L*ily had a followup ultrasound last Thursday for her brain. My mom had a flat tire on the way to my house to pick up Z*oe, so she came with me instead. The ultrasound takes place at the U of M hospital in their pediatric imaging department. They have valet parking in part because the ramp is about 1 and a 1/2 blocks away. I love the valet - when they had first mentioned it for a previous appt it sounded so frivolous, but I have come to depend on it at these appts and on a cold Feb morning with 2 kids, I gladly tipped the driver to pick up and drop off my car. Z did very well - she listened well as I juggled the two of them and our gear and navigated our way through the hospital. She got a little scared when they called us back and she realized I could not carry her and the carseat with L*ily in it at the same time. She just kept repeating, "and they aren't going to touch me!" When we got into the ultrasound room, our wonderful tech, S*teve, introduced himself and offered Z*oe the most mesmerizing toy I have ever seen - I suppose it is needed for all those kids Z*oe's age who are there for scans, xrays, etc. Z*oe was excited too that our tech had the same name as her grandpa! L*ily slept through her scan until the radiologist decided to come in too to look for himself. Then she wiggled around a bit, but overall was a very good patient. I find it quite fascinating - they scan her brain through her soft spot and also above her ears - these are the places where your skull does not close until well after birth - I read that the soft spot doesn't completely close until about 18 months. Anyway... I am amazed at the intricacies of our bodies these days as I learn more about L*ily.
As soon as the radiologist finished the scan, L*ily looked over at me and gave me a huge grin - I think she was happy to be done! S*teve offered Z*oe two stickers but he didn't have the willpower to stand up to an almost 3 year old negotiator, so we walked out with three. And my mother got a new tire too - all in all a successful day of juggling for both of us!
And the results - the pediatrician left me a message today - there is no change in the size of her ventricles in her brain from a month ago, so they will do another scan in 6 weeks to make sure it isn't increasing, and if not, we will, in her words, "just not worry about it." Easy for her to say!
But I am learning on this journey (and isn't this really true for many things in life) that I need to let go of worrying about the future so much and try to take this one step at a time, trusting God for L*ily's future and soaking in the beautiful moments we share amidst the crazy juggling we do each day.
Z*oe and A*ugust decided to wear swimsuits in the house for lunch. They are really into changing clothes several times a day or at least as many as you will let them. Usually it is pjs though, so when they decided it should be swimsuits instead, I took it as a sign of cabin fever.
