Check Up, Check In

Eli's check up appointment was today. Easy and hard. Easy and hard. He slept well, so he was actually in a good mood at the appointment. Typically he doesn't trust a soul at a doctor's office. Typically he cries the whole time.

Today he let the nurse take the blood pressure, oxygen saturation, his weight and length with no problem. Wow! 

Oxygen saturation: 83% 

Weight: 25 pounds

Length: 31 inches 

We brought a movie for the heart echo (ultra sound of the heart). This was his first heart echo since he was a newborn where he was not sedated. Well... I knew he would eventually be a hand full. Heart echos can be up to an hour long...

First 20 to 30 minutes, he laid there pretty well. Watched the video, drank a bottle. But began to fidget. We try bubbles. We try Gold Fish crackers. He starts to whine and cry hard. Well the Doc looks at the pictures and video and says that is probably good enough. 

Heres what we learned:

- Eli is doing fantastic! The saturation levels may seem low, but they are actually pretty high for his circumstance.

- His blood flow looks good. His heart is strong. There seems to be no turbulence in the heart. 

- His next surgery (and hopefully last--the Fontan) will most likely be next May. 

Can you believe that? His next surgery is like 6 to 8 months away. Weird. 

A Pain in the Aspirin

Eli is on aspirin. Has been for over a year. A half baby aspirin, every night. 

We feel like an apothecary. We half the aspirin. We crush the aspirin. We dissolve the aspirin in water. We then use a small syringe to get the aspirin/water mixture to Eli. And sometimes Eli spits it out...

BUT we are proud to say that those days are over!! We now just half the aspirin, and Eli chews on it and eats it by himself. It is so wonderful and freeing!!