Coiln's 6 month Cardiology Check- Up

Before I get to Colin's 6 month cardiology check up - a real quick review of our weekend. Katherine did a great job at her soccer game. Saturday afternoon we packed up the kids and dropped them off at my parents for swimming and to spend the night. Matt and I went and met Matt's mom at the Houston Art Festival downtown to look at beautiful art, have some drinks, and listen to some live music. After the art festival, Matt and I headed to a new sports bar by the house to watch A&M beat Texas Tech. The sports bar was nice, we sat in a booth and had our own private TV to watch the game on. Sunday we picked up the kids and it rained ALL day, but we needed it really bad. So we watched movies, colored, kids tore up the upstairs play room.
Tuesday Colin had his 6 month cardolilogy check up at Texas Children's. We always get nervous about upcoming appointments, the fear of the unknown. Would it be time for his next surgery, is his heart function good, is his leaky value leaking worse where it will need intervention, are there any new problems we are not aware of : All those questions build up in your mind, and the nerves kick it!

Colin was having a sedation echo (ultra sound of his heart) so he could not eat after 8:30am (his appointment was at 12:30). I worked from home that morning to make sure we followed the eating/drinking instructions. We took Katherine to school and had breakfast with her and Colin got to meet her Kindergarten teacher and class. About 11:00am, Colin asked to eat, so for a distraction, we took the dog for a walk. Matt got home from work, and we headed out to our appointment.
We were called back to the room for the sedation medicine. They took Colin's vitals - O2 levels around 85-88% (which is good for half a heart). Colin was pretending his blood pressure cuff was his Buzz Lightyear Laser Ray(Oh how I love him!). Colin took his sleepy medicine and was out within 5 minutes. As I rocked him to sleep, it came to my mind that there is something so unnatural about having to do this with your child. I think for the most part I cope well with it all, but it breaks my heart for him. That he has to go through all this. He should be at school playing like every other 2 year old.
They called us back for the test. It took about 30 minutes for the echo techs to get all the pictures they wanted while he laid there very peacefully asleep (and snoring). As a parent, it's a very long 30 minutes. The techs are busy doing their job, so there is not much talk. Just Matt and I looking at the screen. I am hoping for a great report, but fearful of the screen I am looking at might give us bad news. It's his heart, not a broken arm or something that is easily fixed.
After the test, Colin has a very hard and grumpy time coming out of sedation. That was no fun at all. Daddy seemed to calm him down the most. We finally got to see the doctor AND…. Echo looked great, heart function looked great, don't have to come back for 6 more months!!!! YEAH, what a huge relief! She was very happy with his progress. We talked about weight (she had him in the 9th percentile) and she said was not concerned, yes he is small, but he has always been small, our daughter was small, and he is gaining on his growth curve. That also was a huge relief, I know I probably stress too much about calories, but I am his mom, that's my job! Next time he won't have to get an echo, but he will go home with a halter monitor to record his heart for 24 hours just to make sure. Medicine stayed the same, so GREAT check - up! Rough appointment, but great news. That night Colin was very woosy and "drunk" from the medicine. He was falling over himself and walking into walls. Funny yet not funny. Then BAM, a switched turned on right at "bedtime" and Colin was wired, hyper for hours. Could not get him to stop moving or go to sleep. He finally crashed at 10:45pm (2.5 hrs PAST his bedtime!)