MRI = "Miserably Ravenous Infant"

Well alright! We're finally on the other side of Sproglet's first major test- I say "major" because it's the first we've done that has required sedation under general anesthetic. We've done neuro studies that required sleep deprivation, and feeding studies that required her to skip some meals, but this MRI was the first one we'd need to accept the risks associated with sedation.

To that end, Children's Hospital is (rightfully) quite strict about the safety of babies undergoing sedation. They would not sedate Sproglet if she showed even a hint of a respiratory infection- which is why we had to reschedule the test five times. Every time we arrived at the scheduled MRI date, she would develop a fever or a head cold or a cough. Pretty difficult to avoid germs during a Boston winter, after all, and keeping her in a bubble was not an option. Plus, her pulmonologist believed that she was aspirating her formula, which was exacerbating all those chest infections, so getting her feeding under control was imperitive before the MRI.

Which brings me to the morning of the MRI. We'd followed the strict feeding schedule that Children's had given us (no formula after 4am, and only water until 8am), but what no one had taken into account was the fact that Sproggy's liquids are now thickened.  The product that we use to thicken her formula has a food additive which, turns out, alters her digestion. Long story short, once the anesthesiologist found out I'd added the thickener to her water that morning, he refused to anesthetize her.

So, 5 months, 6 scheduled MRIs that had been rescheduled due to illness, only 2-3 more months until the issue that the MRI may or may not diagnose can no longer be treated surgically...we finally get to the Big Day and they tell us to go home.

The poor nurse who had to deliver that news to us. I'm not sure if it was the flaring, raging nostrils on my husband or the tears that were welling up in my eyes, but God Bless Her, she someone worked some magic in the tight MRI schedule, and pushed our appointment back 7 hours just so it could be done that day.

"You are, LIT'RALLY, the worst mother on the planet."

Yup, seven hours of a food deprived infant. That was a hoot. But honestly, the nurses were wonderful, so were the doctors. They took turns coming in to the room to play with Sproglet to help pass the time and distract her from the hunger pains. They even brought in 4 extra nurses who sang "All About that Bass" to her while one of them inserted her IV (she loves Meghan Trainor) to distract her from the pain of the needle.

And the best part for me was that, since I was focused on keeping Sproggy calm as possible, I didn't have time to ruminate on anything that could possibly go wrong. Not that I thought anything would go wrong, but that fun anxiety disorder that I have doesn't really care about reality.

Anyway, they finally took her back at 3:30... She took a big liking to the handsome anesthesiologist, went right into his arms and gave him her best big smile. No complaints from her, no sir, not in biceps like those. She's just like her mommy.

And then, suddenly, she was all done. We were brought back to recovery where she was still asleep but starting to wake up. Once she was fully awake she downed a bottle of formula quicker than I'd ever seen, came home and slept like a log. She really did great.

So now we wait for results. We managed to bump the appointment with the neurosurgeon up by a couple of weeks, so we'll find out if surgery is needed. My fingers are crossed that the answer will be "no" to that. But if she does have a tethered spinal cord, it could mean the difference between her walking or not. Kind of a big deal.

Whatever the outcome, I do know she'll face any challenge gracefully... and she will help me do so gracefully as well. She's proving herself to be a fierce little girl and I'm in awe of her ability to stare down a challenge.