AK's cardiologist appt.

Today was AK's visit to the cardiologist. The trek down there (downtown Austin) is always an interesting and usually frustrating one. So here's the story.

I met my MIL at her workplace and we road together to the appointment. We had to pay close attention to highway splits and exits and such because it's beyond easy to get lost. We made it to the parking garage, parked in the PERFECT spot (except it was a super tight squeeze), got all of our luggage out (stroller, purses, diaper bag, snack, sippy) and headed over the little bridge to the doctor. We got to the elevator, took it up one floor and started the journey down the hall to the appropriate door. We arrived right on time ONLY to find that the door was locked. INTERESTING I thought. As we noticed the door was locked this lady with a badge came walking down the hall so my MIL asked her if she knew anything about why they would be closed when we have an appointment. As she was talking to the lady I was calling the office. While on the phone I find out that they've totally RELOCATED to a place across the highway! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! So, the lady who works in administration gets on the phone to find out where we need to go and we start our journey BACK to the car very flustered and aggravated. The sign stating the office and doctors was still posted by the door and everything. I'd say this wasn't the most very organized move.

We finally make it over there about 25 minutes passed our scheduled appointment...it might've even been closer to 35 minutes...and I'm beyond annoyed at this point. For one, we haven't had an appropriate meal yet and it's approaching 10:45 AM. Two, they hand me this stupid clip board with paperwork to "update" their records when everything I had to fill out they already knew! UGHHHH! While I'm trying to fill out the stupid paperwork my toddler is coming close to escaping out the front door. Yes, it was toddler accessible (my MIL was parking the car).

My MIL comes in and asks how long they've been in their new location and they said since July. She says that it would've been nice to receive a letter or phone call regarding the move before our appointment. She says they like to call and talk personally with the person or leave a message before the appointment. She says someone called yesterday and never mentioned it. Then I started thinking, not only did they call and confirm the appointment they called me BACK to clarify an insurance mix up. Yes, I spoke with someone twice and neither time did that lady mention a new location. BIG UGH! Not only that, but they mailed me a letter close to the end of September reminding me to set up the appointment! BALSDJSADLKJDfIOASJD

So, we get all that squared away and head back for the testing. Anna-Kate was no where near as...um...flexible and happy about it as she was just a year ago. She weighed in at 27.9 lbs and like 32.5 inches tall. HAHA. My little shorty. A year ago she was just 20 lbs. Aawwww. She cried for a second when I laid her back on the table to start the echo but I laid down beside her and that seemed to be okay. The woman clicked on The Wiggles and I bribed her with some CARS fruit snacks. Worked like a charm.

After THAT test we went over into another room and had an EKG done. That was easy cheesy. She sat back on my lap, squishing my plump belly, and enjoyed a granola bar. She pulled a couple of leads off at one point and that was funny but overall did really well. The doctor came in to see us shortly after that, aaaand

he says that everything looks great! Her pulmonary valve that was once narrow is no longer that way. As she's gotten bigger so has the valve. She basically grew out of it. He says that when he listens to her heartbeat he still hears a murmur but that is a sign of good heart health considering they just ran a ton of tests on her heart and everything checked out just fine. A narrow pulmonary valve can never regress and become narrow again. So, we've been cleared from seeing the cardiologist ever again...unless for some odd reason she develops some other symptom or problem. It was such a relief to get this final testing over with.

Now for some pics:

Here is Anna-Kate last October at 14 months old getting her echo and enjoying her FIRST sucker. The things we do to keep them content. (Also, in my defense, she totally had a bow in her hair but kept pulling it out :))


Here she is with Daddy last year. He was showing how flexible she is.


This was her last year after the appointment. Being a baby can be sooo tiring.



Now, in all the mayhem I didn't get ONE photo of her last appointment :-(. Bummer, I know. I was so excited to compare. I did however, snap this smiley photo of her when we were leaving. I guess you can even tell the difference in a year from this one photo. Aww, my baby is growing up.


I forgot to mention that after the appointment my MIL treated us to Chili's. YUM! I haven't been there in a good year because they jacked the prices up around the time Cheddar's came around. You can't beat the good queso, food and prices you get at any and all Cheddar's locations :-). Anyways, for lunch I thoroughly enjoyed a cup of Chicken Enchilada Soup, some over seasoned fries and a couple of chicken crispers. OH my was it delicious! Oh, and you can't forget the Sprite. It's nothing compared to Dr.Pepper but I'm more careful about my fluids when I'm around my MIL. She doesn't think caffeine is good for the baby. She doesn't know my babies. Their amniotic fluid is probably Dr.Pepper! :-)