Faith’s 1 Year Baby Check-Up

Yesterday Faith had to go to her 1 year check-up.  Her regular pediatrician had to leave for an emergency delivery at the hospital, so we saw Dr. Ross instead.  Faith is naturally comfortable around men much much more than women, so seeing Dr. Ross was a good thing!  She still tends to be so shy around women… and also afraid of them when she’s at the doctor’s office.  She remembers immunizations from before :(

Dr. Ross is SO friendly, and funny… Faith was waving at him, smiling, and trying to smack the keys on his laptop the entire time he was in the room…. until he had to examine her.  When it came time to hear her heart, check her ears, eyes and mouth… she squirmed in my lap, started fussing, and did everything to pull away from him.  Still… she didn’t cry though!  Just a little fussing and stubbornness, but no tears.  She leaves the tears for the ladies with the syringes.

Faiths development is great!  She is 29.4 inches tall which is in the 50-75 percentile for her age.  So she is average/a bit above average height.  As for her weight, she is 19 lbs and 1 oz which is actually in the 10-25 percentile for her age.  That’s not great; it’s below average.  However, Dr. Ross said he is not worried at all that she is a bit on the thin side because she has just started learning to walk and is burning much more calories now.  So a dip in her weight is expected.  As for her motor skills (gross motor and fine motor) and her communication skills, she is doing perfectly.

After Dr. Ross left, I sat her back on the table to wait for the nurse with the injections :(

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She looks nervous in this picture.  I couldn’t stand that feeling that in just a moment I would be subjecting her to pain, and there is nothing she can do about it.  When the nurse came in, I laid Faith down, and she started crying; her eyes big with fear.  She remembers.  Poor thing.  I held her hands while the nurse pinned her legs down, and when Faith received the first injection, she started bawling, but not screaming.  I was relieved she didn’t belt out any blood curdling screams.  Faith simply laid still; even her arms were limp.  She wasn’t fighting me, or the nurse.  She just cried.  When it was over I scooped her up, and she was blubbering a bit.  It wasn’t too awful this time.  I quickly asked her, “Do you want to go outside?”  And she stopped crying!  If she could speak she would have said, “Hell yes!”  I grabbed the diaper bag, and we were off down the hall.  She was pointing at pictures on our way out, and saying, “Ooh!”  All was well in the world again :)

When we got home, we played outside for a little while.  I didn’t want her thinking about her visit with the doctor.  When we went out into the backyard, she walked out to see her little buddy …

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Being outside always makes her happy!

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After a while, she was starting to get crabby.  Those shots were kicking in and making her feel yucky.  All she wanted to do was snuggle.

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I just loved on her until Daddy came home and then it was his turn ♥

 

Faith’s 6 Month Baby Check-Up

Faith had some more booster shots again at her 6-month appointment, along with her first flu shot.   I think Faith is starting to remember her interactions with the pediatrician and nurses.  Once again, when we laid her down, and the nurse held her legs to prepare for the injections… Faith’s face was full of anxiety, and she was already starting to make fussy noises that were more sounds of fear, than sounds of annoyance.   I can’t stand the miserable feeling I have when watching my little girl lie there helpless, and she is anticipating pain; the worry is clear on her face, yet I can’t stop it from happening. She just looks up at the ceiling with fearful eyes, and waits for the moment of pain.  It’s the absolute worst feeling.  And this time, her cry was heart wrenching to me because it wasn’t a sudden loud, and long scream.  It was sobs.  Like her feelings were hurt worse than ever before, like she felt she was all alone in her pain.  No loud cries, just sobbing… over and over.  I feel like crying just telling you all about it!

Faith did recover fairly well.  I nursed her for a little bit, which helped soothe her.  Aaron showed her some toys to help distract her, and he even got a couple smiles out of her :)  I am just so glad it is over!  I know she is, too!

We decided to have Faith get her first flu shot because of how rampant the virus has been spreading already this winter.  The pediatrician said that just before seeing us, she was with a child that has the flu.  Scary.  The flu is so contagious, and she just walked in to see us right after seeing a child with the flu!  I think it’s inevitable that we will be exposed to the flu virus, especially since it spreads through the air; sneezing, and coughing.  I just hope the flu vaccine that Faith, me, and Aaron got will keep us healthy.  However, I know it may not keep us from getting the flu.  The nurse mentioned that a child did recently contract a different flu strain, after being vaccinated.  So, unfortunately, there is a different strain of flu out there.  All that’s left now is a hope and a prayer that we stay healthy.

One last thing I wanted to mention.  While talking with the nurse, before we seen the pediatrician, she asked us some standard preliminary questions.  One of them was, “Do you have any concerns with your daughter?  Anything abnormal?”  Aaron blurted out, “Well she is always doing algebra.  We don’t know what to do about that….”  The nurse had a serious look for a couple seconds, then burst out laughing.  When she recovered from her fit of giggles, and tried to continue with her questions, she started laughing hysterically again! My God, her face was turning red.  Yes, my hubby is hilarious :)

My tough daughter ♥  She survived another round of shots!  You go girl!  Mommy and Daddy are super proud!!! :)

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Faith’s 4 Months Immunizations

Good news!  Faith survived her second round of immunizations today :)  No worse for the wear!

 

Check out her huge band-aids :)

 

I love seeing her happy and full of smiles after her doctor appointment.   It’s a relief to see because she was just miserable when she was being injected.  I have never heard her scream so loud before… not even with her first round of immunizations when she was 2 months old.   I think it hurt her worse this time because a different nurse gave her the shots, and she wasn’t quick to get the injections over with.  By the time the third and final needle went into her thigh (which hit a capillary, and blood was instantly dripping out of the band-aid)  she was screaming so loud my ears were ringing.  I felt even worse than I did that last time she went through this.    I grabbed her up in my arms after it was over with, and her cries came out in short screams as if she was trying to gasp for air.  Her cry was different this time.  Worse.  It was very unsettling… and I could do nothing about it.   I’ve always hated needles… now I loathe them even more.

On the bright side… Faith did recover a little bit faster than last time.  She didn’t cry as long as she did last time.  In fact, she gave us a few smiles before leaving the office :)   My tough girl.  Tough, tough, tough!

Aside from her immunizations, everything else is perfect.

Weight: 13 lbs. 3 oz (25-50 percentile)

Length: 24 1/4 inches (50 percentile)

Head circumference: 41 1/2 cm (50-75 percentile)

The pediatrician said that Faith’s physical and mental development is that of a 5 1/2 month old!  My smart girl.  The pediatrician said that he expects she will be crawling early.

I’m so glad this emotionally exhausting day is over.  Faith is napping in her swing right now, and I am ready to go to sleep myself.  Sweet dreams everyone ♥