John's Nine Month Appointment (at 11 months)

This post might be quite boring to most people, but I want it for "the records."

I took John for his 9 month appointment today (after many missed and rescheduled appointments--which is a story in itself.  The story being that I have to get it together).  Anyway...he is eleven months old, but today was his nine month appointment.

He looks great, according to the doctor.  No concerns, really.  His breath holding spells very much follow the pattern of normal breath holding, which makes them no less scary looking, but his brain and his heart have been thoroughly checked, and it looks like our only problem is a strong will:)  Which is good and bad, right?  He most commonly has the spells right now if I leave the room, and he doesn't want me to.  In fact, right when we got home from the doctor, I walked out of his sight for a second, and he immediately went into a "spell."  It's just John's version of separation anxiety, I suppose.  I try to let it run its course for the most part because the older he gets the more it will become a discipline issue.  The only problem is that when he has a spell, his body does go stiff, and he will fall to the ground, so this makes us nervous when he is on a hard surface.  I don't think he can hurt himself too badly on carpet. 

He weighs 18'9, falling in the 16th percentile for weight, and he is 27 3/4", putting him in the 18th percentile for height.  His weight percentile has fallen a bit, but the doctor said that is perfectly normal for a breastfed baby, so there is no concern there.  His weight percentile would be more accurate on an International growth chart, just not the good 'ole US of A's.  (which says much about the attitude towards breastfeeding in our country compared to other countries, but that is a whole other topic)

And for the big news....

John took five steps tonight!!!

I think Ada was the most excited of all.  She kept saying how proud she was of him, and she jumped up and down with true excitement as we watched him take the steps.  I am sure she is envisioning him finally running around and playing with her.

I think this is exactly the age that Ada started walking--right before her first birthday. 

Another funny John note...he had to get a shot today, and he didn't bat an eye over it.  Not only did he not cry, he did not even flinch.  It was so crazy.  It was the same nurse who witnessed a breath holding spell after one round of shots, so she was as shocked as I was that the shot didn't bother him a bit.  Again, Ada seemed to be the proudest of all.  She kept saying, "he's a tough boy.  I am so proud of him."  (We often tell her she is a tough girl if she falls down, and we know it didn't really hurt to keep her from getting upset)

So...there's our John-John. 

Oh yeah, one more thing.  Because it wouldn't be our John without a slight glitch, he does have to see a pediatric optometrist because his tear duct continues to be clogged.  I think there is some minor procedure that will take care of it.  It just always makes us laugh, and we tease him and call him a "drama queen." (as if he can understand us).  He just never has anything seriously wrong (praise the Lord!!), but there is always something that needs to be checked out. 

Pink Eye

 This little guy has what I think is pink eye.  No fun. 

I was trying to take a picture of his eye tonight to send to my mom.  I wanted her advice on taking him to the pediatrician tomorrow.  Well our stinky, point-and-shoot camera was not getting the job done, and John was getting more and more angry every time I snapped a picture instead of taking him from Scott and cuddling with him.  Bless his little pink eye infested self.

 Not happy and so pitiful.  We are going to the pediatrician tomorrow, by the way.  When I googled pictures of pink eye, John was a perfect match.  And he matched the bacterial version, not viral.  To the doctor we go.

"How many ways can I say, I am so stinkin' mad, mom?  Put that camera away!!!"

Five Months

On Monday, John had his four month check up (though he is actually five months as of last Thursday; we are a bit behind, which is so typically us!!!)

For the most part, everything was looking great.

The doctor and the nurse commented on his strong legs and strong grip.  He kept grabbing the paper on the table that he was lying on, and we would have to pick him up and get it straightened out.  It's really funny because Scott and I both possess a normal amount of strength, and it could probably be argued that my strength level falls in the weaker range, but our children tend to be strangely strong.  Ada can move things twice her size, and John seems to be following in her footsteps.

Anyway...he weighed in at 15 lbs 8 oz, putting him in only the 40th percentile.  I was surprised because he seems like such a chunk to me, but Ada was also in the 40th percentile at his age, so we'll see, I guess.  Ada didn't drop to the 1st percentile until she started walking around.

Things to note at 5 months.

This seems to be the month.  The time I have been waiting for since six weeks.  Overnight John has become a much happier, much more content baby.  He smiles much more easily now, and he even attempts to laugh.  He is definitely showing a preference for me, and he usually cries when left with anyone other than family.  He didn't do this with my parents or Scott's parents, so maybe he can already sense that they are his family, even though he doesn't know them well yet. 

