Dr. Visits

So it was time for Brooklynn's 2 1/2 year appointment and Gabby's 6 month appointment so I decided to schedule them at the same time again, although I swore I never would again. It went much better this time...except I think I'm the only one who thought so. I think the nurses and the doctor were scared of us...they looked all frantic in the midst of everything. I think I'm just used to the insanity and screaming.
The good news is that Brooklynn didn't have to get any shots this time! And she is still (after about a month...since that is how far behind I am in blog world I am) saying, "no shots! no shots!"
The bad news is: we let it slip to the doctor that Brooklynn still drinks milk out of a bottle. He said he would rather her not have any more milk at all than have a bottle...NO MORE BOTTLES! I've been trying to switch her off forever...it's been rough. When she doesn't drink her milk she breaks down, but when I've given her anything besides a bottle she takes one sip and spits it everywhere. It does not go well.
I've been trying to substitute other dairy products and she doesn't really do that, either....or at least not very much. It's been hard.
So we stopped...and ever since then she stopped taking naps.
Brooklynn is 37 1/4" tall and weighs 28 pounds.
Gabriella is 27 7/8" tall and weighs 19 pounds, 11 ounces. Pretty soon she'll weigh more than Brooklynn.

Getting Ready for the Doctor

So BOTH girls have a Dr. appointment later in the week. I wanted to get them all prepared for the whole thing so we broke out the Dr. kit. We explained to Brooklynn all the stuff that was going to go on there. We even got her to open her mouth for us and say "aaaaw". I was pretty optimistic about the whole thing.

(ha ha...that is a good one.)

Gabby's 2-Month Dr. Visit

Today we had Gabby's 2-month Dr. Appointment. It went so much better than her 1-month visit; although it was still a little bit crazy.
When we got to the Dr. office, she managed to STAY asleep for a little while in the waiting room, and it did help tremendously that I remembered to bring the stroller. I sat with Brooklynn and we watched a little "Tinkerbell" which was playing. They called us and Brooklynn was pretty hesitant but not freaking out like last time. Gabby still stayed asleep! Then I had to wake her up. But so far she was pretty happy. (But more on that, she is JUST NOW back to sleep and it's 2:50 pm...and before that she only slept for that maybe 20 minutes in her car seat ALL DAY.)
They checked her out, weighed and measured, etc. Gabby is a whopping 12 pounds, .07 ounces. (90th percentile) She is our shorty (but still pretty tall--80th percentile) at 23 1/2 inches. (She's our shorty because that is almost how tall Brooklynn was at BIRTH--she was way above 90th percentile until just recently.)
So note to self: when you take your baby to the Dr. and they make you keep them in JUST a diaper for most of the appointment, don't bring a dark blue one for your little girl. When the Dr. came in he kept saying "he". "HE is such a good eater it looks like!" and "How is HE sleeping at night?" etc. I didn't have the heart to correct him because a: I'm sure it's ON HER CHART and he could see for himself if he cared and b: he'd find out soon enough when he took her diaper off that it was in fact a SHE. He actually did notice and casually switched to "she" once the diaper came off...but no apologies, nothing about "oh, it's a she, not a he!" Whatever. I think it's kind of funny. And partly my fault...how would you know if the poor kid is only wearing a blue diaper? Who even buys their little girls blue diapers? (I do. I like blue.)
We asked about Torticollis for Gabby. She is ALWAYS looking to one side and even when you try and turn her head the other way she resists and usually cries. It's also hard to feed her on the other side. I wasn't sure how bad it needed to be to qualify. So we're supposed to try and "encourage" her to look to the other side. He also doesn't think it is that, just a "habit" or "preference". So we're keeping an eye on it.
And poor Gabby had to get two shots and an oral vaccine. She didn't like it, but the nice thing about having a colicky baby is that when she screams from getting the shots it doesn't effect me the same way as it did with Brooklynn (who was fussy but not really colicky)...I'm so used to hearing her scream like that my protective instinct doesn't make me want to punch the nurse...and every one is a lot happier. She did say "Wow, she's a bleeder!" and explained that she will probably be bruised later and that was OK.
For more on Gabby at two months, read here.
Brooklynn had to get her ears checked while we were there! No more ear infection! Wahoo! She does, however, need another antibiotic for her nasty diaper rash she got FROM the first antibiotics. Luckily, it's a cream so hopefully no more horrible battling our daughter over trying to swallow medicine.

