enjoying snacktimeWednesday was a big day for us, as the boys had their first official doctor's appointment scheduled for 10 AM. I love our new pediatrician, because she truly takes her time with each patient. I have learned from experience, though, that it is best to schedule her first hour of the day because that same trait I appreciate can result in long hours of waiting otherwise!
Believe it or not, we spent almost 1 1/2 hours in the office with her. She checked the boys from the tops of their heads to the tips of their toes. They weren't awful, but they were pretty naughty. Both took turns wanting to be held and if I held both at the same time they kicked and pinched each other. One time when Ian was on my lap and I was listening intently to the doctor, Alec came over and bit his brother - hard - on the ankle. Oh, the screaming that ensued! But the doctor handled it all calmly and said that if they didn't fight, their relationship wouldn't be normal. She has four children and the oldest is only nine, so I guess she can speak from experience as well as expertise. That is somewhat reassuring!
Stats from the visit ... I had to go home and plug in the centimeters and kilograms to get the feet, inches and pounds and while I was at it I checked percentiles. I know they are not super important but I wanted to get an idea of how these guys compare to their peers back in the States.
Other items of note from the visit ... I was given a prescription for a special cream, as Ian has some dry spots on his lower legs and Alec has two big dry circles on his lower back and bottom. She thinks they will clear up with the cream but gave me a name of a dermatologist for Alec just in case. Also, Alec will need to see a specialist for his herniated bellybutton. Our pediatrician said the general rule (at least in Chile) is that if you can press your finger into the bellybutton and it goes in the depth of two fingertips or more, it will most likely require surgery. She said it is not urgent but something we do need to follow up with sooner than later.
Of course, we also left the doctor's office with a whole lot of bloodwork to do. I stopped by the lab to get a quote on the cost, and while we were there I was given two kits for doing parasite testing on the boys. Each kit contains three small vials with a poisonous clear liquid inside (at least that's what the technician told me when she said to keep it out of reach of the children!) Along with the vials are three popsicle sticks. Every other day - in our case, Wed/Fri/Sun - I have to scoop an "olive-sized" amount of the boys' poop (pardon the TMI) into the appropriate vial and stir it around with the popsicle stick. Once all three samples are collected I can then turn the kits in for further testing. Doesn't this sound fun?! I am so glad the boys are still in diapers, though!
Believe it or not, we spent almost 1 1/2 hours in the office with her. She checked the boys from the tops of their heads to the tips of their toes. They weren't awful, but they were pretty naughty. Both took turns wanting to be held and if I held both at the same time they kicked and pinched each other. One time when Ian was on my lap and I was listening intently to the doctor, Alec came over and bit his brother - hard - on the ankle. Oh, the screaming that ensued! But the doctor handled it all calmly and said that if they didn't fight, their relationship wouldn't be normal. She has four children and the oldest is only nine, so I guess she can speak from experience as well as expertise. That is somewhat reassuring!
Stats from the visit ... I had to go home and plug in the centimeters and kilograms to get the feet, inches and pounds and while I was at it I checked percentiles. I know they are not super important but I wanted to get an idea of how these guys compare to their peers back in the States.
Alec:The doctor said that Alec is rather short for his age but we'll monitor his growth and see how he progresses. Ian is technically in the "at risk" category for his weight but we'll handle it the same way. I was very interested to compare his weight from the ER visit in Florida to his current weight, and as I mentioned in a previous post he has gained over 2 kg or between 2-3 pounds in just one week!
weight - 11.150 kg or 24.58 lbs - 15%
height - 80 cm or 2ft 7in - less than 3%
Ian:
weight - 10.6 kg or 23.37 lbs - less than 3%
height - 86.5 cm or 2ft 10in - 21%
Other items of note from the visit ... I was given a prescription for a special cream, as Ian has some dry spots on his lower legs and Alec has two big dry circles on his lower back and bottom. She thinks they will clear up with the cream but gave me a name of a dermatologist for Alec just in case. Also, Alec will need to see a specialist for his herniated bellybutton. Our pediatrician said the general rule (at least in Chile) is that if you can press your finger into the bellybutton and it goes in the depth of two fingertips or more, it will most likely require surgery. She said it is not urgent but something we do need to follow up with sooner than later.
Of course, we also left the doctor's office with a whole lot of bloodwork to do. I stopped by the lab to get a quote on the cost, and while we were there I was given two kits for doing parasite testing on the boys. Each kit contains three small vials with a poisonous clear liquid inside (at least that's what the technician told me when she said to keep it out of reach of the children!) Along with the vials are three popsicle sticks. Every other day - in our case, Wed/Fri/Sun - I have to scoop an "olive-sized" amount of the boys' poop (pardon the TMI) into the appropriate vial and stir it around with the popsicle stick. Once all three samples are collected I can then turn the kits in for further testing. Doesn't this sound fun?! I am so glad the boys are still in diapers, though!
4 comments:
Have fun with the poop scooping! Don't worry too much about the height and weight issues. I had a perfectly well nourished boy who just didn't grow any in height for one year. The pediatricians had him on a watch list, but suddenly after one year, he began to grow again and is a normal, if slightly short, sized boy now.
Ian will likely fatten up some here, but may just be a thinner build - which is not all that bad... sigh.
They are adorable, but I'm sure you've got your hands full this few weeks until you all get into a groove of it! Blessings!
I've been meaning to tell you, his umbilical hernia reminds me SO MUCH of the one my daughter had! I wish I had a picture of hers. Lots of kids have them, but they're all shaped a little differently. Alec's is shaped just like my daughter's was, only hers was longer. Seriously, almost looked like she had a penis!
So, in the states, the rule of thumb is the smaller the hole in the abdomen the more dangerous. Tissue gets through and can get pinched off. So, the larger the hole, the better. They never said anything about how far you can push it back in, because in theory, you SHOULD be able to push it all the way back in because it's just more intestine behind it!
My daughter's actual hole was a little bigger than a pencil eraser, but what was visible to us was about as big around as my thumb, and about 3 inches long. Because she's caucasian, you could see the intestine moving around inside it, and it would make a gurgling noise. It was gross. LOL
Angela ended up having hers repaired with some fat tissue got trapped in there and strangulated, causing it to die and become necrotic.
So, if his is as wide as a finger tip, I wouldn't worry too much about it being an urgent thing, but definitely worth watching.
Ian reminds me of my little one. He was was always 3-5% for weight (but 90% for height)at every appointment. Actually at a year he was off the bottom of the chart for a little while. I think its just they way he is built. He's three and still skinny. As long as he's getting a good healthy diet and isn't malnurished don't stress too much about the stats.
My other son had an umbilical hernia too. He had it fixed at 3. As surgeries go it was pretty quick and easy. Its pretty cute sticking out like that though :)
Your boys are adorable!!
Japanese kindergartens still do a parasite check once a year. They send a collection kit home with the kids. Fun stuff.
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