Update #5

I thought I had posted this two weeks ago. Oops. This post was written after our trip to Victoria on July 29.

On Wednesday, we went down to Victoria to visit the cardiologist. He wanted to do an ECHO to look at G's heart.

G made it to the Malahat (over and hour!) before he started fussing, so we took a lunch break in Langford. Overall, we were very impressed with his big boy behavior in the car.

When we arrived on the pediatric ward, they wanted to do the ECHO first to get good pictures of his heart. He was stripped down to a diaper and we needed to keep him still. Well, after two hours confined in a car seat, you can probably guess how that went. He communicated, very clearly, that he did not want to lay down quietly on the warm bed. After a little snack and a cuddle, we reclined him in my lap and put on an Elmo DVD. He was happy to sit and watch TV, but had a good scream every time Elmo came on screen. The tech got the job done fairly quickly. She was so amazing and easy going. The results are good. G's heart looks the same as it did about 6 weeks ago, which means that the obstruction hasn't gotten worse. This is the best news we could have expected.

Next came the weight check. Once again, he protested. The pros seemed satisfied with the results. He is now pretty much outgrown his 3 to 6 months sized clothing. Not bad for a baby who is just past 4 months!

By the time the oxygen check happened, G had been screaming on and off for 20 minutes. The numbers (84) reflected it, being slightly below his baseline of 86. The cardiologist was not too concerned. Mid 80s is OK. If his resting oxygen dips into the low 80s, the doctor would be concerned. We learned that as far as stable tet goes, G's oxygen is in the low end. Most tet babies have baselines in the 90's. However, the baby is stable enough for us to keep our checkups 2 weeks apart. If the cardiologist was really concerned, he would have sent us home with an oxygen meter. He didn't feel that was necessary.

I took some time to learn about how the oxygen meter works. The course that I took in analytical chemistry definitely came in handy! I could try to explain it here, but I don't have the time to prepare a clear explanation and there are already some good articles on the internet. (Google pulse oximetry to learn more. ) The most useful thing that I learned is that the technique is sensitive to movement and ambient light. I am not supposed to bounce the baby during a reading. Oops.

Anyway, I will sign off and go play with the baby. Overall, this was a good doctor visit.