Dr. Visits

OK, today was Brooklynn's 2-year Dr. visit and Gabriella's 1-month Dr. visit. I have been dreading this for a long time but it had to be done.
The thought dawned on me yesterday to make Josh come just for a little bit to help out...his office is less than a mile from the Dr.s office...now we have to stay with that practice. His help was very much needed and appreciated.
Let me paint the picture for you....
I was dreading it so much I decided to reward myself with Dunkin' Donuts. I should have waited until after....
We arrive to the office and we're the first patients there. They schedule the sibling appointments for first thing in the morning. Brooklynn was excited about the fish tank (reminded me a little bit of Darla on Finding Nemo...) and Gabby was asleep in her car seat. That alone was a major feat but don't get me started on the car seat.
We pulled up and I went to get the stroller out of the trunk...when I realized it wasn't in there. Great. Now I had to carry a car seat, diaper bag and keep track of a two-year-old in a parking lot. Can't wait.
Probably 45 seconds after we arrived Gabby woke up and started crying screaming at the top of her lungs. So I got her out of her car seat. So now I have Brooklynn, Gabby, her car seat, the diaper bag, my Dunkin' Donuts coffee and bagel along with Brooklynn's donut holes, her milk, a bottle for Gabby. All that stuff and of course they call my name right away. They took some pity on me and helped me carry my stuff in the room. Even with the help as soon as Brooklynn saw the exam room she started freaking out and ran back into the waiting room before I could even set any of my stuff down. Another nurse that didn't have the car seat grabbed a crying freaking out-temper tantrumed-convulsing-hot mess-of-a-Brooklynn and brought her back in to us. The nurse that did our check ups and carried the car seat told the other nurse to close the door to try and contain Brooklynn. Meanwhile, Gabby is still screaming and I'm trying to calm her down. She told me 2-3 times to get Gabby undressed so they could weigh her. I finally did and Brooklynn started to calm down a little bit when she realized that NOBODY knew where she was when she hid behind the chair in there. Then my knight in shining armor of a husband arrived and helped calm Brooklynn down as they measured and weighed Gabby. Gabby is 9 pounds, 15 ounces which is the 75th percentile. AND that means that she gained 2 pounds in less than a month which is great. I tried to tell them I wasn't worried about her weight gain at all after seeing what a good eater she is. (they were worried earlier on.) She is also 22 inches now which is the 80th percentile and ALMOST as tall as Brooklynn was when she was born. It is weird having a kid ON the charts for once. Brooklynn is just recently on the charts for height, she was so tall for so long. And her head circumference is 15 inches which is the 75th percentile.
Then we switched and Brooklynn got to go down the hall to be weighed on the big girl scale. She hated that...it was gearing up to be a long appointment. We finally got her to stay on there and she is 26 pounds, which is the 40th percentile. She is up from about the 25th (I think?) percentile...it might have even been less. So the good news is she gets to switch to 2% milk! Wahoo! Then they measured her which was also quite a feat...but she is 35 1/2 inches tall, which is the 80th percentile. We finally got her to calm down a little bit. (with a little help from our friends "M" and "M".) They attempted to tell us to lie her down to measure her head and I told them it was a bad idea and she would do better sitting up. She did great. In fact it was the easiest part of the whole appointment. She was shocked and said how most kids don't cooperate at all.
So part one was finally finished and we hung out until our doctor came in. He did Brooklynn first. Just listening to her chest was like torture....at least it's consistent, she hates it every single time. Then to top it off, she was freaking out so bad that she knocked over my coffee and then she was sitting in a puddle of medium-warm coffee...it wasn't hot enough to hurt her but it can't have been pleasant. (And she only had on a diaper at the time so it was on her bare skin--that along with just extra stuff is while I'll wait until the way home to get my coffee.) She cried and cried and cried the entire check up. Josh and I were both trying to clean up all the coffee-soaked clothes and exam table. Luckily I had extra clothes in the diaper bag. It was pretty stressful, I can't really remember what else they did. Finally it was over and she was done. (until her shot later...)
Then Gabby got to go. She also didn't like the stethoscope but not nearly as bad as Brooklynn. Gabby is just generally always fussy. He asked me how she was at home and I explained that she was mostly like that and he said that it sounds like she is colicky. GREAT....I thought she was just maybe fussy from her cold. The good news is that my chiropractor said that infant adjustments often help a lot and sometimes even cure colic so we'll have to take her in right away. He was very pleased with her weight gain, it was even higher than the 1 ounce a day. So I was very happy. It is especially satisfying when you're breastfeeding and you hear that your baby is gaining enough and your milk supply is fine. WE did that all by ourselves.
So then we waited and they brought the shots in...Brooklynn went first and screamed her little head off...but honestly it was not nearly as bad as most of the other times...so I think she's getting better. The recovery time was a lot better, too, when she saw some more M&Ms. Then Gabby went. She didn't really cry any harder than she already was when you lie her down so it wasn't too bad. I guess I'm just used to hearing her cry that hard all the time. I remember being completely traumatized with Brooklynn when she got her shots because of how hard she was crying, I'd never heard anything like it. With Gabby, nope, it was just another time that she was crying. They explained that she may be fussy later because of some soreness. I kind of laughed to myself and then again on the way out with Josh...were we even going to NOTICE that she's more fussy than usual? Since she's always pretty fussy when she's awake? Actually, right now she is actually asleep in her pack & play. I think she is completely worn out from all our adventures this morning, she didn't have the energy to cry as much when we got home.
So all in all...I'm just glad it's over. I will never do that by myself with both kids. I will have to hire a babysitter to come with me or something. Or just have Josh meet us. I MIGHT be able to do it if it's just one of them getting an appointment, but not both.
Thanks, Josh for coming for reenforcements! I could NOT have done it with out you.
Now if only Dunkin' Donuts delivered...I could use the rest of my coffee about now but it spilled all over Brooklynn.

