Not only did Breanna have her check-up today, it was also the first time that she had ever been forward-facing in the car. Interestingly, it was also the first time that she drove for that long without crying at all. Even when she got tired, she just yawned and closed her eyes, then went to sleep. She thought it was amazing to be able to really see things, and she laughed most of the way to the hospital, especially when I would turn around and she was able to actually see me.
We only had to wait about 15 minutes, most of which was because we were early for our appointment. Hayley passed the time by going to the Second Cup in the hospital and getting a muffin with her grandfather. Meanwhile, I chatted with a mom of a 6-month-old who seemed overjoyed that I, like her, see nothing wrong with giving a baby some lightly seasoned food, making your own food instead of using jarred stuff (which Breanna never liked), and letting them try things that not everyone would give someone that age. I guess other people had been giving her a hard time. In between our chats, Breanna alternated between patting her baby on the legs, and running up and down the halls. She was very social, smiling and preening at everyone that stopped to ooh and ahh over her.
Then it was time for her appointment and the social pleasantries were instantly dropped. Part of the problem was that she had been so enthralled by the drive that she only fell asleep when we were exactly two blocks away from the hospital. Since she had woken up at 9 am, she hadn’t napped yet so by 1:30 she was tired and not interested in being prodded. She was very upset to have someone that she doesn’t know measuring her, listening to her heart, and sticking a light in her ears. Also, the doctor was a very lovely Muslim woman who was dressed in the typical headscarves; Breanna is not fond of people wearing anything on their heads, and actually doesn’t even like it when my hair is wrapped in a towel after my shower. Between the scarves and the doctor’s tools, Breanna was totally not impressed.
By the time we went to weigh her, she was somewhat ballistic and wasn’t interested in co-operating by sitting on the baby scale (why they keep those out in the hall I will never know, because it means that all these babies are always crying in full waiting rooms). We tried but quickly decided it would be much better to just go back in the room and weigh both of us, and then just me, subtracting to get her weight. She still wasn’t happy because then the doctor had to hold her while I adjusted the scale for my weight, but at least it was faster.
After that, I got her dressed except for her pants and calmed her down while the doctor went to locate a nurse to help her with the shots. I had just fed her and gotten her quiet when they came back ready to stick needles in her poor thighs. Still, I was surprised that she didn’t react that badly. She sat on my lap facing me in case she wanted to nurse (she didn’t, she wasn’t interested at all what with two strangers hovering over her and wiping her legs down with alcohol), and when they injected her, she looked up at me and cried but she stopped as soon as the bandages were on.
Overall, despite her unhappiness, everything went really well. She measured in at 29.5 inches, her head circumference was 18.7 inches, and her weight was about 24 pounds, possibly a few ounces more. She’s pretty steady on the 75th percentile for all three. The doctor was pleased to hear that she’s enthused about trying any type of food and assured me I didn’t need to worry that she doesn’t eat big meals. She also said that although it’s great that I’m still breastfeeding (she is too, with 17-month-old twins!) that I can go ahead and try milk if I want since she’s doing well with cheese and yogurt. She is also the first medical professional who has actually told me that there is nothing wrong with letting your baby sleep beside you at night in bed. I never felt that there was, but having a doctor tell me that was awesome. She said she works at a breastfeeding clinic and that not only do a lot of the mothers do it too, she also recommends it to mothers who have a hard time because of being overtired. Thus, she is now my new favorite person!
She was pleased as well with the milestones and Breanna’s development. She was impressed that Breanna has been walking since shortly after nine months (though she said she was glad her twins didn’t start that early, hee), and thought she was doing fine with other things. She agreed with me that there’s no concern about whether Breanna’s words are actual words, as long as we know what they mean and she uses them consistently (for instance, she doesn’t say hi, exactly, but she waves and says “haaa”, kind of like a little southern belle). Breanna also follows simple instructions like “get that” or “give that to Daddy” when she wants, and she points when she wants something, so that was all right in line with normal development.
I had a good giggle when I was asked about her hearing. There is definitely nothing wrong with Breanna’s ears. If she’s in the living room, even with music playing or the television on, she will come running if she hears me open either the fridge or the dryer. Every time, without fail. She can most definitely hear.
Knock on wood, the vaccinations didn’t seem to affect her, at least not yet. She had the MMR and a meningococcal vaccine as well. She was also supposed to get the chicken pox and Prevnar but I wasn’t sure about the chicken pox yet. I asked if we could think about that one so she said to come back at 15 months for the Prevnar and then I could have more time to decide on the other. Also, because Hayley never had the chicken pox vaccine and because I’ve never had the vaccine or actual chicken pox, it would be recommended that all three of us come in for it so I’ll be doing some research into that.
In any case, I didn’t give her any pain medication right away, watching to see how she would react. She was fine. She slept on the way home and other than some sleepy crankiness, she seemed perfectly okay. I did give her some Motrin before bed just in case, so that I can hopefully avoid having her react badly at midnight. Here’s hoping that all goes well tonight, although it can technically bring about side effects for up to 8 to 10 days. Whee!
At least, after all that, I now know that there’s a good reason my arms get tired on the clingy days; it’s because I’m carrying around a 24-pound baby!
Back when my kids were little (they’re 24 & 21 yrs old now) I would make a lot of their baby food — not applesauce or smooshed peas, but meals — I’d take the meals I would make for my wife and myself and my older son (who was a teenager at the time… from a prior marriage) and run them through the blender and freeze them in ice cube trays and store them in containers in the freezer, then at mealtimes I’d microwave an appropriate number of cubes for a meal. My theory was that (1) I knew the meal was made from wholesome ingrediants (we weren’t organic but I used good quality ingredients) and (2) the kids would already be familiar with the tastes of typical family means by the time they grew old enough to eat stuff that hadn’t gone through a blender.
If I had to do it over again, I’d still do the same thing (except this time I might also do some fruit and vegetables as well). They’ve grown up to be healthy adults, in good physical shape, no food weirdnesses, they both (son and daughter) like to cook and are good at it — they’re both in college — and my son works as a cook and my daughter works in a bakery. (And my older son became a vegetarian during his freshman year of college and now, at age 38, still is.)