B and I had a day-long adventure at the children’s hospital on thursday.

his doc kept hearing a small heart murmur that he was sure wasn’t a big deal,
but he was going to coerce me into getting a second opinion just to be sure.

after we walked through the entire hospital to get to cardiology,
we settled in for about an hour before they called us in.

i couldn’t help but people watch.  do you do that?  sit and try to imagine what their story is?

the first one i noticed was a young daddy of a tiny girl within weeks of her birth…
he was shaking his knee in nervousness, and only broke his trance to look down at her with a heart-breaking worried face.

i could only imagine what was going through his mind… maybe they don’t have insurance.
maybe she was unplanned to begin with.
but she most certainly was there for something more serious than we were.

a young girl walked in the waiting room. confident. practically a resident.
maybe 17.  she came out to tell her parents about her large beautiful scar down her chest and how cool the larger than life size x-rays were and how she wanted one to print to put up in her room. this was not her first visit.
her parents looked drained.

boss had been waving and smiling at them,
but they were feigning amusement for sure.

kind of a dreary place, a cardiology waiting room.

we finally went in for a chest x-ray.

 
in his 16 months, i have not seen him ever this mad,
or just downright terrified.
having all your limbs held down with a bright light on you is not the most comforting…

then back to the waiting room.

then to go check his vitals.
which requires nakedness.

of course, i forgot a diaper,
so while she fetched me one,
naturally, he peed on me…
no big deal, but mostly a funny additive to the already flavorful day.

then to get an EKG which was equally traumatizing for B.
every new room meant a new lady to do something scary.
this one was smart enough to occupy him with bubbles while he waited for the read-out…
 

 
then back to the waiting room.
where they forgot about us and almost closed up cardiology…

we even had time to play outside…
 

the dr was great, told me that B has a small hole in his heart.
something that should mend itself by about 3 or 4.
if not, it shouldn’t affect him in any way.

phew.
i thought of that waiting room full of potential bad news,
and said a prayer thanking God for the good news.

by that time, my child was stinking the place and i was grateful the nurse had given me 2 diapers.

B was tired, hungry, ticked, and so confused...

after 3+ hours at the hospital, we get back to the car, and what do you know…
they charge you to park?? at a children’s hospital?!
icing. just icing, i thought.

so i bought me a burger and a diet coke and went home.

i know he’s not old enough to know,
he’s too young to remember how tramatizing the day was
once it was all over.

but i fed him fries anyway,
just cause i’m sure he needed them too.