Patience!

We spent about five hours at the Cleveland Clinic today and we are so tired! We scheduled appointments with two different doctors, so we could get it all done in one day. Nicholas held up really well. There were no temper tantrums. In fact, he was charming several of the nurses with his big smile.

Our first appointment was with our pediatrician. She wanted to see Nicholas to follow-up on how he is doing after two months home. The answer is awesome!!! He is on-track developmentally and physically. She’s impressed by how well he is speaking (I stopped counting once it got around 100 words). He is growing! We could tell he was getting taller, but it was confirmed that he has grown 1 ½ -2 inches in 2 months! He is now between the 20th and 25th percentile in height. He is still in the 80-85th percentile for weight. He didn’t gain too much weight since the last appointment, for all those people that think he can eat a lot.

Nicholas followed all of the doctor’s instructions. The only time he cried was when he got 3 shots. However, he forgave the nurse rather quickly and gave her a “high five” and “the rock”! I think it made her feel better since she always has to be the bad guy and give all the shots.

We shouldn’t have to go downtown any longer for pediatrician visits. We received some referrals for doctors a little closer to home. Going downtown is just too far, and too costly. We paid way too much for parking today! We missed the cheapest rate by three minutes. I guess there is no grace period when it comes to parking downtown.

Our second visit was with the pediatric cardiologist. I haven’t gone too much into Nicholas’ medical history, but he was born with a hole in his heart. When we met him on the first trip, we were told it would close on its own. However, back in July 2008, they decided to do surgery (which is why our second trip was so delayed). We didn’t know much about the procedure, but we do know that the surgery kick-started his weight gain.

Anyway, we were just getting Nicholas evaluated to see what exactly was done and how he is doing now. He had an ultrasound and an EKG. The ultrasound tech told us that he was a very well-behaved 2-year old. Some 2-year olds need some kind of anti-anxiety medicine to relax them, but not Nicholas. He laid on the bed with his lollipop and watched PBS on the television. After a little while, he decided to help, and the lady let him use an extra wand with gel on it to rub on his chest. He kept asking for “more” gel. By the time we were done he needed a wet washcloth to clean up.

Nicholas is quite healthy. He will have to come for an annual check-up with the cardiologist, but he has no restrictions. They are keeping watch on one of his valves, but he may never have to have any work done on it. If he does, it will be with a catheter, years in the future.

Like I said earlier, Nicholas has been talking a lot. He’s soaking up words so quickly, so I shouldn’t be surprised by what happened a couple of days ago. Nicholas is ready to be potty-trained. We just haven’t been home to focus on it yet. But, we do have him sit on the potty a couple times a day. This particular time he was just sitting there, talking and not really focused on trying to go. I was getting a little impatient and trying to hurry him along. I asked him, “Are you going to go pee pee or do you want to get off the potty?” He looked at me and replied, “Patience!” I looked at with shock and asked, “Did you just say ‘patience’?” He yelled, “Patience!” Apparently, I was not taking my own advice, and he was calling me out on it. I guess I should be happy he’s listening, and I probably should be a little more patient with my son too.

Tomorrow should be a “fun” day. Due to Nicholas’ doctors’ appointments, he had no nap today. Well, he did have 30 minutes on the way home, but that really isn’t enough. That means he’ll definitely be a handful tomorrow. I think I know what tomorrow we’ll need – Patience! I better start praying for it now.

Kristin