Pony Worthy

This past Wednesday Rowan had her "2 month" check up at the pediatricians'. I don't know how it got scheduled so late but with her turning 12 weeks on Sunday, it is closer to a 3 month appt. I also didn't realize it was not normal to skip a one month appt. That was never brought up at her 1st week appt. They just said, see you back in 2 months. Yet when I talked with all my friends who had babies around the same time, they all went in for a one month appt. Oh well, less trips is fine with me. That just meant we had a big range of guesses as to what she weighed and how long she was. We don't have a scale at our house and have not officially weighed her since the hospital. Matt's guess was 12 lb 1 oz and 27 inches long. My guess was 11 lb 5 oz and 25 inches long. She ended up right in the middle of of weight guesses at 11 lb 11 oz, 5 lbs more than she weighed at birth. Our length guesses were way off. She was 22 and 1/4 in long. I guess we failed to remember we both were very late bloomers. If she is destined to gain some vertical ground and follow her parents' footsteps it probably won't be until high school :)

Dr. Moylan than asked how she was eating, sleeping and doing in general. I told him breastfeeding has been going well, she outgrew what little fussiness she seemed to have during the evening hours and up until this week, she was sleeping from 9-5:30 or so. I stated that we were really grateful for that stretch of sleep, esp since this week she picked back up her 2 am feed again and reminded us what getting up early in the morning was like. The Dr then asked us if we had a backyard, to which we hesitantly responded yes. He then informed Matt that his daughter deserves a pony and he should buy her one to live in our backyard. He was very impressed with her sleeping that amount, even if the 2 am feed comes back in the picture for good. He said he likes to see babies sleeping a stretch at night one more hour than their age in months. Since she is almost 3 months, 4 hours would be a good minimum and she is doing well beyond that which is great. This reassured Matt, who was worried she was sleeping and not eating enough, and reminded me to keep my mouth shut and not jinx the gift she has been giving us.

Last on the appt agenda came the shots.

I have been dreading the shots for a long time. Matt and I started researching a lot about vaccinations while we were pregnant with her still. We read over some books, some research and some online information trying to make an informed decision about what vaccinations Rowan would get. This is a very heated debate out there so searching through information was tedious and seeming biased from both angles. In the end we made our decision and made peace with the fact that whatever decision that was, God would protect and watch out for Rowan regardless. Still, I was a little more nervous than I anticipated I would be. The nurse was quick and Rowan did one of those screams where you turn red in the face but no sound comes out. Then just as the built up cry came out, I was picking her up and soothing her and it was over. She really did great with the actual shots. I was in total mom mode by this point though that all I could think of was getting to a place where I could nurse her and comfort her more. We left the office and it wasn't before we were driving home that the nurse in me realized we were never given a shot record card, VIS forms, list of the vaccinations she received or any info about what to expect with the vaccinations. All we were given was a Tylenol dosing sheet. I was really annoyed by this and annoyed at myself for not thinking to ask. I feel like parents should be given that information automatically, not just if they ask. Rowan didn't get her Hep B shot at birth, maybe if she had they would have given us a shot record card then? Maybe that is totally on the parents to keep track of? I know at work we HAVE to give the Vaccination Information Sheets to parents and we chart in their record after we do so. I thought that at least was mandated. It's just hard being on the mom side and not the provider side. I know next time we go in, they will have record of all that information and we can get it then, but it just annoyed me they let us leave without at least offering that info.

Ok enough with my rant. Overall we like our pediatrician and his nurse and appt went well. It's nice to hear she is doing well and looking healthy from someone else. It eases those first time parenting nerves. Our next appt is in Nov, right around the time we announced to our families that we were pregnant with her. So crazy it has almost been a year and that little embryo has grown into such a beautiful baby!