big boy this time) and blood pressures on all four extremities, we never know exactly what is in store when we arrive at the cardiology clinic for an appointment. The menu of tests and exams that Dr. K can order up includes bloodwork, an EKG, and an ECHO. In the past, Ayden has gotten off easy. This time, however, Dr. K went for everything on the menu - x-ray, ECHO, EKG, blood pressures, and bloodwork.

Despite all the poking and prodding, Ayden remained affable for the majority of the visit. Believe it or not, this was the first ECHO where he has been completely awake and aware of what's going on. Every time he had an ECHO in the hospital, he was either completely out of it or, at the very least, had some combination of sedatives and/or painkillers in his system. The ECHO didn't start all that well, but after a few minutes, he was more focused on his Wubbanub and the light up toy the technician had provided.

Before we saw her, Dr. K had read the ECHO. She liked what she saw. His various repairs look good. Everything is growing satisfactorily. The leak in his tricuspid valve has slowed to a trickle. She was even considering deeming his heart wall motion to be "normal." Previous ECHOs have shown the wall motion to be either "mildly" or "moderately" depressed. This indicates his heart function is improving and hopefully becoming more efficient.

As usual, the EKG and the blood pressures were fine. There were no issues with the bloodwork, either. (Side note: It really makes you feel like crap as a parent to basically put your child in a reverse bear hug while a nurse sticks him in the arm with a needle.) The only potential question mark came up in the x-ray. In looking at his x-ray, Dr. K could not say for sure whether she was seeing a small amount of fluid accumulating around his lungs or a pleural thickening. The former obviously could lead to trouble, while the latter can apparently happen to anyone and isn't of much concern. Regardless, she must not have been too concerned about fluid accumulation, since she decreased the dosage of his last remaining main diuretic.

This time, I could sit up and play with the paper!

I weighed 19 pounds, 9 ounces. I finally broke the 19 pound barrier!
My pediatrician will be very pleased.

Overall, the visit was a very positive one. Ayden behaved well throughout the process. I will not begrudge him his initial ECHO protests and the writhing and screaming during the blood draw. He made his parents very proud. Allison even mentioned she wished there was a way we could reward him for his behavior that he would understand. He displayed two of his newly acquired talents for Dr. K: his ability to wave (with both hands simultaneously) and his "E.T." move, in which his sticks out his pointer finger and waits for someone to reciprocate.

We are very grateful for such a positive visit. We are also very grateful for how much better these last two weeks have been. I don't know what changed a couple weeks ago, but Ayden is sleeping well again and is back to his happy go lucky self. There have even been a couple of nights where he has only cried out once. Even when he does, we are back to a point where all we have to do his give him his pacifier and he'll roll onto his side and go back to sleep. The sleep we are getting now that we weren't two weeks ago has been a blessing.

By the time Mom got me home, changed my clothes, and fed me, I was very sleepy.

***

We have several fun things we just haven't gotten around to posting.  I'll share a quick one of them here...

Lemonade Mouth is a movie Disney put out on its TV station a little while back.  It's about a group of random high school kids who come to together and form a band - the titular Lemonade Mouth.  As you might guess, a movie about a band, shown on the Disney Channel, contains a number of songs.

Having the love for music that he does, Ayden has been enthralled with this movie and its music (it probably doesn't hurt that the band's female lead singer is a blonde).  He is completely glued to the TV whenever one of  its songs is played, even if it's just part of a commercial.  Everything else in the world stops until the song is over.  We figure he is the youngest Lemonade Mouth fan on the planet.  We even bought the soundtrack for listening during car rides.

When Ayden hears music, he doesn't just listen.  Often, he will start to dance.  This is especially true if the music is Lemonade Mouth.  As you can see from the following video, his dance moves can be somewhat . . . . . unique (you'll see what I mean).  I don't know how or when he did it, but I just know we have Uncle Phil to thank for this.