I swear this is not going to become a daddyblogging site. Certain things have just taken on an… urgency… over the last week or so, and it’s hard to focus on much else. And so it was today.
We got a call at around nine this morning from Baxter Hospital, where Clancy works and where Lain was delivered. Something they noticed that seemed innocuous the day before was discussed with a specialist. As a result, we were to report to Noxon, Umatilla, a roughly four hours drive. There was a specialist that needed to do an ultrasound and determine whether there were problems with Lain’s heart.
In the grand scheme of things, it’s not such a bad thing not to know that there is such a thing as a pediatric cardiologist. Turns out that there is, and he very much wanted to take a look. If one thing lead to another, we’d be going out to Cascadia within days and she’d be having surgery.
On the bright side, I’m lazy. I hadn’t unpacked from our hospital stay, and as luck had it neither of us wore most of the clothes that we had packed for that stay (I was going home to let the dog out and showered/changed when there, Clancy wore hospital attire until the last day). So we got everything packed in somewhat short order and we were on our way. The trip took a little bit longer than expected because it involved a breastfeeding break tucked away behind the fire station of a tiny little town (town population 300, county population 3,000). I also needed a restroom break, some coffee, and a bit of time not to undergo a mental breakdown at the thought that Lain might have been born with a weak heart.
The test turned out great. Or, in this case, “the results were entirely normal.” No trip back to Zaulem. We will be heading out to Summit in a few days to check on some looseness in her hip (not uncommon for babies that were stuck in the womb the way that Clancy was stuck in the womb). We ended up staying the night here due to weather concerns. Tomorrow we return to Callie, Clancy has her staples removed, and Lain gets a weight and color check.
Good to hear everything was fine.
But …. a color check? Does that mean you might have to rename her Faquisha or Maria?
Comment by Peter — October 23, 2012 @ 8:35 am
Sure, you won’t be a Daddy blogger. Sure.
Long drive, but good news.
A friend of mine had a daughter that needed open-heart surgery after about two weeks. I don’t recall the details, but the fetus has blood circulation that is different than a baby, since oxygenated blood needs to go to the lungs rather than from the lungs. The baby had arteries that did not connect properly to provide oxygen after the heart structures change, a couple weeks after birth.
A year later, there wasn’t even a scar. Babies heal fast!
Comment by A4 — October 23, 2012 @ 2:25 pm
Glad to hear little Lain is OK.
Advice: Buy some Lava soap. You are about to develop an intimate aquaintanceship with a substance you are genetically and socially wired to ignore and avoid. It is amazing how hard it is to get it completely off your hands. It will become a common, acceptable, and even interesting conversation topic to you and your wife.
Comment by stone — October 23, 2012 @ 11:48 pm
But …. a color check?
yeah, for jaundice and the like. Lain is about as white as white can be. Except when she’s flushed.
Comment by trumwill — October 24, 2012 @ 1:26 am
Sure, you won’t be a Daddy blogger. Sure.
Once things settle down, I plan to have a Friday roundup of various tidbits. In the meantime, there’ll be baby posts, but I’m also going to be less concerned about writing up very short posts of other things to keep things moving along.
A year later, there wasn’t even a scar. Babies heal fast!
That’s actually a credit to modern medicine as much as anything. I am known by my scar, after all, from surgery as a baby.
Comment by trumwill — October 24, 2012 @ 1:29 am
Sheila, is Lava soap particular effective? We’re already talking about how we need more soap around here. We actually already talk about groady stuff. It comes from having a doctor in the family.
Speaking of which, I asked Clancy about the innards they took our during surgery. She said that they sometimes take out the reproductive organs in order to do some things and put them back in. It’s not always done, though, and depends on the doctor and the patient.
Comment by trumwill — October 24, 2012 @ 1:32 am