Normal Has Never Felt So Good!

My Friday started like most days dog tired and dragging myself out of bed. But, unlike most days we actually had to be downtown by 8:30 am, no small feat with 2 small children.

We arrived early for our appointment at one of the best hospitals in country. One that actually specializes in hearts or if you want to get all technical Cardiology.

No sooner had we finished our third trip to the restroom were we rushed back to our exam room. The nurse was great. It was very clear that she loved her job and that perhaps she had done this whole thing a time or two. She was having Aspen help and encouraging her to be an active participant in her treatment rather than a victim - something not all nurses do well.

The EKG machine was nuts there were wires everywhere and on a small body it nearly swallowed her whole but my surprise is most likely because I have never actually seen one. And, this would be a great place for me to post a few photos for those of you who have never seen one either. But, you know, just getting to the appointment proved difficult so actually arriving with tools to document it was just asking way too much I guess. So, sorry, you are left with my descriptions.

After 20 minutes of tests and rigmarole the nurse leaves us to start swinging from the rafters, because hi we are in the tiniest room ever with absolutely no child-like toys and the ones in my purse played out last year and will not hold their attention for even a minute. Oh look! Here's a pamphlet on cholesterol, kids take note... your grandpa gave you bad arteries but I assure you he didn't do it on purpose. So, instead of talking their ear off about what they could be doing now to elongate their lives I let them stand on the window sill and stare at traffic on Madison Avenue because you know I am all about safety. It was better than TV because whoa that green car was AWESOME! (please note that was a direct quote).

S0, an eternity later which in real people terms was approximately 7 minutes, the doctor shows up. He listens to her heart in 27 different places and confirms that yes indeed she has a sound in the S-2 section of her heart beat that leads him to believe that a hole is likely present.

Then I died.

Because OMFG who takes a news like that with any type of composure?

After I picked myself up off the floor and found some cheerios in my purse, because hello when a girl gets news like that she needs to eat, the nurse hands me a piece of paper and sends us to the 2nd floor for a picture.

And by picture I mean the neatest freaking echocardiograph I've ever seen which is just a fancy way of saying a sonogram of my daughters heart. Except I really had no idea what I was looking at and really I was way too scared to ask. So, like any good mother I shut my mouth and watched Beauty & the Beast with the kids and munched on Cheerios, because hello thank god I had enough sense to pack snacks for this stressful event.

Forty-five minutes later we were told to go back to the 8th floor to discuss the findings.

Five minutes later we had the results....

The doctor has absolutely no idea why the blood flow during the second beat of her heart almost doubles because the hole he was almost certain was there does not exist*.

So, really, she is N-O-R-M-A-L!

Which, honestly, NORMAL has never felt so good.

And aside from tracking it and watching for a few signs we won't be seeing that doctor for a few years and if dissipates before then we won't have to see him again ever.

Can I get a HELL YEAH?


*Although I can't stop thinking that Monday I'll get a call stating we need to come back...they've found "something". After Monday, I'll feel better, I swear.