Monday night was Sarah's 2 year well baby checkup. She has continued to grow at her steady pace, but below "the curve" The doctor isn't concerned because she is maintaining her curve, she will just be short.
Her 2 year stats are height - 30" <5%, weight - 23.5lbs 15% and head circumference - 19" or 60%. She now drops back to yearly visits.
The doctor was also pleased with all of her other development including teeth, speach, motor skills, etc.
At Sarah's last dr visit at 18 months, the doctor finally realized that her one leg is longer than the other, by about 1.5 inches. He decided to send her to an orthopedic specialist to look at this and decide what was "wrong". The Orthopedist sent her for x-rays (pictures according to her) and turns out, her one femur is 1.5 inches shorter. Well, last night was her follow up visit with the family doctor after all of this. She was weighed and measured as usual, although she was weighed on the "big people" scale standing up, not naked and laying down on the baby scale.
I'm happy to report that she gained over a pound and 3 inches over the past two months. There was some concern about her weight because she had fallen off the charts, but she is now back on them in the 10th percentile. She'll always be small, but at least the dr is happy with her progress.
Sarah went to the Doctor last night for her 18 month check up. She was not a happy camper the whole time we were in the "back" at the doctors office. The poor nurse didn't really know what to do, Sarah didn't even want to lay on the exam table to be measured so we did everything as quick as possible. When she measured Sarah she looked very puzzled--she said, "She shrank!" at her 15 month check up she measured 28 inches and this time she was less then 28 inches. Somebody must have measured wrong.... Dr. Murphy came in and did her exam and then addressed the length thing. He remeasured her and noticed that he Right leg is longer than her left one and that the measurements must have been done on opposite legs. He remeasured her....
Continue reading 18 month check up
Last night, we took Sarah to the doctor for the third time in as many weeks. She now has a cough and a runny nose. We wanted to make sure that she didn't have bronchitis or something worse. The doctor wanted to prescribe anti-biotics for her, but we were firm against it because of the issue she had with the last round of anti-biotics. The doctor told us that as long as she didn't have strep, he would be ok with us skipping the anti-biotics, and we agreed to a test. The test came back negative, so we escaped without the anti-biotics. We'll just have to keep an eye on her and keep giving her cough medicine.
She stayed home with me yesterday, and we had a good day together. She was so cute when I asked her what she wanted for lunch. She started flapping her arms like a chicken. She wanted chicken soup! She is getting so smart these days.
She also started losing her voice yesterday. She sounds so pathetic and so cute at the same time. It's painful to see her sick like this, but her spirits are good, as always, and she is getting better as time goes by.
Last night was the second visit to the doctor for Sarah in 5 days. We took her on the 3rd with an infection on her finger. She had a hang nail that became infected and was pussing. The physicians assistant prescribed anti-biotics, which I was not thrilled about, but neglected to ask the questions I should have. Questions like possibly side effects, how long do we have to continue the anti-biotic, etc. Well, last night was a trip do to horrible diaper rash, which actually turned out to be like a yeast infection as a side effect of the anti-biotic. Her rash was so bad, that her skin was almost a flourescent pink, with bumps and raw patches. Changing her diaper over the past couple of days has been a nightmare. She would do nothing but scream and try to get away. I don't think she even cried that hard when she gets her shots. This time, the physicians assistant (different one) prescribed a topical cream with a mild steroid that should start to clear up the rash within a couple of days. She also told us we could stop the anti-biotic.
Sarah woke up this morning after two applications of the cream looking much better. She is still soar, and there still is a rash, but the color has changed dramatically, and the rash is much smaller. A couple more days of torture for both her and us, and all will be back to normal.
We went for Sarah's 15 month checkup last night and she was not a happy camper from the time we went back to the room until after her shots. She cried when I laid her on the table for the nurse to measure her and really only calmed down while we were playing "keep away" with my car keys. The doctor was very sesative to her need for comfort and allowed Doug to hold her for most of the exam. She weighed in at 20 pounds (10th percentile), measured 29 inches (15th) and her head is huge at 19 inches (90th). Even though she is on the small end of the scale, Dr. Murphy didn't think that there is anything to worry about. She has been such a handfull for us lately but that is what it is all about until they are about 30 or so.
