Andy had his 18 month check up this past week. He is already 19 months old, but well, at least we got it done, right? And, I realize tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and this post has nothing to do with the holidays, but I am trying to hammer out these posts now... if I wait, I know I will never get around to posting them!
So, I made the appointment for Thursday, thinking in my head that Cal would be in school. Well, duh, his school was already out. So, I took both boys to the doctor for Andy's check up. I packed a bag full of toys to keep them entertained. I had a feeling it would be a long wait since it seems everyone and their cousin are sick.
Cal had a cough on Wednesday that was pretty bad, so I figured maybe I would see if she could look at him too while we were there. Have I mentioned I love our pediatrician? LOVE.
Welllll, Mr. Andy was all smiles in the waiting room. They took us back to the "triage room" immediately and Andy started crying. I never let go of him, but he was upset. I had to undress him to weigh and measure him and he started really yelling then. When he gets like that, it makes Cal nervous so he clings to my leg-- tightly. So, just to recap the appointment so far, we are in a room the size of a closet, Andy is screaming so loudly the nurse has to shut the door, and I am trying to hold on to a screaming, back-arching, arm flailing kid while another kid wraps his arms around my legs-- but I stayed calm. :)
Trying to get Andy to lay flat on his back to get his height was not easy. At all. The nurse commented that he "sure is a strong one." (That was the first of about 5 comments like that she made about his strength). After measuring him, we tied to put him on the scale. That did not go over well. He was trying to throw himself off of the table into my arms. We have started to see a little separation anxiety lately, which, I was reassured is totally normal at this age, and I guess he saw a stranger and was worried she was going to take him away from me. We tried to weigh him on the big kid scale and he did better there. Once I held him in my arms, she attempted to measure his head. He was MAD about this. He was swatting at her hands, throwing his head back and forth-- really acting like a good kid. Oh, and also, Cal had wrapped his arms and legs around me at this point... pretty positive I had sweat dripping down my back.
We finished up with that fun and moved down to the exam room. The nurse told us she likes to do the shots before we see the doctor so he can calm down again before she comes in. I prefer for the shots to be the very last thing we do so we can run out of there screaming instead of standing in a room screaming. The shot were Andy's last straw. He started screaming--and I do mean screaming-- and I could not get him to stop. The nurse said at this point she thought he was the strongest 18 month old she's ever seen... that's my boy.
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| so pitiful! just wanted to snuggle up on momma |
I held him and read him his favorite books. He would stop crying and then say "owwww" and point to his leg and the crying would start all over again. Cal, the worrier, wanted to be close to me too, so I had him trying to climb in my lap which just mad Andy madder. (seriously, is the heat on HIGH in this office???)
The doctor came in fairly soon after the shots and as always, was super sweet. Andy wanted nothing to do with her, wouldn't let her touch him or listen to him breathe-- nothing. I held him down in pretty much a head lock so she could check his ears. She checked Cal's and saw some signs of a possible infection so she wanted to make sure Andy's looked okay-- they did.
Cal was coughing up a storm so she had him to a breathing treatment to see if that would help-- it did. We were given one to take home to continue for the next week or so.
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| Cal doing his breathing treatment like a big boy |
Other than Andy's craziness towards the nurse and doctor, it was a good visit. He is healthy, right on track developmentally, and typically a very happy kid!
His stats, which are not entirely accurate due to his inability to let anyone come near him are:
weight: 27 pounds....95%
height: 34.5 inches....85%
head: 50 cm.....97%
One thing we talked about, which I will do another post on later is a bump on Andy's head. It's been there for a while, and Eddie was really concerned about it at his last check up, which was, I think, 16 months? Our doctor checked it then and said it wasn't anything to be worried about. It is still there and both of us were a little concerned about it so I brought it up again at this appointment. It is sort of up where his soft spot was. She made a phone call and talked to another colleague. She said, when she looks at Andy and she looks at me, our heads are similarly shaped, so she doesn't have reason for concern. HOWEVER, she knows that Eddie and I are worriers, and the only way to rule out it being anything concern-worthy is to do a CT scan to make sure everything is okay in there. I am sure everything is fine. But, heaven forbid, if we find out 10 years down the road that something is wrong, and we had the chance to fix it and didn't, we would never forgive ourselves. One possibility for the bump is that his skull closed up prematurely. This can be problematic down the road because his brain will not have adequate room to grow. Another side effect is hearing loss. Obviously, I am putting the cart wayyyyy before the horse here. We will hopefully get the scan the first week of January and will know more then. As we were discussing this at the appointment, I felt a knot in my throat building up. They will have to put him in restraints to perform the procedure...my sweet, sweet baby, who, at this point, was curled up on my chest, holding his lovie and his blankie all cozy on me. The word surgery was thrown out there and my heart started pounding and aching. It is scary. Again, I am sure it is nothing. But what if it is something? What if my baby has to have surgery on his head? I am trying to not think about this until we have to, but I had to get it on the blog now. Gotta document it all, right? I will keep you updated on it all...
Tomorrow is Christmas Eve! We are leaving the day after Christmas, so I am not sure I will have time to update again before we leave for Arizona! GO FROGS~
Merry, merry Christmas to you and your families. Thank you for taking the time to read the ramblings I post. xoxo