He is still a cuddle bug, and I kiss him all the time.  I can't get enough of those sweet baby cheeks pressed up against mine.  And the smell, oh my goodness.  I really am savoring his babyness more than I did with Ada.  I want to soak it up--memorize every aspect.

Thanks to finally letting him cry-it-out a bit, he is waking up usually once a night around 3:30.  This is amazing to me considering that a week and half ago, he was waking up four or five times a night.  He continues to be a great nurser, and his weight gain is great, so I am holding off on solids for a little bit longer.

He is loving to turn over, and seems to prefer his stomach both for sleeping and playing.  He also enjoys the bumbo for short periods of time.

He loves Ada, and Ada adores him.  She usually wakes up before him in the morning, and she gets so excited when he wakes up, jumping up and down when she hears him on the monitor.  She loves to talk baby talk to him, hug him, and kiss on him, but she gets very possessive of her toys, and she doesn't like it when she recognizes her old toys that John is now playing with.  He is only five months old, and I am already having to make her share.  I can't wait to watch their relationship develop over the next few years.

The other thing to note about John is his tendency to get very, very upset.  So, upset, in fact that he forgets to take a breath and turns a bit blue.  That is why I say that, for the most part, everything went well at the pediatrician.  He has been doing the hold his breath thing since the first night he was home from the hospital, and the home health nurse gave him his antibiotic shot.  He used to have these "episodes" as often as once a day, but lately he rarely does it.  Though the last two Sundays in June, he did it in the nursery, and the workers came and got me because it is a rather frightening thing to watch.  I mentioned it to the doctor, and John ended up having an "episode" after the nurse gave him his shots.  The doctor and the nurse (and me) think that it is probably nothing, just a tendency to get upset and not be able to calm down--I am thinking his personality might come from me ;)--but the nurse was a bit concerned just because it takes him so long to breath after this happens.  So...after witnessing the episode, the doctor is sending us to a pediatric cardiologist as a precaution.  Again...this is truly not a big deal.  To quote the pediatrician, "we live in a metro area where a pediatric cardiologist is available, so why not get it checked out."  So, really, I don't think he's concerned.  But... we are going next Thursday. 

And I think that is all of the significant five month things. 

I can hardly remember what it was like before John.  Isn't that the way it goes?  These tiny little lives have a way of weaving into the family and making their presence so very known, so very necessary, and there is no going back.  Ever.  We love him so, and are so thankful for his little life.  Our little John Thomas.

True Colors

This is what John looks like a lot these days.  Not so pretty, right?

I know he's about to let out a wail when his face gets bright red and his eyelids start to pop.  It seems as if  his hair sticks up a little bit straighter as well:)

What was he so upset about?  He probably wanted to nurse.  Again.

He went to the pediatrician today for his one month appointment, and he weighs a whopping 9 lbs 12 oz!!  And to think he was only 7 lbs 3 oz at birth.  I am so proud of my little nurser.  Though I wish he would nurse just a little less in the middle of the night.  He seems to nurse more often at night the older he gets rather than less often.  Oh, six hour stretch of sleep, will you ever arrive?  These two and three hour stretches are killing me. 

But, he is healthy as can be.  NICU?  What NICU?  Thank you, Lord, for our precious boy.  What a gift he is, even in the midst of the sleepless nights and endless crying. 

Pediatrician

Today was Ada's two year pediatrician appointment, and I was dreading it. For so many reasons, really.

One, I knew this would be the first time that Ada would really "get it" about the shots, and I just knew she would wonder why I was allowing the nurse to do something so horrible to her. I have to admit, that part was every bit as bad as I thought it would be. I just kept my face very close to hers, and I kissed her tear-streaked face over and over. Luckily, the nurse moves so fast, so it was over quickly, but she was not okay for a while. I have been giving her tylenol throughout the day to ward off any fever that might come as a result. So far, so good.

Two, last time Ada had a doctor's appointment, she sobbed through every bit of it--the weighing, the measuring, the eyes, ears and nose checking, so I wasn't sure how today would go. She actually did surprisingly well, and even seemed to enjoy standing up on the scale.

She weighs a whopping 22 1/2 lbs, by the way, which puts her below the 5th percentile. Her height and head circumference are more normal, coming in at around the 50th percentile. But the doctor said her weight and growth are right on target based on her previous visits, so I breathed a sigh of relief over that. Sometimes I worry just a bit over her small frame and lack of appetite. Our doctor is known for being very "weight sensitive," so if he seems fine with her weight gain, then I can certainly relax.