Sarah has not been feeling well for the past several days, so we took her to the doctor on Monday. She has been running a fever (anywhere from 99 to 103 up and down), coughing, had diahhrea, loss of apetite, and just generally not been herself which is very unlike her. The doctor listened to her symptoms and seem to know right away that Sarah had been inflicted with a case of the Rotavirus. It's a virus the infects the lower GI tract, and causes the intestines to allow the loss of fluids. She said it's not really anthing to worry about in Sarah's case, but dehydration is a major concern. Sarah has been drinking plenty of juice, and has now started taking formula bottles again. The doctor didn't seem concerned, but told us to keep an eye on her, keep her out of school for the week, and keep her hydrated.
Where has the time gone....... Sarah had her 9 month check up last night. and we are finally on the height chart. She measured in at 25.5 inches (3%), weighed in at 17 pounds 7 ounces (~35%) and her head has reached the OMG point at 17.5 inches (which I might add is almost as long as she was at birth). This is such a fun stage, I just wish I was around to enjoy it more.....
Sarah went to the doctor on the 18th. She is finally starting to grow (length wise) she is now 22 1/2 inches and weighs 14 pounds. The doctor that we have been taking her to is out for medical reasons so we had to see a Physician's assistant. She wasn't very nice to me, she yelled at me for giving Sarah cereal so early--she claims that Sarah is too chunky and its a result of the cereal. I see it as being a good thing--she has actually gotten longer (2 1/2 inches) this month when she had been growing about 1/2 an inch at each month. Her weight gain has slowed down, she only gained a pound and 4 ounces instead of the typical 2 pounds 2 ounces.......
Sarah has been sick before, but today she spiked a fever of 102.3. I got a call from my wife telling me this, and we decided to call the doctor. The earliest she could be seen was 7:20 this evening. Now, I know chances are that this is just her reaction to the injections she got last night at her 4 month checkup, but it still scares me. It makes it even worse knowing that I am an hour away from her and can't just leave.
She went to the doctor and her tempurature had dropped to around 99. The doctor wasn't concerned, he said it was just her reaction to the shots, just what I thought. I'm just really glad she is fine. I was worried for a while.
Sarah is very healthy. She weighed in at 12 pounds 12 ounces, and she grew length wise now she's 20 1/2 inches. Her weight is now in the 75th percentile but she isn't on the chart for length yet but maybe someday she will take advantage of her daddy's height. The doctor did suggest that we could start cereal before 4 months but its not necessary. I'm just glad she's healthy.
We went to the doctor again today--Sarah weighed in at a whopping 10 pounds 10 ounces and measured only 19 3/4 inches. The doctor was pleased with her progress even though she has only grown a half an inch since last month. She also got her first round of shots which was not fun for any of us. She got stuck 3 separate times--I was hoping that they would do at least 2 of them at the same time, but of course not. She was a trooper though. She should be fun to be around for the next couple of days.
Sarah had her one month check up tonight.....she weighed in at 8 pounds and 8 ounces and measured in at 19 1/4 inches--I guess she's doing something right. She isn't quite on a schedule yet but she has gotten her days and nights straightened around. She sleeps about 4 1/2 to 5 hours at a time during the night and really only gets up to eat and then goes back to sleep but during the day she eats, takes a half hour nap and then is awake for 3 or 4 hours. The other day she was up from 9am to 4 pm with only about a half our of sleep during the day--it's really borning when they don't "do" anything when they're awake so I just walked around the house with her and then we stared at each other for a while then she decided that she was hungry and then took a cat nap and we started all over again. She is growing and changing all the time and soo fast--I don't want to go back to work......
So I went to the doctor today for my 4 week post partum check up. According to the scale at the doctor's office I have lost all but 5 pounds of "pregnancy" weight--I don't know that I agree with that but thats what the scale said. My blood pressure was fine (actually somewhat lower then usual) and the midwife was happy about that since it was so high when I was in the hospital. She asked about the breast feeding situation and was interested in how well I was keeping up with the little piggy since it not really a supply and demand situation anymore really. It seems to be okay again I guess.
