Thursday, December 24, 2020

Children's National Consult

Well, they did manage to squeeze us in this week,  after all. I got a call yesterday afternoon informing me that I needed to be AT the hospital at 6 am for an MRI followed by an ultrasound,  rounded out with a telemed meeting with the surgeon,  neonatalogist, and I think another unidentified person.  

I've never had an MRI before.  I hope I never have another.  It took an hour.  It was not an open MRI, though thankfully my head was out. You can't move.  They placed something over me so they could get images of Judah. I had to wear a mask the whole time (SO over COVID!) Blessedly, I was on my side,  not back, to allow proper blood flow to Judah. However,  I was still uncomfortable.  And they put a warm blanket on me. Between the blanket,  the mask,  and the personal heater living in my abdomen...I was so hot I was sweating.  And did I mention you can't move?!  The good news was,  I've had so little sleep and having been up since 3 am, I did doze off some.  And between that and the rosary, I managed to not panic. It was hard, though.  

They then sent me to ultrasound where I had a very long scan that I couldn't watch.  So ... again... no cute baby pics. And I have no idea how anything looked today.  That's always frustrating.  But Judah's heart rate was 140, and that was good! That's all the info I got. 

Now waiting for that 1200 Zoom meeting that has to be done on site.  Why? Because we live in VA and the NICU doc is only licensed in DC. So I guess that is an issue for insurance purposes? 

Even more frustrating than sitting here for 2 hours is the fact that Bryan can't participate.  He's literally been allowed at nothing but the telemed appointment we had with the nephrologist back at 22 weeks. Technically,  he could be here today but he couldn't come to my appointments beforehand so he would be waiting here for literally 6 hours to meet with the docs. Leaving all the kids home alone to get ready for Christmas Eve Mass themselves. We couldn't drive separately because the battery is dead in the truck and we can't get that replaced until Monday.  Yes,  he likely could have gotten someone to jump him, but that leaves the risk of not being able to get home.  Plus, again, we need to leave at 3 for Mass because you have to sign up for Mass slots (Again,  thanks COVID) and we signed up for the 4 o'clock before we knew we would be meeting with docs today.

Overall,  I'm glad they got us in.  And I'm glad that they put me they all this misery this am because I feel like they are doing a good job of truly trying to make an informed plan. That was my biggest complaint at Walter Reed, the "we will see what we are dealing with once he is born" attitude. I mean,  for the most part,  that's all we can do.  But having the specialists review things now and make a plan based on what they see is a relief. Assuming they obtained any new info today that is useful.  We may actually know nothing but what we knew yesterday. Will update when I can following the appointment.  

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