18 Month Dr. Visit

Yeah, I know Brooklynn is 19, soon to be 20 months old. I'm a little behind on her Dr. visits.

Brooklynn was very excited to watch all the fish in the waiting room. It was very cute. Then they called us and as soon as the lady called us Brooklynn recognized her as the "shot lady" and started crying. She calmed down a little when she wasn't carrying any needles yet. A big breakthrough for Brooklynn, she got to stand on the big-girl scale to get weighed! She did not want to stand still, though, but luckily we got her weight and she could get right off.

Brooklynn was very healthy and they said she looked "beautiful" and then we all already knew that. She weighs 23.8 pounds (which is in the 30th percentile) and she is 33 1/2 inches tall (which is the 85 percentile). Her head...I forgot the measurement but it's the 75th percentile, which is what it has been. I feel like this is the measurement they SHOULD write down in case I need to buy her any hats!

Brooklynn cried so hard when they measured how tall she was and when they looked in her mouth. She cries every time, though. I don't really know what the big deal is.

She only had to get one shot today (even though it was a combo shot) I count it as one because it was only 1 needle. Brooklynn screamed her little head off...so much that now I know that pretty much every other time she cries she is faking it. She was over it by the time they gave her a pretzel.

I was very excited to hear that she doesn't have to go back in until her 2-year appointment. Yay!

I am so thankful that Brooklynn is healthy.