Continue reading post partum visit
Sarah had her first doctor's appointment today. She is growing already, she gained 3 ozs, 1/2 an inch in length and 1/4 inch in her head. We called the doctor yesterday because little Ms Sarah wasn't really eatting very well and she had gotten a little more jaundice. As a result of her not eating we have decided that I will continue to pump and not force her to feed right from me all the time because she just gets way too worked up having to work for the milk. This actually seems to work pretty well for us all--Doug can get a chance to feed her and so can others. I pump every 3 hours or when the need arises. The docotor said that its fine to continue this way. So she's healthy and he wants to see her in about 3 weeks.
Everything is going smoothly......there were just a few bumps in the road today. I had to have some blood work done because again my blood pressure was higher then it has been (140/98) but after I laid on my side for a little while it came back down. The Midwife still ordered some blood work and I have to pee in a bottle for 24 hours--fun stuff. The baby is way down low and the heart rate was 152 which is higher than it has been lately too but he/she was moving a lot while the midwife was pushing on me.
Continue reading 36 weeks
Not many surprises this morning. When we first went back and the nurse took all the vital stuff (weight, blood pressure, pee test stuff) my BP was 130/90 which was high and she made me lie on my left side for about 5 minutes then the midwife came in and she took it again and it was down to 110/74 which was actually the lowest its been. No one seemed alarmed so we continued with the appointment--the baby's heart rate was 132. I am still measuring big for weeks as the CNM says--I measured in at 43 cm which should correlate with the number of weeks I am which is only 34 +. Next visit in 2 weeks will be highlighted by the Strep B culture.
Another appointment.....Everything is going well-the heartbeat was about 136 which is about where it has been for the past several months. I measured at 37 weeks today which is nothing new, we are thinking about the necessity of another ultrasound if they tell me I need to have one--every time I've had one the results have been the same and there haven't been any problems. So would it really be worth going through another one just because I keep measuring "big".
Karen just called our family practice to inquire about setting up the first few appointments with a pediatrician and to find out who at Oyster Point is a certified Ped Dr. Turns out, the hospital where we deliver will do the first few appointments with the rotating Dr on call those days, and then we can go to our family Dr. I guess this is just a way to ensure they the baby actually sees a Dr. during those first few crucial weeks of life. Also found out that the Dr. that I really like there and personally see is one of the certified Pediatricians there. Yeah!
I had another ultrasound today. Everything is fine just slightly big. The baby weighs about 4 1/2 pounds according to the measurements but who knows how accurate that really is. I was only measuring at 32 weeks + which is about where I should be for the 7/2 due date. I am starting to wonder why I have had to have these 2 extra ulrtasounds when the answers are the same--everything is fine and you just look a lot bigger then most people do.....no kidding I don't have anywhere near the room that most people do. I guess we have to wait until July for this kid to come......
Continue reading Ultrasound
I went to the Doctor again today--it appears that this is going to be a very repetative thing for now. I went today and the Midwife measured me as they have done lots of times now but instead of the "usual" 2 weeks too big I measured at 4 weeks too big which she described as too much bigger not to have another ultrasound to make sure everything is okay. Her thought is that this child is just big and there isn't any room for it to go anywhere--but she wants to make sure there isn't too much fluid or anything.
Continue reading 30+ week check up
Well another quick visit at the doctors today. The heart rate was about 136 which is about where it was on the 29th. I gained more weight-I offically weigh more now then I ever had before, but this time I have an excuse. Kathy and I have been shopping--we got the stoller, swing and a diaper bag..... Now all I need is for my painting crew to get started.
I had an ultrasound today because when I was at the Doctor on 3/17 the CNM, George, thought that I was measuring bigger then he would have liked. At that time I was measuring at about 27 weeks which was about 2 1/2 weeks big. Today everything went very well today, it was amazing to see all the little parts.
