Originally written 4/3/18
Kyle and I drove to Akron for our first Endocrinology appointment. We parked in a parking garage and made our way to Akron Children's Hospital. There was a man in a wheelchair at a desk as soon as we entered the building. Before we could say anything he asked where we were going. I told him endocrinology and he robotically replied, "Down the hall, take a right. Elevator to the 6th floor. Take a
right. Suite 6400." It's been over a year but I remember this like it was yesterday.
We checked in and filled out some paperwork. Hadley had the cutest outfit on, pink pants and a white sweatshirt that said I LOVE YOU with a glittery pink heart. It was a 0-3 month outfit and it swallowed her up.
The nurse called us to the back and measured her height and weight. She used a curved table on wheels to measure her length. You lay the baby on a curved surface and they slide the end up to the feet to measure length. I've only seen babies measured at the pediatricians office. There they lay the baby on top of the paper and draw a line a the top of the head, stretch out the leg and draw a line at the foot. Obviously the curved table is going to be more accurate.
Dr. K came in. She cood and made sweet faces at Hadley first. Then she looked at Kyle and me. Her first words to us were, "She is going to be perfectly fine." I took a deep breath and every bit of nervousness and anxiety were gone. She gave us a quick run down of what to expect for the next year: blood draws every 6-12 weeks and doctor appointments every 3 months. She asked questions about our medical history and my pregnancy, all questions that I was used to answering at this point.
The most common recurring question was whether or not I had any thyroid issues before or during my pregnancy. The answer is no, I've never had any thyroid issues. She told us that whether or not Hadley had a malfunctioning thyroid or no thyroid at all was basically irrelevant; the treatment was the same. She would have to take Synthroid to maintain normal TSH and Free T4 levels. She did a physical exam felt Hadley's neck. She didn't tell us if she was able to feel any thyroid tissue or not.
We left Dr. K's office with orders to get another blood draw that day. We took her to the lab that was right down the hallway before driving home. I think the only question we left with was, Does Hadley actually have a thyroid?