Third, and what I was most concerned about, was once again discussing Ada's "bathroom problems" with the doctor. She continues to have trouble going to the bathroom, and it is an issue that consumes most of my days. Scott and I and even my mother talk about it, think about it, contemplate solutions...all of the time, so I desperately wanted some answers today.

At first the doctor didn't really take me very seriously, but as he continued to ask me questions, he decided to refer me to a GI Specialist because he said that, "this pattern of hers doesn't seem very normal." In my head I replied, "you think?!!!" but instead I politely responded, "yeah, I just don't want her to get older and older and this continue to be a problem.

I am not eager, however, to take her to a GI Specialist where they will have to do who knows what uncomfortable procedure, so I am first making an appointment with my childhood pediatrician and family friend, who practices in Huntsville, AL. Ann takes her kids to him now, and he is as smart as the dickens. I really, really trust his judgement, so I want to get his perspective on the situation before we go to a specialist. I want to avoid any potentially frightening situations as long as possible. (frightening for Ada I mean).

After the doctor, I felt like Ada needed a treat (and I was starving!!!!!!), so we went to a local restaurant on the square and shared a plate of eggs, grits, and bacon. It was so good to this famished mom-to-be, and Ada scarfed down her fair share as well. I had forgotten how much I love grits, but this morning they hit the spot. I am such a first time mom, in that I feel a twinge of sadness when I think that mine and Ada's little partnership is coming to an end in February. Obviously I know that a sibling is the best thing for her, but I also feel the need to soak up special Ada time between now and then. I know it's sort of ridiculous for me to even feel this way, but the sadness is there anyway, mixed in with the excitement over this new life.

So, we survived another doctor's appointment, and we have six months until we have to do it all over again.

We survived another visit to the Pediatrician

Today was Ada's 15 month well baby visit at the Pediatrician, and it was, as usual, rather traumatic. I did not even realize the appointment was coming up, but thankfully I received the helpful reminder call yesterday to let me know that we did, indeed, have an appointment at 10 am this morning.

The morning did not start out well because I was scrambling around trying to get both myself and Ada ready, and in the mean time, I noticed an entire bottle of milk turned upside down on the dining room carpet. As I was attempting to clean that up, I heard a knocking coming from the guest bedroom, where Ada had closed herself in. When I opened the door to let her out, I was greeted with a very unpleasant smell, and as I was dealing with that situation, Ada decided to pull out every single wipe. I couldn't really stop her because as soon as I move my hands from her legs, she wiggles away, dumping the contents of her diaper onto the carpet. So... I thought the wipes were the lesser of the two evils. As soon as Ada was wearing a clean diaper once again, I remembered that I had not finished cleaning up the spilled milk in the dining room. Just living the dream, folks, living the dream.

We finally made it to the doctor's office, and on time, I might add. I pulled out my wallet to pay the co-pay and realized that my debit card and driver's license were sitting back at my house. I looked at the receptionist, pleading with my eyes not to make us reschedule the appointment. It was a miracle that we made it there. She took pity on us, and she told me I could come by tomorrow morning to pay for today's visit. Thank you, thank you, thank you kind receptionist.

Well...we went through the general unpleasantness of Ada being weighed, measured, poked, and prodded, and she screamed so hard she couldn't breath. (She still weighs in under 20 lbs, but the doctor isn't concerned). But that was not the worst part. The worst part came when the doctor asked me if there were any concerns. And I said, yes, there is a concern (I apologize to non-parent readers for the following content), Ada continues to be constipated. She has been constipated since she was five months old. This is a significant part of our lives. So much so that I have been known to call Scott at work just to tell him that Ada had a dirty diaper because he is probably the only person on earth who will be as excited about it as I am. We have entire conversations about her dirty diapers, and this has become the norm in our marriage. Serious conversations about the contents of Ada's diaper. So... the doctor wants more details about her constipation, and I provide them, and he says to me in a very concerned tone, "Well you need to fix this." He said it as if it had never occurred to me that it was a problem. I really thought I might scream. I have been telling doctors since she was 5 months old about this problem. I have called nurses after hours when the doctor was not available to ask for advice. And I have heard the words peaches, prunes, and pears so much that I probably say them in my sleep. Doctor, believe me, I know!!!! He then tells me that she shouldn't be eating bananas and cheese. Again, I know...SHE DOESN'T!!! I said, I know it needs to be fixed, can you please tell me what to do to fix it. He said I would have to pay attention to her diet. Oh goodness, I thought I might scream again. I said I have been paying attention to her diet since she was five months old. I need more info. than that. And here is what he said, give her straight apple juice. Don't water it down, and give her a lot. There is something I can work with, ya'll. I have limited her juice intake, and I have watered it down when I give it to her. So from now on, Ada will be getting straight juice. Apparently the sugar will get things flowing. If not, we are headed back to the doctor.