Brooklynn's 15-month Dr. Visit

Yeah, so we're just now getting to her Dr. visit...a month and a half later than we were supposed to.
Brooklynn screamed and cried, and that was just when they made her lay down to measure how tall she is. Then after that since she didn't hold still well enough, she made us do it again, so traumatic. After that Brooklynn kept giving the nurse dirty looks. It was actually kinda funny.
Brooklynn's new stats are: 32" long (80%), 21 pounds, 11 oz. (25%)and her head is 18 1/2 inches. They never give me a percentile for her head for some reason. So I was excited that Brooklynn is finally on the charts for her height! Up until now she has been so tall she has been off the charts, this is the first time she has made it on. I still think she could possibly be taller and it was very accurate b/c of the tantrum she was throwing while we measured her. I'll measure her later and see if its the same. Everyone always stops me and guesses how old she is and their guesses are NEVER younger than 2 or 3. I tell them, nope, she is 16 months old, not quite 1 1/2. They are always shocked and comment how big she is. The other day we were at a playdate with some kids very close in age to her and the tops of their heads only came to the bottom of her chin. She just towers above them all.
On a positive note: her hemoglobin is good!!! YAY! I was super annoyed we had to test this again because it is so sad, but was relieved that it was back up. I guess those vitamins are helping. She even came in and asked me what the Dr. told me to give her for her anemia (which they never told me last time that she actually had, so it caught me a little off guard. But then I was good.)
Brooklynn was sound asleep when we got home, clutching her pretzel for dear life and everything. I even carried her in to switch the laundry and her head kept bobbing around and then I brought her upstairs and put her in her crib. She slept through everything! So it must have been very tiring for her. She always wakes up whenever the car turns off and is ready to play.

Brooklynn's 1-year Dr. Visit

We're having a rough 24 hours. Last night I even cried about it. I always feel so stressed out after the Dr. Every time. It's like I'm doing fine and then having some professional person tell me things and examine her makes me doubt my existence as a mother. It's not even things that are that big of deal. I am so thankful that she is healthy and there are so many things that could go wrong. I know there are tons of mothers out there who have to deal with actual serious problems with their kids.

I have IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) and at least mine is directly related to my stress-level. When I start to get stressed my stomach turns and cramps and sometimes even swells up. Sometimes it feels like my intestines are turning to stone. So about a week before my Dr. visits I start to get the cramping just knowing that I have to watch her get shots. It is so hard for me. I know they are ultimately good for her, but I seriously ache for her. Maybe it's just that Brooklynn is such a drama queen. I don't even personally mind shots, I kinda like them. But I hate when Brooke has to get them.

Brooke's Dr. appointment was at 3:00 yesterday, which means we had to leave around 2:30. She was tired around 1:30 and I managed to keep her up until 2, but then she fell asleep on my lap. I loved the cuddle time. Then we had to go and she didn't fall back to sleep in the car. So to start off this visit she was tired, drumpy and very touchy. Then she must have had horrible memories from last time he looked down her throat (when she had Croup) because that was almost worse than the shots. I finally got her calmed down and then he had to measure her head and the tape accidentally got in her eyes. Then she finally calmed down b/c I let her play with my phone when we were waiting for the shots. Then she dropped my phone on her face and she started crying. Then she had to get 4 shots and one more needle in her toe for a hemoglobbin (sp?) test. So sad. She kept grabbing my shirt so hard like she was a little monkey and she was trying to hold onto my fur. She wouldn't even let me put her pants back on until the waiting room when she got her pretzel. (Which was a definite happy moment that she got a pretzel. The boy in front of us was offered one, I had to ask for one, but don't get me started on that.) She has dropped from 75% to 25% in weight (which they aren't concerned about but of course makes me nervous) and her hemoglobbin test was pretty low which means they have to test it AGAIN next time we go. Oh, and he confirmed my thoughts that she might be lactose intollerant. I'm still using the lactose free milk until she doesn't puke anymore and then we'll try some regular milk and see if she does it again.

