Doctor Appointments All Around

Lily, William, and I have all had doctor's appointments recently so, of course, we have some news and stats to report. Lily had her 4-year-old check-up a couple of weeks ago. Everything looks great with her. She is currently 37 lbs and 41 in so I think a booster seat is in our near future. This is only Lily's second time seeing our current doctor, the last time being her 3-year-old check-up. Within 2 minutes of being in the room with her, he stated, "Oh, we have a little diva on our hands". After about 10 minutes, he commented on how she is ready for Kindergarten now. This, of course, is a great source of pride for us even though there really isn't any way around the fact that she will not be allowed to start Kindergarten until the fall of 2011. But, I appreciate him saying it nonetheless. He really knows how to make a parent feel good!

William had a 6-week check-up yesterday. According to our doctor, within the past month or so, new data has come out that supports the idea that the vaccinations given at the 2-month check-up can safely be given at 6 weeks. His position is that if it can be given earlier, they should since it ultimately means that they are protected during that 2-week period when otherwise they would not be protected. While I am very happy that our doctor stays current with the latest research, it did result in some concern for us which I will explain.

William weighed 10 lbs. 3 oz. at his appointment which according to their computer-generated sheet put him in the 35th percentile for his age. This concerned us because he started out in the high percentages. It seemed like a pretty drastic swing in just 6 weeks. Truthfully, if we hadn't had all the problems early on, we probably would not have given it a second thought. However, in light of his history, we are super-sensitive to issues surrounding weight. So, long story short, after consulting the CDC's growth chart for baby boys, Carl figured out that the percentiles on the computer-generated sheet were based on 2-month-olds, not other 6-week olds. Since babies tend to put on about a half pound per week, this does make a difference. From what we can tell from the chart, William looks like he is at the 50th percentile for both height and weight. This is still a decrease in percentile from birth but not the super-slide that we originally thought.

The second half of this is that since everyone seems to concur that I in fact had gestational diabetes, William would be considered a baby with Macrosomia, meaning that he weighed more than he otherwise would have at birth. Babies with Macrosomia tend to "even out" in the first three months. This makes sense because William has only gained about 1 lb. since birth while most would have put on about 3 lbs. by now. The other thing that supports the gestational diabetes/Macrosomia theory is that Lily weighed 8 lbs. at birth, 9 lbs. 13 oz. at 1 month, and 11 lbs. at 2 months. So while their birth weights were different, it seems that they are almost identical at the 6-week mark.

As for my 6-week post-partum appointment today, I received both good and bad news. The bad news is that my blood pressure is way up (162/92), despite being on medication now. It looks like we will have to re-evaluate medications for the immediate future. The good news is that I currently weigh 9 lbs. less than what I weighed going into the pregnancy. While I'm really excited about this, it really is just the start of a trend that must continue. I think it will be a long road ahead, but I've got good motivation to stay on track. As soon as I get some more time, I will update with more fun info about William!