The good thing about today's visit was that a doctor finally listened to me when I told him about Ada's constipation. The bad thing is how he spoke to me as if he was the one who first noticed the problem.

Just another day of motherhood. Just another day of motherhood.

My sick little girl

Ada had her very first sick pediatrician appointment today. And she was not too happy about it. If you will recall, our last well visit did not go so well. Ada was terrified of everything. Well, I am convinced that Ada remembered the doctor because as soon as he walked into the room today, Ada began to absolutely flip out. Flip out. She grabbed onto my shirt so tightly, that Scott had to peel her off of me. She needed to lie down on the table for him to check her ears, nose, and throat. In the midst of her screaming, she kept shaking her head saying no, a word that she knows so well. Fairly quickly, I was able to pick her up and hold her for the rest of the examination, but she didn't calm down until we were out of the office. It was not good, and I was so very thankful that today was Scott's work from home day, and he was able to go with us. I needed moral support!

I mentioned that she has had a cold all week, which made for a stressful visit home. She didn't sleep very well at night, and she took very short morning naps. She has stayed in a terrible mood, at times crying for no apparent reason, and I have been unable to comfort her. When this continued this morning, I decided to take her to the doctor for my peace of mind. Sure enough, she has an ear infection, which I think explains the cranky mood. The doctor prescribed ear drops and an antibiotic. Scott and I laughed because the antibiotic had a warning that it would interfere with birth control. I think Ada would have been okay without the warning:) Question for moms out there, will the antibiotic give her a yeast infection? I don't know if it has that affect on 13 month old little girls. I want to be prepared for that, and I wonder if there are ways to prevent that from happening. It will make me so sad if she ends up with a yeast infection. Seriously, mom readers, any advice, previous experience with antibiotics, etc? I will be sure to feed her lots of yogurt just in case.

So...13 months into life, and she is officially sick for the first time. Of course, she has had several colds, but this is the first time she has had to go to the doctor for any reason other than a routine visit. A rite of passage, I suppose.

Pediatrician Visit

Oh wow, we made our mark at the doctor's office today.

Today was our first visit to Covenant Care Pediatrics, and I went with high hopes because I never really loved our last pediatrician. Our new place is a small office with only one physician, who has eight kids of his own. My reasoning is that if he has eight kids plus he's a pediatrician he MUST know what he's talking about. Plus I had a million questions about sleep, diet, etc. Ada's nights continue to be awful, so I wanted to hear a pediatrician tell me what everyone else has already told me--let her cry it out!! And that is what he said, or what the nurse said at least. But back to my opening statement--Ada was quite the patient.

She was angry about everything. She screamed when I put her on the table for them to measure her, she resisted being weighed with everything in her power, almost leaping from the scale multiple times, and I even had to forcefully hold her hands down as she screamed at the top of her lungs while the nurse checked her head circumference. It was crazy. She had never done that at previous doctors visits, so I was not prepared. And at this point, we hadn't even gotten to the shots. Wow. When the nurse did come back with the shots, I had to forcefully hold Ada's arms down so that she would not grab the needles. Luckily, the shots were over very quickly, but Ada was so upset afterwards. The whole thing was quite the work out, and we were both exhausted afterwards. (Plus she had a TERRIBLE night last night). After all of that I thought that surely Ada would be ready for a nap. Oh no. She resisted her nap for over an hour before she finally fell asleep, but once she fell asleep she slept for three hours, and I slept almost that entire time as well. We are both in better moods now after our long nap:)

Well, the statistics are in, and little bitty Ada weighs in at 17.5 lbs, putting her in the 3rd percentile for weight. I knew she was little but I did not realize that she was that little. Her height is a little more average. She is 29 inches, which puts her in the 40th percentile, and her head is in the 29th percentile (I think). We weighed her again at home just to make sure that was right, but she weighed the same thing on our scale. She's just small, I suppose. So that was our day today. Quite eventful, and we have even more excitement planned this week--a visit with Jane and Elisha tomorrow and then a visit with new friends from church on Friday.

I will also be back tomorrow to post more about our visit with Scott's parents.