November 5, 2010

Yay Doctor?

This afternoon was Owen's 6 month well visit and Austin's flu booster.  Let me tell ya, it was a blast.  (Can you sense the sarcasm?)

It started out great.  We pulled up to the office and as soon as I got Austin out of the car he yelled "Yay doctor!"  I told him he was probably the only child who's ever said that, and I'm not sure he'll be saying that again anytime soon.  We went in and sat down in the waiting room, Owen was sitting in his car seat calmly (which never happens) and Austin pulled around 8 toy cars out of the diaper bag and started playing quietly.  I was thrilled because usually he's running laps around the place and trying to sneak back to the examine rooms every time someone opens the door.  He did well though, until the nurse came out and called us back...  Austin tried to grab up all his cars at once, dropping half of them on the floor.  I had to put down Owen and bend over to pick up all the cars from under tables and chairs at which time the diaper bag on my shoulder tipped over and about a dozen acorns from a side pocket fell out onto the floor.  Hmmm, wonder where those came from....

So I picked up the chocking hazards off the floor and finally tucked away all the cars while the nurse stood there impatiently waiting on us.  We started walking back when Austin, probably remembering what happened last time we walked down that same hallway, decided he wasn't going to join us.  With Owen and diaper bag in tow, I managed to drag my whining 2 year old through the door way and tell him to go find room number 4.  The kid is a sucker for counting and we arrived at our room with no further incidence.  

Austin played with his cars while we weighed and measured Owen.  He is 16.5 lbs. (35th%ile), 27.5 inches long (85th%ile) and his head is 17.3 in. (58th %ile).  

Whoa whoa whoa...does that say 35th %ile....for weight??  

I am still baffled by this as Owen looks like a chubby little 6 month old to me and has never had trouble eating.  There is nothing wrong with being in the 35th %ile, but the doctor was a little concerned because of the drastic drop, he was in the 71st %ile for weight just 2 months ago and in those 2 months has only gained half a pound, so we have to go back in a month for a weight check and see how it goes.  

Of course, as Owen's main food supply, I am a little worried that this is somehow my fault, but our doctor said that sometimes breastfed babies don't gain as quickly as bottle fed babies and as long as he's happy and healthy I shouldn't be concerned.  Guess what...I'm concerned.  So, operation "beef up the baby" has commenced.  Still don't know what I'm going to do exactly, he's already eating every three hours and it's taking everything I've got to get 2 ounces of baby food in his belly (the other 2 ounces are either on him or in Austin's belly).  Baby weight lifting maybe?  Maybe I can call up this guy and see if he's got any tips...

But anyway...Owen checked out great otherwise.  He loved staring at his reflection and couldn't stop giggling at himself in the mirror.  As I suspected, he had a ball tearing up all the paper on the exam table and trying to eat it.  He didn't enjoy his shots but calmed down quickly enough.  Austin didn't pull out any french fries from the diaper bag this time but just about everything else in there (note to self: fix zipper on diaper bag).  He found his sunglasses and for some reason started complaining that they were broken and kept taking them to Dr. M while he was examining Owen saying "glasses broken, glasses broken!"  I guess it was just an attempt at getting some attention, because after that he started rooting around in the trash can and pulling stuff out...ewww!  I swear, our pediatrician thinks I'm like the worst parent ever.

This time Austin got to get the nasal spray flu booster since he's 2 now, but while I never want to purposefully inflict pain on either of my children, I think the shot would have just been quicker and easier.  All he cared about was getting a hold of that sucker the nurse was dangling out in front of him and was not thrilled about her teasing him with it as she sprayed this stuff up his nose.

An hour and a half later we were in the car and headed home.  I was exhausted and knew Owen would be asleep as soon as we started driving since he missed his last nap, so I handed Austin his favorite toy and we just drove around Greenville for 30 minutes.  It was actually relaxing and I had time to compose myself before getting home and running through the busy nighttime routine.

And I remember the days when I used to look forward to well visits....

The mad "cheese" face

Owen (unlike his brother) loves the camera!


Owen also loved looking at that cute baby in the mirror!

And there goes the paper!

Austin's first attempt at photography.

3 comments:

Keri said...

You are my hero!! I couldn't do that! Your boys look great mama! Good job!

Audra Michelle said...

It's always an adventure going to the doctor! For tips on helping him gain weight, check out kellymom.com. There are fantastic ideas plus reassurance that breastfed and formula fed babies just grow differently. I bet you will be pleased when you chart him on the WHO growth charts for breastfed babies (even the AAP has come out to say doctors should use those rather than the charts from the CDC). We're on "operation beef up the toddler" right now since he recently fell off the bottom of the charts.

Simple Peace Mama said...

Everyone has those days! You are doing great. And not to worry, your breastmilk is just fine for him! You can also try eating more nutritiously to help Owen get the most nutrition. Eat rich healthy fats like avocados, olive oil, whole milk, farm fresh eggs, and brightly colored vegetables and fruits. Meat has a lot of great nutrition too - if you can stomach some liver pate that is great help as well. Just to boost milk supply you can try this cookies (yes, I said cookies!) www.milkin-cookies.com .

You can also feed Owen some soft boiled egg yolk (no egg whites though) and avocado and bananas. All very nutritious!

You are doing great!

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