I was a bit late in scheduling Oliver's 9 month appointment as he'll turn 10 months old in 3 days. I actually contemplated skipping this well baby visit since there aren't any immunizations involved. I did want to skip the hemaglobin test. I can understand checking that level on a baby who is exclusively breastfed, but it truly seems pointless otherwise because baby cereal and formula are both fortified with iron. I don't know why I have such a hard time saying "no, thank you" to a medical professional. I inteded to refuse that test, and I did voice my objection, but the nurse went ahead and pricked his little finger anyhow. He was a really good baby throughout most of the exam. He didn't fuss or cry at all for the nurse. He did cry when the CRNP was doing part of her exam. With his diaper on he weighed 16lb 11oz, which puts him at 1.7 percentile (or 9.5 adjusted). He gained exactly 3 pounds since his 6 month appointment. They said he is 27.25 inches long, which is at the 10th percentile (36.8 adjusted) and represents a gain of 2 inches since February. His head circumference was 44.5cm, which is the 19th percentile (41 adjusted) and 3 cm more than his last measurement. Comparing his weight to his length he's at the 14.7 percentile.
This was the first time we were at the pediatrician's office that a CRNP (rather than a MD) saw one of my kids. I was happy that Mandy was the one who came in to see Oliver because she was one of my favorite NICU nurses in June 2008 and December 2009. She was studying to become a NP at the university where I used to teach while she was a NICU nurse. I had asked about her when Oliver was in the NICU, and I was told she was now a CRNP. Oliver got up to the 4th percentile for his weight a couple of months ago, so he's been headed in a backward direction lately. I think the lack of sleep is probably the reason as obviously he's burning more calories since he's losing hours of sleep each day. Yesterday his two naps put together didn't even total 90 minutes, and he slept only 8.5 hours last night. That's a loss of more than four hours of sleep from what he used to get each day before we went on vacation. Not good.
I was concerned about my ability to get the three kids dressed and fed and out the door by 8:00am to make our 8:20 appointment, but we actually left a few minutes earlier than necessary! The reason it was easy to be on time was because Ian and Oliver got up so early. Both boys have gotten in a habit of getting up well before 6am. This morning is was 5:10 for Oliver and 5:30 for Ian. It would be a bigger priority for me to get Ian to sleep later if Oliver wasn't getting up before him, but since I'm already up with Oliver it doesn't bother me that Ian is up rather early. Nadia is the only one who sleeps until 7am (or later). Yesterday Ian fell back asleep in our bed (with Paul) until 7:15, which to me says that 5:30 is too early for him also. Since there weren't any immunizations involved, the appointment lasted a little less than an hour. It's usually longer than an hour, which is a long time with three kids age 4 and under. As I was checking out, Nadia and Ian were each given a lollipop. It felt rather ironic that Oliver was the one who was pricked and prodded and his siblings got candy, but he was oblivious to the injustice.
I was a bit late in scheduling Oliver's 9 month appointment as he'll turn 10 months old in 3 days. I actually contemplated skipping this well baby visit since there aren't any immunizations involved. I did want to skip the hemaglobin test. I can understand checking that level on a baby who is exclusively breastfed, but it truly seems pointless otherwise because baby cereal and formula are both fortified with iron. I don't know why I have such a hard time saying "no, thank you" to a medical professional. I inteded to refuse that test, and I did voice my objection, but the nurse went ahead and pricked his little finger anyhow. He was a really good baby throughout most of the exam. He didn't fuss or cry at all for the nurse. He did cry when the CRNP was doing part of her exam. With his diaper on he weighed 16lb 11oz, which puts him at 1.7 percentile (or 9.5 adjusted). He gained exactly 3 pounds since his 6 month appointment. They said he is 27.25 inches long, which is at the 10th percentile (36.8 adjusted) and represents a gain of 2 inches since February. His head circumference was 44.5cm, which is the 19th percentile (41 adjusted) and 3 cm more than his last measurement. Comparing his weight to his length he's at the 14.7 percentile. 
This was the first time we were at the pediatrician's office that a CRNP (rather than a MD) saw one of my kids. I was happy that Mandy was the one who came in to see Oliver because she was one of my favorite NICU nurses in June 2008 and December 2009. She was studying to become a NP at the university where I used to teach while she was a NICU nurse. I had asked about her when Oliver was in the NICU, and I was told she was now a CRNP. Oliver got up to the 4th percentile for his weight a couple of months ago, so he's been headed in a backward direction lately. I think the lack of sleep is probably the reason as obviously he's burning more calories since he's losing hours of sleep each day. Yesterday his two naps put together didn't even total 90 minutes, and he slept only 8.5 hours last night. That's a loss of more than four hours of sleep from what he used to get each day before we went on vacation. Not good.
I was concerned about my ability to get the three kids dressed and fed and out the door by 8:00am to make our 8:20 appointment, but we actually left a few minutes earlier than necessary! The reason it was easy to be on time was because Ian and Oliver got up so early. Both boys have gotten in a habit of getting up well before 6am. This morning is was 5:10 for Oliver and 5:30 for Ian. It would be a bigger priority for me to get Ian to sleep later if Oliver wasn't getting up before him, but since I'm already up with Oliver it doesn't bother me that Ian is up rather early. Nadia is the only one who sleeps until 7am (or later). Yesterday Ian fell back asleep in our bed (with Paul) until 7:15, which to me says that 5:30 is too early for him also. Since there weren't any immunizations involved, the appointment lasted a little less than an hour. It's usually longer than an hour, which is a long time with three kids age 4 and under. As I was checking out, Nadia and Ian were each given a lollipop. It felt rather ironic that Oliver was the one who was pricked and prodded and his siblings got candy, but he was oblivious to the injustice.
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