Today was ….. interesting….. Lyra has a follow up appointment with ENT at Children’s Hospital.  There had been a little confusion because we thought the appointment was on the 28th, but when we received the phone call to confirm it, we double checked. The office said the appointment on the 28th had been cancelled and her appointment was, in fact, on the 22nd (today).

So, my mom and I prepared. The goal was to be out the door by 10 AM. WE MADE IT! Once we got down to the parking lot, Lyra puked….. So, my mom did a field change in the car while I ran the barf cloths back up to the apartment. After all was said and done, we took off by 10:25ish. We still had plenty of time to make it to our 11:20 appointment.

We get to Children’s and realize that the stroller in in my husband’s car. I ended up just carrying Lyra. The carseat was too heavy.

We then wait for over an hour to see the doctor.  Finally, we get called back and a nurse comes in to talk to us. Apparently, we have to see the doctor who did the surgery and that doctor was NOT in the office. Mind you, at this point, Lyra is really REALLY hungry.  So, we make a new appointment, they gave us a parking validation, and we left to give her a bottle. The good news is, she took a bottle well!

Finally, we get down to get the car to go home (we had to do valet because the parking lot was full) and the valet can’t find my car.  This is a bit more of a problem because my car is old and doesn’t have a fancy button to make it beep. They finally find my car and I am trying to set up her NG feed. While setting up the bag, two of the bottom pieces (including the piece that makes direct contact with the NG tube) fall off and land on the ground of the yucky parking garage…. Oh, did I mention we are having a heat wave in swampy DC?…..The good news is, I had an extra bag! We finally get everything set up with the NG and go to drive out of the garage. The final blow, the validation ticket we were given wasn’t working. Luckily they just let us out.

So, here is what I learned:

• Always double check that you have an appointment with the right doctor
• Give yourself at least an extra 30 min. when you have to drive a long ways
• Always pack extra cloth for the baby and any other people who may be holding the baby (luckily this time she didn’t puke on either of us)
• Pack at least 1…. probably 2…. extra NG bags
• After all of this, go to lunch and have a nice cold sangria with your mom

Lyra’s Second Swimming Lesson with Grandma