Pediatrician visit!

Elise had her 4-month doctor appointment today! Where has the time gone?

My first order of business this morning was to determine whether or not we should actually attend the appointment. Everyone in our house but Matt has been sick for at least a couple of days and I was leery about taking my coughing, congested baby out on a mini road trip, despite the unseasonably nice weather.

"I should cancel," I decided. "After all, the baby is sick."

"But what's a better place for a sick baby than at the doctor?" I then reasoned. I'll keep the appointment.

"But Elise really isn't sick enough to go to the doctor--it's just a cold," I reminded myself. I decided it'd be silly to take her.

"So since she's not sick enough to go to the doctor for a sick-baby visit, she must be well enough for a well-baby visit, right?" said my sleep-deprived brain.

I figured I'd better keep the appointment.

And then Elise coughed through her morning nap, and I almost canceled, but couldn't quite justify calling off a doctor appointment because "my baby didn't take a good nap."

So I bundled my over-tired, sick baby into her carseat and drove her to the doctor so he could make sure she's doing okay. Poor baby.

I did, by the way, take into account the fact that if Elise happened to have something worse than a cold, the doctor would probably catch it, and I'd save myself an extra trip to the pediatrician.

(Not really wanting to drag Kalina to another of Elise's appointments and completely traumatize her when it comes to shots, by the way, I'd already lined up Grandpa to watch her. This turned out to be a particularly good call since Kalina spiked a 102.7 armpit temperature this morning.)

And that's how Elise and I ended up chatting with the friendly receptionist about the perils of identity theft. I was glad of the conversation, having been shut in for days. While I was in the waiting room, a mom called in and cancelled because she was "too tired" (she, too, has a young baby, as well as a couple teenagers, and isn't used to waking up so much in the middle of the night, as the receptionist informed me). I rethought my flimsy "my baby didn't nap" excuse.

Elise, by the way, was a trooper through this experience. The girl desperately, desperately wanted to take another stab at napping, but managed a smile and a healthy interest in her blue bunny toy up until her shots.

The pediatrician's office was, as expected, a bit busy this morning. I was informed that Elise would be able to get her shots despite her cold, which admittedly came as a relief to me. A good nap and a dose of Tylenol when we got home could cure all of her ailments at once, instead of dragging them out an extra day. Not to mention the fact that it's Rotavirus season, I believe.

We weighed the baby and found she's grown about 3 pounds since her last visit--to 12 lbs. 8 oz. She's 24 3/4 inches long. Her weight is just over the 30th percentile, and her height is in the 60th. Her head circumference is in the 10th this time, which is just fine.

The doctor mentioned that 4-6 months is a really fun time with babies--they're happy and exploring their world. So true! And yet, I can't help but also equate this stretch with some of the worst sleep ever. None of the adrenaline, and we're still not sleeping. But the baby sure is cute, as the doctor confirmed for us.

Then, the doctor verified that Elise is laughing and starting to work on rolling over, both of which she's doing. Elise just has the cutest little screamy laugh, and can roll to her side with the proper motivation (usually in the form of a particularly juicy toy). He also mentioned she has very good torso control. That's my girl.

I asked about Elise's reflux, which rears its ugly head one day a week or so. The doctor recommended against medicating it, which is also the direction I was leaning. It's nice having a doctor whose opinion I trust because now I can quit my worrying.

Next, the doctor listened to Elise's heart for quite a while, but could not hear the murmur. It might be gone! But it also could be that the doctor just didn't hear it.

We also discussed the fact that it's okay to keep swaddling Elise, to let her fuss a little bit if she needed to to settle down to sleep, and start solid food, just for practice. I think I'm going to hold off on solids for another month, though, since at that point cloth diapering gets a bit trickier.

All too soon, it was time for Elise's shots. I brought her blue bunny out to distract her, and distract her it did--up until the time when a needle was plunged into her thigh. I think she blames Blue Bunny for the incident, because the next time I showed her the toy, after it was all over, she screamed louder.

"YOU! It was YOU I was reaching out toward when that thing stuck me in the leg! YOU must be behind this, Blue Bunny! Waaaaaahhhhh!" said Elise in some confine of her mind.

Poor girl.

I then rushed Elise home to put her down for the nap she was a couple hours overdue for. She slept a nice long time and woke up unhappy, but soon calmed down with the Tylenol I'd promised her.

The rest of the day, Elise was either sleeping or letting me know she wasn't thrilled about the dull ache in her legs. I couldn't blame her.

Hopefully tomorrow Elise will be back to her happy, 4-month-old self.

Photos:

1. Elise's one post-shot smile today! :)

2. We were bored and decided to pose together (with the farm animals and Beancat) for a photo.