This morning we went for Baker's annual check up with the cardiologist. For those of you who do not know his history, Baker was diagnosed with Kawasaki syndrome when he was 2.5 months old but by the time he was diagnosed and received treatment, he had enlarged coronary arteries and leaking valves. We had many years of seeing the cardiologist every few weeks, then every few months and finally we are seeing them just once a year for a check up. Well, today was the day and what a day it was...
As usual, we were rushing to get out the door this morning and I didn't realize that Baker was wearing sandals until we were well on our way to the doctor's office. Once there we learned that he would have a stress test so his sister kindly offered up her sneakers trimmed in hot pink for him to use while he ran on the treadmill. Although thier shoe size is almost the same, her socks were way too small so the nurse kindly offered a pair of white ankle socks with the word "Hanes" stitched on the toe in none other than pink. The good news is that Baker is confident and secure enough in who he is and he had no problem wearing his sisters pink shoes or the nurses pink socks. The better news is that he beat last years test record and the results were great! He also had an EKG, an echocardiogram and bloodwork and all came back with good results.
As for the butterflies...the lab tech had a hard time finding a vien so she decided to use a butterfly needle to draw Baker's blood. Keep in mind that this is a kid who rarely gets sick and I can't remember the last time he had to have blood taken. When the lab tech pulled out the "funny looking needle" and called it a butterfly Brooke and I started to laugh. What goes better with pink shoes than a pretty blue butterfly????? Thankfully, Baker is a guy with a good sense of humor! He let us have our laugh and then continued to drill the tech with his series of questions.
Baker might not think of his test results as a birthday present (his 8th birthday is Sunday) but I sure am thankful for the present God has given me in the form of a healthy heart for Baker!
Baker is the reason that we looked at special needs children in the first place when we started the adoption process. We had a real soft spot in our heart for the children with heart problems on the special needs lists and we knew that we could get the help needed here in America. God did the rest when he led us to Brea and worked through the wonderful team of representatives at our adoption agency to match us with her. I am constantly amazed at how God used Baker and his condition to prepare us for what was to come with Brea and her heart condition. As I sit here typing this update, I have a precious baby girl playing on the floor next to me, a tween twirling in front of the TV to her favorite musical and a tired little boy snoozing on the sofa...it doesn't get any better than that!
Goodnight from a tired but truly thankful mom.
