4 Month Old Dr's Appointment

Today at 1:45 pm was Johnathan's next doctor's appointment at Advanced Pediatrics. It was supposed to be on December 1st, but the clinic had to reschedule to today because our doctor wasn't on that original day. Anyway, the appointment went very well! Johnathan now weighs 15 lbs, 3 oz. He's actually lowered a bit in that percentile. Last time he was 75th% and now he is 50th%...which is fine of course. His height was 26 inches (75th %). And his head was 41 1/4 inches (25th %). His developmental assessment was fine. Dr. Kurtz said he looked great in every way. He also said we can actually start feeding him real foods any time we want. He said we don't have to wait until he's 6 months old, but that there's no rush either. When he put the tongue depressor in his mouth, he said he was doing tongue movements that showed he was definitely ready for real food (starting with rice cereal, then going to fruits, veggies, and meats). I talked with Nate about it and we decided we would wait at least until after Christmas (5 months old), if not a little closer to 6 months old. The Dr said meats are good to help them get iron and protein in their diet.

Then of course he got his 2 shots. It was quite a bit better this time. I didn't cry, but I almost cried earlier when we were waiting for the doc...I heard the baby in the room next to us...and that one screamed very sadly when he got his shots. So it worried me a ton. I actually had butterfly's in my stomach for my son. But when the lady came in with the shots, I was wanting to make it the best situation for Johnathan. So I told her I was a nurse in L & D and the newborn nursery at UCH. I said, "So, would it be better for me to be a comfort for him while you do it? Or do you think it is better for him if he got both shots at the same time?" And she was great! She goes, "Yeah, you can totally do it if you want." Last time (2 mo.), Johnathan was screaming with the first shot, then she had to stab him again and he reacted even worse. So I thought this might be easier on him. So she let me do it! I gave him one of the shots in his thigh, and she gave the other in the other thigh. It was a little wierd to give a shot to my own son...but I just thought of it professionally. So we went, "one, two, three" then did it at the same moment. He did cry, but it wasn't near as bad and it wasn't as prolonged. Maybe giving the shot was a good distraction for me too. : ) Then we quickly put bandaids on it and then I picked him up and comforted him. He was a really good boy and took it well.