Update on Mary Clare…

Mel and I took Mary Clare back to MUSC today for a clinic visit. (McCanless opted out this time. Apparently, school is far more fun than skipping for Charleston at this point. We’ll see how long that lasts.) We had a long visit complete with echocardiogram, EKG and all. She was 28 inches long, weighs 17 lbs 7 oz, and is doing fine, (I guess.)

I was a bit more confused after this visit than most. I’ve learned not to ask too many questions for my own sanity (as long as she is well.) But today I broke my own rule, and have only worried myself and have no clue as to why I’m really that worried. Between calming a very irritable and squirmy baby girl, getting Mel to focus (He has a tendency to turn into a serious hypochondriac when amongst doctors-He was insistent on explaining his latest episode of Cellulitis to Dr. Forbes.) and trying to decipher cardio-talk…

I heard, “a bit swollen” in regards to her heart, but apparently that is “normal for her heart” that is working so hard and has a completely different physical make up now.

I heard “her red blood cell count could be high.” Which could be why she has those adorable bright red lips, pink cheeks and turns incredibly purple when she cries. (more so than typical HLHS babies) Which will be checked in three months with blood work and more extensive tests, and could lead to another heart catheterization, blood transfusion, etc…

I heard “her heart function looks like it did last visit” which left me wondering if I missed something last time! Her heart function isn’t spectacular, but for her it is working. All of her numbers (oxygen, blood pressure) look okay, so her heart function again is “normal for her.”

Her Enalipril (blood pressure) medicine was upped to 2 ml’s twice a day, simply because of her weight gain.

And for the record, baby girl is getting feisty! Now that she knows what EKG’s and echo’s are all about, she wants no part in them. Merely two months ago, she would lay quietly and coo at the echo techs or assistants helping with EKG’s. Those days are long gone! She screamed, cried huge crocodile tears, blew bubbles, arched, crunched and fought her way the ENTIRE time! Whew, what a work out for mommy. As soon as they were over, and I was holding her she would throw out her biggest and brightest smile. Little stinker.

We also saw Dr. Bradley, Dr. Atz and a few of our other favorite docs and nurses. I had the chance to ask them if they felt that there was a correlation between heart babies and sleeping issues. Every doc said none, whatsoever. When I asked a nurse, she simply said, “I’ve never known a heart baby to sleep well.” I’m going with the nurses opinion, although I guess there is nothing I can do about that. Oh well, maybe I’ll take up naps when she starts school…

We were sent home with another clinic visit in 3 months, so I guess all is well. I have a tendency to just over think everything, which is exactly what I have had to learn NOT to do since the day we learned of our sweet Mary Clare’s heart defect. She is great. We had a great day. I’m so very blessed that I was able to spend it in Charleston with our smiling baby girl.

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