Traveling Van Stroller

Ryan is having ear tubes put in on Friday. The children's hospital where he is having the procedure done made him come in today to have presurgical testing. It seemed like overkill to me especially since Emma's ear tubes last July was so laid back, but I just went with it. Anything to get the fluid out of that poor little boys ears so he can hopefully hear.

I've been watching Cody's little boy Gauge while she works, so he joined us on our excursion this morning. I decided the best way for me to contain all three kids was to bring the Sit-n-Stand stroller.

Mom, are you sure this is going to work?

We parked in the parking garage and made up way up to the information desk to inquire where we needed to go. The directions were so complicated that they had to give me a map and even then, all the directions weren't on there. I decided I could wing it. Sure enough, my great map reading skills got us to the Pre Admitting office only to find out that we were supposed to be at the ENT's office an hour earlier.

Uh oh.

This one wasn't my fault though, I don't think. The PAT appointment was in my Blackberry, surely the other would be there too. In any case, we now needed to get to an entirely different area of the hospital. Oh joy.

We went back the way we came and then meandered into another section of the hospital making out way to the ENT. Thankfully, we had been there before so I had a good idea where we were going.

The kids enjoyed their waiting room time playing with the toys.

But snacks made it even better. The children's hospital has volunteers that bring carts to all the clinics offering the children free bags of animal crackers and cartons of milk. I told them not to give one to Ryan because he doesn't like milk, but he was quite upset that Gauge got one and he didn't so I relented. Of course, he drank the entire container. I now know the key to getting Ryan to drink milk. I just need to put it in a cardboard box. Silly me! I was putting it in a cup.

Ryans' name was soon called and he went back for quick physical exam. Then we were on our merry way to the first place we visited.

As we strolled through the hospital we got quite a bit of attention. You would think that people would be used to seeing several kids but I think it was the combination of the stroller, a blonde, very Caucasian child and two Asian children that drew the attention. That and the fact that these three kids are stinkin' cute.

Another waiting room with new toys means three happy kids. They didn't get to play long before we were called back. Ryan was weighed and measured, had his blood pressure taken and we were ushered to another room so they could take a more detailed history for anesthesia. The entire time I'm thinking to myself "Why are they making such a big deal over a little gas?" Turns out Ryan's chart had been marked Blood Disorder of Unknown origin. How did this happen? In the section that asks: Does the child or any family member have a blood disorder? I had checked No and then put: Unknown family history. Great. But since we were already there they still wanted us to see the anesthesiologist.

The kids did a great job of entertaining themselves and playing.

Gauge is a future photographer.

The anesthesiologist came in and went over the consent form, lingering on how unlikely all the possible potential disasters were. In fact, he told me, Ryan had a greater chance of being killed in the car on the way home then he did Friday getting ear tubes. (Has he seen my driving? Stalker.) The entire time I'm thinking to myself "You're barking up the wrong tree buddy." Ear tube anesthesia involves a tiny bit of gas for about a 10 minute procedure. I know this is minor. Don't get me wrong, I love the dickens out of that little boy, but after signing countless surgical consent forms for Darrell with several of them really involving the risk of death, there was no hesitation on my part. I want my baby to hear.

I had promised the kids a reward if they were good so I drove through a Wendy's drive through and got them kids meals and a promise to play at the park by our house. Only I hadn't counted on the entire 4th grade from the school being there so we ate at home. Soon after he kids went down for naps with me right behind them. Momma was worn out. I'd got my workout for the day.