Pediatrician Appointment {02.26.13}

The day dawned bright and clear for our quarterly pediatrician appointment.  Much to my dismay, the little patient woke up kind of "off" her normal self.  I wasn't totally surprised since I've noticed that for about 3 days now, she's been whiny and her appetite had diminished.  Today was no exception.  She didn't eat anything, even when offered pink cheerios and bananas which are her favorites.  She cried when I got her dressed and complained most of the way to the city.

We arrived with time to spare and waited just a few minutes before being ushered into the room.  And then the nurse walked in.  And then the waterworks began.  It took two tries to get her weight done and you would have thought we were torturing her by trying to see how tall she was.  *sigh*  We quickly took a head circumference measurement and once the nurse was done, so was Sarah.  The desperation in her tear filled eyes as she pleaded with me to go home was almost too much for me to bear.  Every ounce in me wanted to scoop her up and bring her home to where she wanted but of course, we can't always do what they want.  And often it's for their benefit.  Sadly, she didn't understand.

Soon after, the doctor walked in and she greeted him with a "nice to meet you, bye".  He went through the whole check up process, looking at her ears, mouth, listening to her heart and lungs.  Everything checked out ok.  He was supportive of the cutting out dairy but did suggest we add some vitamin D and calcium supplements to her diet.  Some of the not-so-good news is that she didn't grow much at all since November.  Although he didn't appear overly concerned, he did encourage me to keep feeding her whatever we could.  I told him that I will be homeschooling her in the fall and would design a curriculum that would tailor to her specific needs and learning abilities.  He was good with that.

And the measurements are as follows:

Weight: 31.3 pounds, 5th percentile (31 pounds, 7th percentile in November)
Height: 39.6 inches, 10th percentile  (39 inches, 13th percentile in November)
Head circumference: 45.7cm, below-4 Standard Deviation (45 cm, -4 Standard Deviation in November) 

Minutes after we got home, she just laid on the floor... recovering.  It's really hard to me knowing that the medical profession is so stressful for her.