2-Month Checkup

Ah, doctor's visits. Co-pays. Well-child. Sick-child. Charts. All terms I am becoming more familiar with. As I mentioned earlier in the last update, Ny had her big 2-month checkup this past Tuesday. A little parenting confession here: we never really picked out a pediatrics group until she was born. It was one of those things that got lost in moving to our house, UTI's and global warming. Fortunately, I was able to do some checking while in the hospital thanks to some free wi-fi, not stolen wifi, and we settled on a practice with about 7 doctors, open on Sundays, and only 5 minutes from our house. Something that I hadn't thought about until one of G's friends - who has a baby girl - brought it up is that with Ny, it might be easier to see a woman doctor, especially as Ny grows up. This place also has several females doctors. We've seen two doctors and really like both of them. Anyway, enough rambling about that, other than to say to expecting parents - don't sweat the search, because if you find a place and don't like it, there's no trouble finding another.

The purpose of the 2-month checkup is to torture the baby with shots check weight, development, and then torture the baby with shots immunize the baby. Ny has continued to grow, now weighing in at 12 lbs, 8 oz (90th percentile) and checking in at 24 1/4 inches long (95th percentile). In other words, she's as long as the typical 4-month old. If she continues growing at a rate of 1.625 in/month, by the time she's 26 months, she will be 5' 3". Fortunately, she won't grow that fast, otherwise I'm going to be staring up at my daughter to punish her when she's 4. Her head is starting to catch up to her body, with it now 40 cm and in the 70th percentile. As her doctor said, she's a rock star; everything looks great with her.

Then came shots. Ny needed 4 total immunizations this time - one by mouth and three by shot. She did great with the oral vaccination, probably because she was hungry and the stuff tasted sweet (or so I'm told). Then came time for the needles. Now, this Dad doesn't like needles. I'm not afraid of them. I don't try to run away from them. I just don't like seeing them. So I stood off to the side and looked into Ny's eyes so she would see me. Mom held her hand. The first shot goes in... no trouble... for a split second.  Then she starts to inject the vaccine. Tears, red face, loud crying, Mom crying, Dad trying to comfort Baby. Rinse and repeat for the next two. I can see why parents feel like it's harder on them, but I'm pretty sure if Nyla could have talked, she might have said something I can't print here. Fortunately, Mom picked her up afterward, and she calmed down quickly. Not a terribly traumatic experience, but one that I'm glad does not happen that often.

Ny has not had any reactions to the shots, other than being really grumpy and fussy Tuesday night. The last two days have been great. G is keeping her up for longer periods during the day and spacing out her naps a little better, meaning that when I get home, she typically takes a two-hour nap and is much happier in the evening. That, in turn, makes Mom and Dad much happier in the evening. Oh, and she's been sleeping through the night since last week. No doubt she loves her night-night time as much as her parents love theirs.

Have a great weekend!

-D

P.S. I know you're wondering why G doesn't update this much. Well, try having a 2-month old at home, and it becomes clear. She'll be posting more I'm sure. Until then, you're stuck with blessed with my writing.

The Month is Upon Us

July 1. Half the year, calendar-wise, is over. Has time flown by for you? I wouldn't say it has for me. It's gone by at a nice, leisurely pace. With the month of July ahead of us, it is now crunch time for Little Giant Baby Nyla. She is 18 days away from her due date. Wow. In a way, it seems like yesterday we found out Ginny had another person growing inside her. At the same time, it seems like that was 9 months ago. (It was.)

Today was Ginny's regular, weekly checkup with her regular doctor. Regular checkups are ok at this point, given last week we were in and out of doctors' offices. The report? No change in dilation. No effacing, at least not enough that we were told about it. But Little Giant Baby Nyla is now head-down. This is a good thing. Ginny's belly continues to measure about 2 weeks ahead, so the nickname we gave her works.

That leads us to the bigger news. July 18th, in the evening, we will make our trip to the hospital, at which point the nurses will do whatever it is they do down there to encourage Nyla to make her grand debut on July 19th, her actual due date. Of course, now that we have set up an official date for her to come, she will probably decide at 2am on Wednesday the 14th to want to see us. Not that I'm going to complain, however. I'm ready to see my little girl and hold her in my arms!

I hope to post some pictures of her room this long weekend. Hopefully G and I can coordinate that and get some pics to share. No promises, though! Little Giant Baby Nyla could throw a wrench into everything!

-D