She's had a fever since her shots and she's constipated so she keeps screaming in pain every so often, so sad.

I try so hard to be brave for her so she doesn't have extra things to worry about.

All in all, she is healthy, though. She's slowing down in the growth department. She's now 93% in height instead of off the charts. And she is 25% for weight. They always forget to tell me her head but I'd say normal with 95% worth of hair. And overall 150% cuteness. I was impressed with her development, all the stuff they asked me if she was doing yet she'd been doing for MONTHs...I'm so proud.

Croup

Brooklynn has Croup. It really sucks. I know Croup sucks, I had no idea how much it sucked. I knew it was hard to breathe, and the waking up with the Croup spells where you have to take them in the bathroom with the hot shower running...what I didn't expect was for Brooke to start coughing and crying and then start gagging/choking/barfing her phlem. The first time I was in such a panic it shot me out of bed and I've been awake ever since...wide awake, too. Anyone who knows me knows that I am simply NOT a morning person. So you know it's bad. She sortof had these whole body convulsions that reminded me of a cat when it's couging up a fur ball. I've never seen a human do that. So it was pretty weird. She kept falling back asleep, but kept coughing/waking up. It's been rough. Not even the lack of sleep part. I'm handling that pretty well. It's more the heart-wrenching ache of not knowing what to do and feeling completely helpless for your poor baby. It sucks.
So Brooke hasn't even really been sick before. She's had a couple of minor runny noses, but they didn't last long and the were pretty much gone the next day. So we jump right into the world of sickness with CROUP? Are you kidding me?
So we're driving to Indiana today for Christmas. And my daughter has Croup. And I have no idea how she's going to do in the car. We can't plug our humidifier in the car so that is out. Luckily another option is the cold air outside which thankfully...it's cold out. And of course the Doctor told me to have her drink lots of fluids...which since Brooke quit nursing cold turkey isn't the easiest thing to do. She's barely been having any wet diapers, and for Brooke is a scary thing. I usually change her 8 times a day, like clockwork. So many of her diapers are bone dry, and I'm not even changing her that much. She might have had 2 or 3 wet diapers yesterday? It's scary. I'm going to try not even really giving her any solids so that when she's hungry I can just give her more fluids.
On a positive note; travel time MIGHT be easier because I can give her a cup while we're driving and not have to stop as long to nurse. Also, her nursing strike might, just might be linked to this Croup and not just because she's done. And, today Brooke is 11 months old! It's so sad that she is sick. I'm really hoping and praying that this is over soon. Maybe even in time for Christmas? Fingers crossed...

6 Month Dr. Appointment

Brooke is measuring at 27 1/2 inches long and 16 pounds, 14 ounces. Her head is 17 inches.

It turns out what I thought was her first tooth is actually a cyst (or something like a cyst). She has foreign matter trapped in her gum that will go away when she actually cuts her teeth. Weird. So still no teeth. She has her first diaper rash ever since the last few days so I think they might be coming soon. We'll see.

Brooke LOVED tearing and trying to eat the paper on the table...she sure did a number on it.

This is right after her shots. Her crying actually got even worse than this...it is SO sad. She actually did way better than last time (4 months.) Only 2 needles this time.

:(

Brooklynn's 4-month Dr. Visit

Brooke weighs 15 pounds, 2 ounces. She is now at the 85th percentile for weight. Her head is 16 inches and I think that is 50th percentile. (They always forget to write down the head stuff.)
And she is still tall for her age, measuring at 26 1/4 inches! That is above the 95th percentile, still. I keep waiting for her to even out. At least now her weight is going up, so she doesn't look so skinny; she looks just right.
She didn't cry this time for the oral vaccination, and the ones with the needles were as bad as ever. I tried to comfort her and even put a little sugar on her pacifier to distract her and then her face got BRIGHT red from her gearing up to scream-cry. It's horrible. She wouldn't even let me feed her this time to calm her down she was crying so hard. She eventually stopped crying and we left. But MAN, I hate putting her through that. I know it's better than her getting sick by not getting them, but still.
We got the official go-ahead to start solid foods! Right now we're trying rice cereal. She doesn't seem to like it very much.