Continue reading ultrasound
I had yet another appointment today. It started with having to drink some glucose stuff--it tasted really bad but it was a small cup so down the hatch it went. Then we got to meet Geroge, he was really entertaining. He listented to the heart (140-150) which was slightly less than previous appointments. Then he suggested that we have another ultrasound because yet again I measured about 2 weeks ahead of schedule.
Continue reading 25+ week appointment
I went to the doctor again on Wednesday. I finally gained some weight but now it's too much. I went from not gaining anything to gaining 8 pounds in just 4 weeks. The heart beat was very strong and still in the mid 150's. The midwife that I saw made her prediction--a boy, she said that there was no sceintific or logical reason for her guess.
Karen had her monthly pre-natal visit this morning for what is supposed to be her 16 week checkup. She is actually about 18 weeks along, but we didn't get the first appointment at exactly 8 weeks, so everything is shifted. No big deal :)
Anyway, this was the first of many quick appointments I'm sure. We went in, she was weighed and had her blood pressure checked, the Dr. came in to chat with us, asked if we had questions, found the heart beat and sent us on our merry way. All total, about 20 mins. I was even at work on time this morning.. :)
All of her lab work from last time came back the way it should. All the negatives were negative and all the positives were positive. Just what we wanted to hear. The babies hear was pounding away at an astounding 154 bpm this time, down 2 from last time, but still well within the norm of 110-170 at this stage.
The midwife even said that the height of her uterus is where it should be for someone who is 17, maybe 18+ weeks along, and by our calculations and those given to us, Karen is right inbetween the July 2nd due date and how far along she thinks she is. But no matter when it is due, it will come when it wants and is ready. Just so it's healthy. And so far so good...
Well, we finally got to hear the baby's heartbeat today. Karen had her 12 week (or 14 according to our calcs) checkup today and had all of her lab work done. I was not in the room when they drew the blood because of what happened last time :) But then we got to go back and see her CNM. It was a quick visit, just asked if we had any questions and then tried to find the heartbeat. It took her a while to find it, but eventually she did. I was a bit nervous during that time, but everyting turned out well. The little thing was pumping blood out at an astounding rate of 156 bpm!! That still amazes me!
Okay, so I was way off on my calculations--my due date has been revised to July 2, 2004. The heart beat was perfect at 167 and they only heard one (thank goodness). The baby measured in at about 1 inch which is amazing to me that all of this is going on with a person that is so small.
Daddy was excited because he could actually make out the baby's features on the pictures we brought home, so I'm sure that he will be showing them off as soon as he can.
Ok.. I must admit... I want to be involved. :) I went with Karen this morning to her first Pre-natal Dr checkup. I was all fine and good until the midwife decided to show me what she was looking at. For those of you that know me well, you know i'm VERY squemish when it comes to blood. Well, there was a little bit and I turned green :(
I was also a bit disappointed. I went with the impression that I would get to bring home my first picture of our child (or children :)) but no dice. We go back on Friday morning for an ultrasound and hopefully then I will have something to show off.
The midwife seems to think that Karen is only 9 weeks along, but can't confirm anything until Friday. That's part of the reason for the ultrasound, the other being the possibility of twins. But as of now, we are looking at about June 26th, or approximately 214 days, 6 hours, 28 minutes and 21 seconds from posting.. (I'm a geek)
Well I don't know that we really know much more than we did yesterday....
except that my tentative due date is June 26th--plus or minus 2 weeks according to "Dr. Little". I saw a mid-wife for the first time in 4 or 5 years, but she said that for the informational visits (1st appt., 20 and 30 weeks) I should see a mid-wife so I get all the information and have it explained to me at those appointments. She gave us lots of things to read and think about until my next appointment on 12/24. I have to have some blood tests run (doug will probably be in the lobby for that) and hopefully hear the heartbeat which we didn't get to hear today. I also have an ultra sound scheduled for this Friday to make sure there is only one baby and to get a better idea of a due date.
I will not be going to the doctor until 11/24 so we will not know for sure how far along I really am until then. The nurse I talked with on 10/21 said that I was about 4 weeks based on the date I gave her, but I think that I am more like 6 - 8 weeks now which means that I will be almost 12 weeks when I go on the 24th. We will have to wait and see.