A Little Bit More "It's Not a HUGE Deal"

Just an update on Sparkle's echo.

Her doctor called on Friday afternoon and said that Sparkle has a Ventricular Septal Defect. You can read all kinds of information in that link. The condensed version is she has a hole in her heart between the left and right ventricles. They are usually found in infants and they usually close on their own.

Apparently this is the most common congenital heart defect found in infants. Somehow that doesn't make me feel better.

We will be going to the pediatric cardiologist who read the echo and put in her report to "follow up in two months". OK. So that tells me it isn't urgent. This cardiologist is also the one that Mr. Incredible recommends, so I have no worries about her knowledge and skill.

Outwardly, Sparkle shows none of the signs that are usually associated with this defect. She doesn't show signs of poor circulation. Heaven knows she doesn't tire easily. She doesn't normally have trouble breathing. I have wondered if our previous foray into the world of nebulizers was related to this instead of some asthma-ish problem.

Onward we go. I'm not constantly dwelling on it, but I do have some sore shoulders! I'll probably go ahead and schedule the appointment. Who knows? If I call now, it might be two months before we can get in anyway.

Thanks for your continued prayers and thoughts.

Thanks!

Just a word of thanks for all the prayers and positive thoughts today. Sparkle did really well at the hospital. Which is saying something.

We got there at 12:30 as instructed for our 1:00 appointment. Everything was smooth sailing. At 1:30 the assistant head of radiology came out to the waiting room to apologize for the wait and to explain that the "regular" person wasn't in today, and the back up was down at a hospital in the Big City. He would be at our hospital in 30-40 minutes, but that meant more waiting for us. We decided to go ahead and wait instead of rescheduling and were given meal tickets for the cafeteria.

I will insert here that yesterday I had a stiff neck and went to bed last night at 8:00. From about 2am on, I didn't sleep very well, and ended up "getting sick" around 6am. So, I was quite a picture today and not feeling so great. By the time we went down to the cafeteria, I was feeling a bit better, but could not even contemplate eating. The children were distracted by food, and everyone was happy.

The asst. head of radiology came down as Mr. S was paying and said that there was in fact someone at the hospital who was free to do Sparkle's echo. He told us not to feel rushed eating and that she would be available whenever we got back to radiology.

She was indeed ready for us when we got back. Sparkle was amazingly still for the whole thing, sitting on my lap. I could see the 4 chambers of the heart and the valves working, but other than that, I couldn't tell you anything of value.

Our echo will be read by a pediatric cardiologist tonight or tomorrow and our doctor will get a report in a day or two.

Sparkle and I both napped when we got home. I'm feeling better tonight and even ate some Nilla Wafers. I may go have something else. Sparkle is doing great and is her usual self. She is now in bed and will go to school tomorrow for 1/2 of her normal time. Next week she starts full time, which for her is half days on Wednesday and Friday.

Tomorrow, I'll have an entire 1.5 hours to fill all by myself. Well, part of that will be driving back and forth to the school. What will I do with the rest of the time?!

OK. I'm Not Fretting Over Tuesday

Nothing like a trip to an emergency care center to take one's mind off of a scheduled hospital visit.
Poor baby. Playing chase with Twinkle. As she ran past Mr. S, she grabbed his leg with her hand like you would to swing around a vertical pole and slammed full force into the corner of an end table.

You can't really get a good feel for the swelling from the pics. The doctor assured us that she would look worse in the days to come as all the blood around the swelling moves South because of gravity. The good news is the gash (my viewpoint - it is my baby) isn't deep enough to warrant stitches or even glue, and she has no fractures around her eye.

I happened to be in the next room when it happened. I was trying to be laid back and not be annoyed by the happy sounds of my children running screaming through the house. I heard the collision and Mr. S say, "Oh my God!!" before scooping up Sparkle and carrying her to where I was. She had barely even started to cry. It was kinda scary.

She handled the whole thing extremely well. We dropped Twinkle at a friend's house and took Sparkle to make sure that all was as stated above. As mentioned in the previous post, when she first came home, she HATED doctors. She allowed this doctor to examine her eye and even clean it to see how deep the cut was. Mr. S took her to the xray room, but I didn't hear any screaming so I think she handled that well, too. She's acting like her chipper dare devil self.

At the time, I was freaked out. Now, I look at those pictures, especially the second one, and can hear her say, "You want a piece of me?"

Say a Little Prayer

The first week of school went pretty well. Thursday was a little difficult with the homeschooling. It seemed for most of the day that there was no sound coming out of my mouth. At least, judging by how my children reacted to my speaking to them.

