Meeting Across the River

So this past Wednesday MLW and I took the mini-BG to the hospital where she will be undergoing her operation in a few days for her final pre-surgery visit. It was a jam-packed day that went something like this:

• 8:00 ish -- Arrival
  
• Pre-admittance paperwork
  
• Chest X-ray
  
• Echocardiagram
  
• EKG
  
• Consultation with surgeon
  
• Tour of O.R. intake, pediatric ICU, and "step-down" area
  
• Blood test, 1st attempt.
  
  This was, without a doubt, the worst part of the day. Since the mini-BG is, in fact, mini, the phlebotomist had a wee bit of difficulty locating a vein. And by "wee bit of difficulty," I mean that she fished around in the Beach Ghostlette's arm with a needle for a good couple minutes. Now, I'm sure that most 3-month-olds will lie perfectly still and like nothing better than to have something jabbed into their flesh, but our little daughter was just a smidgen less understanding.
  
  Actually, she howled as if her limb was being sawed off. This was no "I believe I may desire something to eat" cry or a "I'm feeling somewhat run down" cry. Nope. This was a lung-emptying scream of pain and anger. And it wasn't as if we could reason with her. 3-month-olds are not real big on such concepts as 'necessity' and 'temporary discomfort.' Finally, MLW asked the nurse to give it up (okay, she didn't really ask, but I think most readers can get a sense of what I mean). After a few more emotional minutes, it was agreed that we'd try again in a little bit. So it was...
  
  
• Break time. A couple diet sodas, a few calls to check messages, a little time to calm down the little one.
  
• Blood test, 2nd attempt. More howling, but a different phlebotomist was able to tap a vessel her first shot out of the box. A minute or so later, and mini-BG was bandaged and ready for the final event of the day.
  
• Nurse meeting. This was a "getting to know your baby's vitals" meeting, where the baby was poked and prodded in a generally less invasive fashion. Her ears were looked at, her heart listened to, and her snots were removed (via saline solution in the nostrils, causing still more howling).

For the most part, we never had to wait too long for any one activity, but the time added up just the same. By the time we pulled out, it was about 2:30 pm, and we'd been at the hospital for over 6 hours.

Since we'd not eaten the entire day in an effort to compress the day somewhat, we were both famished. We stopped off at one of NJ's myriad diners and I had what may have been the worst helping of onion rings I've ever tasted. It didn't matter--I was worn out, hungry, and was in no mood to complain or count carbs.

The baby, who had done a fair amount of sleeping during our visit, napped for over three hours straight. Mom and Dad were only too happy to join her for a nap of their own.

My next entry will probably be late this week, when everything has become clearer.