1 Year Well Check!

Today we had Cael's 1 year well-child check, and it went relatively well. Unfortunately, Matt couldn't come this morning like he was planning on. His work had him go to another town further away, so he couldn't come. I was really sad about it, because I hate going to appointments alone where he gets shots. It just breaks my heart. But I had to be okay for him. Besides, I was really excited to see how much my Little Man has grown. Hopefully, he gained a bit of weight.

So his appointment was at 10:15 this morning. Of course there was a wait, as there has been more recently at this office. So we didn't get called in until about 10:40. It was really frustrating, especially having a "toddler" who wants to run around everywhere. Not to mention there isn't a separate "sick room" and "well room", so we were around some older sick people. Totally skeeved me out.

So anyway, I'll get down to the nitty gritty of the appointment, and his 1 year stats. That's what you want to hear about anyway, right? So Cael weighed in at 21 pounds 1 ounce, with his clothes and diaper on; and 28.5 inches long. I rounded down to 21 pounds even, because the scale kept fluctuating, AND he was weighed with his clothes on. So basically, he really is a peanut, because he doesn't even weigh 21 pounds yet. Regarding percentiles, he is in the 20th percentile for weight, and the 10th percentile for height. Then they measured his head, and it was 18.5 inches, which is the 75th percentile. He got 3 shots, one of which was the split-flu shot. He goes back in a month for the second half. I guess they split the shot because he's so young..?

What annoyed me, was the nurse came back in after the doctor left, to give Cael his shots. I knew he needed 2 shots, in addition to the flu. There were only 2 shots on the tray, but I thought maybe they combined 2 of them, since he was getting 3. Well, I found out that wasn't the case. After he got both shots in one thigh, he screamed and I had to hold him close to calm him down. I decided to make sure he got the flu shot, and she hesitated, and said no. Great. So she had to go get another shot, I had to lay him down on the table again and hold him, and he had to get the shot in his other leg. It was a repeat - he screamed bloody murder, and I had to calm him down again. I understand the shots, but I hated that he had to go through it twice.

The appointment didn't real go as I expected. I forgot to ask some questions that I had in my mind, and I'm upset about that. Usually I write them down, but I guess I forgot this time. For example, I wanted to ask about unpasteurized cows milk. I totally forgot. Good thing we go back in a month. Matt has a friend who owns a dairy farm, and can get us unpasteurized milk whenever we want. But I want to ask before we give it to him. We did get the go ahead from the pediatrician to start whole cows milk, although he seemed very nonchalant about it. He was like, "Yea, you can start giving him milk if you want. You can transition, or just supplement." I reminded him that I wanted to breastfeed until 18 months. He seemed like it wasn't necessary to start cows milk, and the decision was up to us. Although I asked, he didn't give specifics on how much he should have every day. He just said that I can give it to him a couple times a day in a sippy cup or bottle. I guess we'll just have to wing it and see what happens.

He also didn't ask a lot of questions about what he's doing developmentally, and he didn't tell me what he should be doing. I'm assuming he's where he should be. He's a great doctor, but he is just different from Cael's first doctor.

Overall, it was a good visit. We go back in a month for his second flu shot, and then go back in December for his 15 month well check. It's flying by!