Kintropy In Action

At one point in Hannah's life, she lived in the children's hospital for three months. She was there from three months old until six months old. She has not forgotten it or any subsequent hospitalizations. So when I hit the left lane in the tunnel that it is the gateway to Portland, she becomes understandably agitated.

So I have learned to warn her. When we have a specialist appointment, I warn her in advance about where we are going and let her know we are not staying. (By the way, if I think there might be an overnight stay, I let her know that, too.)

So Monday morning, I dragged myself out of bed, put on my cheerful Mommy face, and woke up Miss Hannah. It was the day she would of slept in and cuddled.  Why does that mood only hit her when we have things to do? So I told her, "Wake up my gorgeous one! You have doctor appointments today."

She played coy and hid her face and made snoring sounds. I turned on her radio to XM kids and gently slid her light up to medium brightness. I wandered out the room to check my blood sugar, grab a yogurt cup, and check her travel bag.

I came back in; she was on all fours. She saw me, smiled, flattened herself back onto the bed, and hid her face again.

"Wake up Hannah, we have a lot do today." I slid her light to full brightness. I then picked her up out of bed, and she snuggled into my arms. Once her morning ablutions were done, I set her on a blanket on the floor. I got her into fresh clothes while I explained, "Ok Hannah, we are going to a doctor visit and the hospital. A doctor visit:  we are not staying. We are seeing the feeding specialists and then Dr. N" her pulmonologist." So to repeat, we are going to the hospital; we are not staying. We are going to doctor appointments."

She seemed more interested in the TV as I spoke. She was calm as I did her hair - that is a rarity. I think I repeated it several more times. I got on her feet braces. I loaded her in the car. We were giving Robert a ride to work that day. He was outside with her as I did the last minute check that I had everything we would need for a couple of hours.

As I walked into the garage, I heard Robert talking to Hannah. Then, clear as day she said "Go Doctor."

Robert and I looked at each other and praised her emphatically for her clear words. We then confirmed she was right.

As a bonus that night when Hannah's nurse was putting her to bed, Hannah said the word "Doctor" in her stream of nattering she does with that particular person. It came across as I did such and such today and the word Doctor was in there.

I've been telling everyone this story all week. I guess I'm a little excited.

--Mom