Friday, I took both girls to the doctor for well checks. Twinkle got herself all worked up over getting a shot. Last year at her well check, she was supposed to get a shot, but the doctor was out. Apparently supply was low. She said it was no big deal and could wait until this year. Twinkle, being Twinkle, remembered every word of what the doctor said and did NOT want to go to the doctor this year. Obviously, she lived through it. She cried for about 30 seconds then went back to the space book she'd been reading.

Sparkle did really well. The last few times she's been to the doctor, she's started crying when they weighed her and didn't get much better until we were in the car on the way home. Friday she was perfectly fine being weighed and measured and waiting for the doctor. She even interacted pretty well with the doctor. Of course, she wouldn't let the doctor look in her ears. Maybe some day, someone will have no trouble peeking into the poor child's ears.

The doctor was happy with both girls' growth and general health.

There was one thing that came up that made me give this post the title I did. Sparkle has a heart murmur. The doctor assured me that it was quite common in children, but that Sparkle's was kinda loud and she wanted to refer us for an echocardiogram just to check things out. Sooo, we will be going to the hospital on Tuesday to get Sparkle's heart looked at. (Gee, saying like that made me tense up a bit.)

I talked to Elastigirl, Sparkle's Godmother, and she also assured me that it was likely no big deal. Being Elastigirl and such a great friend, she said she'd try to get Mr. Incredible, Sparkle's Godfather who just happens to be a cardiologist, to "try to be around" on Tuesday when we're there.

I haven't really stressed a whole lot about it over the weekend. I'll probably be a bit tense on Tuesday, but that's just me. Hopefully, having homeschool with Twinkle will not add to the stress, but will provide a bit of distraction for the morning.

So, say a prayer for the Swizzles as we face this common, probably nothing, stressor on Tuesday.

Guess What I Did Last Night

OK. I realize that having that title and then a pic of Trent Reznor is kind of comical, but what are you going to do.

Anyhoo, Mr. Swizzle and I went to a Nine Inch Nails concert last night in the Big City. Yes, we felt old. Especially looking around at all the goth teenagers. But hey, Reznor is a couple of years older than Mr. Swizzle, so we know we weren't the oldest ones there.

It was a great. Lots of songs I didn't know. Some that I did and love. A fave NOT performed, but that's ok. It was a 2.5 - 3 hour show and clearly they couldn't do everything. One of the fun things for me was watching the mosh pit. These kids (I'm so old) were jumping around enjoying the music and crashing into each other with wild abandon. I'm positive they are all bruised today, but I'm not positive that they can feel it or if they care.

Two things went through my head as I watched them. One was that if I were 19 and a huge NIN fan AND had floor tickets, I think I would have joined them. They were clearly enjoying themselves. The other thing was that if I'd had been in a NIN mosh pit when I was 19, I would be in a totally different place than I am at my age now. Who knows where'd I'd be or what I'd be doing.

I'd hate for the moshers to give up their leather and mohawks, but I hope they survive to adulthood and don't live on the street.

God, I'm so old.

Returning to Normal?

The summer flew past me. Twinkle's first day of school is August 18. We didn't have a lot of things to do this summer. Not a lot of different camps or classes to take the kids to. Somehow, though, I was too busy to blog. Go figure.

Hopefully, once the kids get into a school routine, my blogging will return to more than once a month posts.

Did you notice that bold s on "kids"? Yep. Sparkle will be going to Montessori school at our church for 4 hours a day, 2 days a week. That will definitely be interesting. She will have the same teacher Twinkle did, but will be in a different classroom. Thanks to the growing needs of the school, the "classroom" that Sparkle will be in is the same room where she goes to the nursery on Sundays. I think that will be a good thing. We shall see.

Twinkle starting next Monday means that homeschooling will start next Tuesday. Time to put that Prozac to the test! I haven't screamed at my kids much since I started taking it. I also haven't had to try to teach Twinkle. One thing that will be different this year is that Sparkle no longer naps in the morning. Last year, Twinkle and I got a lot done while Sparkle was asleep. I'm in the process of rearranging a few things in the office/school room that will hopefully help. I'm going to make a space for Sparkle to color or do puzzles, etc. hoping to keep her occupied instead of trying to push Twinkle out of her chair.

I'm not sure where the summer went, but I sure wish that the first day of school automatically meant cooler weather! Our summertime temperatures often last through September. I can't wait to be able to go outside again for an extended period of time!

New Jewelry!

Go check out my latest entry on my jewelry blog. I'm pretty excited about it!