6 months

Ralph saw the cardiologist today! He was soooooo good at first. A real big boy!

First we have the EKG done by the most wonderful nurses. They just love on Ralphie like he's the best baby ever, which he is by the way! He let her check his O2 levels and sat real still. He let her take his blood pressure nicely, too. Then the EKG...he didn't try to rip off all the stickers or the wires at all! The past few visits were very exhausting, trying to keep him still for the EKG and pulse ox and blood pressure. The nurses and I end up dancing around the room, blowing bubbles and singing like fools to keep his mind occupied elsewhere.

Then the echo.

Well, it wasn't all that bad. The echo tech knows Ralph and always has a video going when we come to the room. Ralph had a hard time keeping still. He kept kicking his legs and trying to grab the echo probe. There were actually two techs in the room. One was working on Ralph and the other was on FACEBOOK!! I could hardly believe it. I thought about playfully scolding her about FBing at work, but I decided to keep my mouth shut. I usually don't keep my mouth shut, so I was pretty proud of myself for being so mature.

Ralph's ASD closure device looks like a little yo-yo on the echo. Pretty cute, huh? He was done with the echo in no time today. I took that to mean things were looking pretty good.

We went back to the exam room to wait for the doc. Oh man, did we wait a while! I'm glad I brought Richard and a box of toys with me today. Richard played ball with Ralph and played a "name the toy" game, too. Ralph wore him out and started trying to escape from the room. He figured out how to open the door and got out a few times!

When the doc came in he talked with Ralph for a minute, but Ralph grabbed his stethoscope and made the doc listen to his chest. I guess he likes to cut to the chase! The echo looked good, he said. The pulmonary pressures were running about 25! YAY! This is lower than I can ever remember. (Normal is around 15. Ralph has been as high as 70) AND he is getting bigger so he is outgrowing his medication.

We are going to continue to let Ralph outgrow his medication over the next six months. Do you realize that puts us into January before we see the cardiologist again? 2010? Wow. Barring any severe illness, Ralph should continue to outgrow his pulmonary hypertension. Praise GOD!