We Both Needed Baths

Sometimes all I can do is laugh.

Yesterday Julianne had an appointment with her Cardiologist. She was scheduled for an EKG, Echo, Chest X-ray and regular appointment. The EKG went fine, not much fussing from Julianne. After the EKG we were sent back out to the waiting room to wait to be called for the Chest X-ray. As we were sitting in the waiting area I realized I'd forgotten to throw a change of clothes in Julianne's diaper bag. Then, I thought, "I sure hope she doesn't have any explosive diaper issues." I then picked her up and realized she had a small wet spot on her pants. I thought that wasn't too bad I'll just go take her in the bathroom to change her. Well, then my hand happened to touch her back. It was then that I realized IT WAS BAD. It had come out of the top of her diaper all over her back, her shirt and pants AND my pants! I kind of hobbled over to the bathroom ( I had to try to carry her without getting my shirt covered in poop and push her stroller because that's where I had her feeding pump so I couldn't disconnect her). I asked a lady if she could open the bathroom door for me. She responded, "Oh, you poor thing..." and opened the door. We were in there a really long time. I heard Radiology calling "Julianne Caperton." I opened the bathroom door and announced across the waiting room "We'll be in there in a minute. She had an EXPLOSIVE diaper." After I got Julianne cleaned up and undressed I tried to clean my own pants. I was not very successful. So, I went over to Radiology with a baby dressed only in a diaper and a huge wet circle on the right leg of my pants. The very nice radiology tech gave Julianne a little hospital gown to wear so she'd have something since her slacker mom forgot extra clothes.

Next was the Echo. Through which I could smell poop the whole time. I wasn't sure if it was me, Julianne, or the clothes in her stroller. Either way, it was a small room and I'm sure the Echo tech knew it was one of us because it wasn't her. I just hope she assumed it was Julianne.

After the Echo, Julianne got her blood pressure checked. It was during that time that she threw up. I caught most of it in the only cloth diaper I brought. She finished and was crying so I put her over my shoulder to try to console her. She threw up again, this time on my shirt....nice. By now, we're both pretty stinky.

Then it was time for her appointment with the Cardiologist. After I explained why Julianne was wearing a hospital gown, I realized that her feeding tube had been leaking all over my pants and Julianne's body. This formula, as I mentioned before, is REALLY stinky. Its also very sticky. So, now we are both very stinky and sticky.

Because her feeding tube was leaking and there was no way to repair it, we then spent the next five hours smelling up the ER. We got our favorite ER Doctor, saw some of Julianne's nurses from when she was an inpatient at Ochsner, got a new feeding tube and were home by 10:15PM (we'd left for her appointment at 1:15 that afternoon).

All I could do was laugh. Considering everything, yesterday's problems were just humorous.

Anyway, her heart was fine. They're sending her Echo and other results to Boston so they can schedule her pre-operative testing up there. Everything looked fine on the echo. There was some restriction in the aortic arch, but Dr. Young says that is to be expected and not to worry. When they do her heart catheterization in Boston, they will probably balloon it open some. There is the possibility that Boston may do an MRI in place of the catheterization. However, Dr. Young says that is probably not the case for Julianne because of the restriction in the aortic arch. Julianne's doctor also took her off of Lasix. So, all in all, she looked good.

AND she weighs 13lbs now! We are getting quite a big girl. I guess that's a benefit of getting fed 24/7 with a high calorie formula. :)

That's all for now. As soon as I hear when her surgery will take place I will let everyone know. Thank you for your prayers and for laughing with us at our crazy day. :)