Griffin’s One Year Appointment

We had Griffin’s one year check-up today and it happened that the hubby was able to come as he was off work which was fantastic.

Stats for G:
Birth: 7.6lbs, 20in
2 Month: 12.9lbs, 23 3/4in
4 Month: 15.10, 26 in
6 Month: 17.1, 27 1/2in
9 Month: 20.1, 29 in
1 Year: 21.14, 30 3/4

Stats from Sam to compare:
Birth: 7.1 lbs, 20 in
2 Month: 10.6, 22 1/4 in
4 Month: 13.6, 24 in
6 Month: 15.9, 25 1/2 in
9 Month: 18.4, 27 1/2 in
1 Year: 19.14 lbs , 29 3/4in

He asked first if he was sleeping through the night. Um, no.  I then asked him about naps and getting him to nap alone, what advice did he have for crying it out? We tried it (as I’ve talked on here before *sigh*) and he cried for two hours and at what point should I get him?  Doc asked, did he need a nap? Yes, I replied, he needs two naps currently.  Well, I should leave him until he takes a nap. So helpful. Really. I wasn’t expecting much but I thought I would try.

He only gained a pound and a half which moved him from the 50% to the 20% mark.  The Dr asked if I was nursing, which I am, and he immediately said, “Well that is why! You probably aren’t being as vigilant as you were when he was a baby and he’s not getting enough calories.”

Ouch! I explained that I am in the process of weaning and that he gets offered a sippy cup in the mornings and at all meals and we then proceeded to go over how many times I nurse vs how many ounces of full fat milk in the sippy cup.  Ack.  Plus he EATS a lot but Dr quickly shot that down saying, “Unless you are going to tell me that he is eating meats all day, the food you are giving him is filled with starches and isn’t helpful to his growth at all.”

Doesn’t he sound like he is full of sunshine and rainbows?

He did say that any cheese and yogurt – other dairy items – were very helpful and while G won’t eat cut up cheese, I do put some in his sandwich every day plus he eats a full thing of yogurt every night. He adores it.

I have a few friends who have slower growing children and worry about calories, I even had a friend whose daughter was ‘categorized’ (don’t you love that word? Horrible) as failure to thrive so I’ve always felt bad at the worry they would have to go through in making sure their child got the nutrients they needed.  I hate that feeling now.

You know what I hate more though? Is that I have two friends that used to go to him and have nothing but bad things to say about him. How he has such a bias on boys and girls.  One friend has children the same age as mine  – same sex too – and advised me to check Sam’s chart – because he (the Dr) did the same thing to her.  I JUST did now, well I checked my post that I made – I love how I chronicle my life on this thing… haha – But here is the post where she went from 50% weight to 25% at one year of age and I talk about how the Dr wasn’t worried at all. How he was saying my girl would be ‘trim’ and ‘slim’ and would be so healthy.  Yet for my boy? I get reamed. I am leaving him and going to another doctor because I am sick of how he makes me feel.

After we ran over that topic a few times, he then hit us with the fact that Griffin’s head circumference has jumped up to 95%.

Head
6 Months – 80%
9 Months – 90%
1 Year – 95%

Weight
6 Months – 50%
9 Months – 50%
1 Year – 20%

Height
6 Months – 85%
9 Months – 75%
1 Year – 75%

I don’t have what his head cir was at birth and three months but he showed us his chart and it was in the middle range for birth and three months, moved up at 6 months, moved up a lot at 9 months, and is off the ‘normal’ levels on the charts currently. Helpful growth charts can be found at this site.

He casually said that an ultrasound should be done when it gets that big.  He wasn’t very clear and a few minutes later he mentioned something definite about having an ultrasound done.  So I expressed my surprise and said, “Really? You are sending us to get an ultrasound?”.

He said, “Yes, it’s not an EMERGENCY – otherwise you would be doing it right now – but you should have it done at some point to check.  His fontanelle has not closed yet and an ultrasound is so easy to do at this point.  Having him jump up on the charts is a red flag that we should just have checked out.”

I glanced casually over to my level-headed husband and stared at him meaningfully.  He knows my feelings on this doctor and I was leaving the talking up to him.

“What are the problems associated with this type of thing? What are you looking for?” He says.

“It’s just a red flag, we just want to get it checked out.” As he tries to brush us off.

“Well, what are you looking for exactly then?”

Ruffles some papers on his lap and mutters, “Specifically Hydrocephalus.” and he looks up to catch our blank faces staring at him.  “Well, it is called hydrocephalus and there is no other way I can explain it to you in simpler terms. That is the medical name.”

Hubby tries again, not quite believing that all the whining, bitching, and moaning from his wife about this crazy unfeeling, no-bedside manner Doctor could possibly be THIS TRUE.  “What are the symptoms then?”

Doctor sighs, “The symptoms would be a large head, no wait, that would be the cause.  Other symptoms would be fussiness, vomiting, headaches, and things of that nature which he doesn’t seem to have.  Like I said, it’s not an emergency it’s just something you would want to get checked out for.”

Really, Doc? REALLY?  That is all the assurance you can give after recommending that you send our 12 month old infant to a hospital to have a procedure done to check for a disorder, that after some quick Googling, can potentially be fatal.  You couldn’t just say it was ‘water on the brain’ that they would be checking for? At least?

Don’t be alarmed by my ‘fatal’ talking.  I was being a bit dramatic.  Yes, it does say that it can be fatal but the research that I have read indicates that most cases that are monitored and treated early have wonderful chances of recovery.

I had to stop reading and Googling the term earlier though.  I don’t think I can read anything more about it until after the ultrasound.  Why worry myself? Yes, if it was me, I would be looking up everything.  When it’s my helpless infant son, I get a sick feeling in my tummy and feel like hyperventilating.  I spent the whole afternoon away from the computer and got all calmed down until I came back here and started reading the open page in my browser.

So I’m going to stop.  He’s going to be fine but I will feel so much better after we get the ultrasound done late next week.

I knew Griffin was going to be trouble when we went to the ER before his first birthday! That was not a good indication of future hospital visits! LOL – I am joking, kind of.

Anyway, we ended the visit talking about the three shots he would be getting.  He said all three were new shots that he hadn’t had before.  He looked like he was preparing for battle. Yes, I know all the talk about the MMR and I go back and forth but I got them done for Sam and I was okay with having them done for Griffin. I don’t want to get into all my beliefs about vaccinations and such but I decided to venture forth with, “Isn’t MMR the one that everyone is always worried about?”

Which was SUCH a mistake, let me tell you.  We got treated to a diatribe about how Jenny McCarthy was an idiot – well, she was probably intelligent but her ideas are idiotic (apparently) – and how there is NO link to… blah blah blah.  He went on for almost five minutes about CRAZY stuff. It was kind of funny actually.  He was talking about mobs of people get wrong information into their heads and will kill over it, he was talking about the plague, witch hunts, and all this crazy stuff.

I finally had to interrupt him because I didn’t know when he would stop! Then he sailed out letting us know the nurse would come in for the shots.  So that was that.  Griff did great at his shots, by the way.  Poor baby. He wasn’t fussy today either, we will see how tomorrow goes.

I am a bit sad that I forgot to ask him about Griffin’s teeth.

Specifically, WHERE are they? He is still a gummy baby!

I think I am going to start ToothWatch 2009.