Brooke's 2-month checkup

Brooke had her 2-month checkup today! She is still tall for her age, measuring 24 1/4 inches (that is still above the 95 percentile.)

Her weight is up to 11 pounds, 8 ounces. That made her jump from the 50th percentile to the75th percetile! So, she is getting plentyto eat! We thought she looked a little more evened out so that is encouraging.

I forget what her head measurement was because they forgot to write it down. But it was similar to last month.

Brooke had to get 5 immunizations today. :( One was oral like medicine and she was alreadycrying her head off for that one. The nurse kinda laughed and said, "This is the EASY one!" Then she had the other 4 by needle and boy was that tramatic for both of us. She was very upset. Each time she kept looking at me like, "WHY are you letting them do this to me?!"

The good news is that she did NOT have an ear infection. She had been playing with her ears lately and I was slightly nervous. Turns out she just is discovering her ears. She still pulls her hair all the time. I have to ground her from using her hands sometimes when she pulls so hard it makes her cry(by putting mittens on her). I am convinced that she is trying to get our attention by crying but she is such a happy baby she can't just cry, she has to hurt herself to make herself cry.

Today she was in her crib exhausted and trying to sleep but she has discovered the mirror I have in there and she kept laughing and staring at herself. This went on for at least half an hour until Josh came home for lunch and rescued her. When he went in she went from laughing to developing a huge, dramatic pout. She definitely knows how to work Daddy. It's hilarious. I tried to take a picture of this pout and she just smirked at me like, "See...Daddy will take me out. Ha ha, Mommy."

She is doing really well overall. She slept through the night twice now, both times we were at our church retreat. When we came home she was back to waking up a couple of times a night. I'm not sure why. She goes right back to sleep, though and barely makes any noise. Josh hardly ever wakes up and she is still in our room. I just moved the bassinet out into the living room and set up the pack & play in our room. (It's a test run, we had the pack & play at the retreat, I'm wondering if it's because she's more comfortable in there?). I've also been trying to give her naps in her crib in her room to get her used to sleeping there. We'll see. I'm still not emotionally ready to let her sleep at night in there. I also love the convenience of her being so close when I do have to feed her. I don't even have to get out of bed. We're slowly transitioning and maybe by next month she'll be sleeping in her room. (or at least we'll try it by then?)

Happy 1-month Birthday, Brooklynn!

Well, we are still getting into a routine, but mostly Broolynn is SUCH a joy and we love her so much. She has been going through a growth spurt the last week or so and feeding almost every hour and has been fighting sleep as much as possible (mostly during the day, though) so she has been a little fussy because of that. She sure is precious, though.
She LOVES bath time, the other day I was in the tub with her and made the water a little deeper.I kinda just held her head and let her whole body "swim" and she LOVED it! She was kicking like crazy, happy as could be. Then she realized how strong she was and started to get a little scared so I had to hold her again. She is also doing so great at tummy time, she will lie there and play for quite a while. Her head control is already very good. She is still only getting up at night about twice to feed and then goes back to sleep. (with a few exceptions, but no one is perfect.)
Today we had our 1-month Dr. visit. She did great, only cried for a minute when she got her vaccine shot. :( Sure was sad, though! She is 23 1/4 " long (above 95%), 9 lb. 8 oz (50%) and her head circumference is 15" (70%). She is very very long and is already too long for 0-3 month clothes, but they are still too big around the waist. We are just wearing them short. She needs to get used to that anyway.
Pretty soon Grandma and Grandpa Bean are coming out for a visit so they can meet baby Brooke! We are all very excited!