Cath Scheduled as Planned

What a week. We had a great time in Niagara-on-the-Lake last weekend for Easter. We met Oliver's parents there and had a really nice time. The weather was great and I felt like I got to spend some needed time with the girls. We were able to go to the falls, check out a butterfly conservatory, and see the town of Niagara. It was busy, busy back to work on Monday for a big 51 hour work week. UGH. It's hard not to have at least 1 day to recover and just get the needed things done around the house like laundry and planning for the week. I noticed that at the end of last week the girls might be getting a little cold, but it didn't really develop into anything. We called the cardiologist on Tuesday anyway because her heart cath is scheduled for Monday 4/16. They were ok with seeing how she did through the week and checking in with us yesterday. She seems to be fine so the cath is going to take place as scheduled.

I'm a little anxious, but more just ready to have it done and behind us. She is the first cath on Monday, so we have to be there at an unGodly hour, but that's alright. Little by little, we've been trying to prep Sofia on what is going on, but it is hard to assess how much a 3 year old can really understand. My sister asked her about what is going to happen on Monday and she did say that Dr. Golden is going to take special pictures of her heart while she is asleep. So, I think she did indeed absorb what I talked to her about earlier in the day!

We are kind of lying low this weekend in preparation for Monday. It was really kind of sad that today I decided not to take Sofia to my good friend Jessica's daughter's 3rd birthday party. I know she would have had fun, but I felt like we just couldn't risk her getting exposed to any germs so close to her cath and surgery. I know there will be other opportunities though once surgery is over! I'm trying to get a list together of things I know I will need for Monday at the hospital for a potential overnight stay. It's been so long (thank God) since we've had to do this.

We're not really sure how things are going to proceed on Monday with the cath. When Sofia had her last cath (in 2009 prior to her Glenn surgery) the doctors weren't able to go through the blood vessels in her groin because they were occluded. I'm not entirely sure if this is because of her heart condition or damage was done to them during her first cath when she was 1 day old. I think it might be a combination of the two. Regardless, they had to go through her liver in 2009, which automatically bought her an overnight hospital stay for observation. I'm not sure about what they will do on Monday, but I'm hoping they will attempt going through the groin. I guess I don't really care how they gain access as long as what they see in the cath looks good. There are things they are looking for in the cath, like different pressures and the size of the pulmonary arteries. I love this girl so much and I hope that it is as easy on her as possible.

Please keep Sofia in your thoughts and prayers on Monday!

Favorite pictures from Niagara...