9 Month Check-Up

[judecorp]

Punk had her 9 month check-up this morning. We have pretty much 100% ditched the female pediatrician we saw a couple of times in favor of the male pediatrician that we really like. He is so old school (and was the pedi of several people we know - our age) and kind and sweet and mellow about everything. I guess that's what happens when you have seen kids for so long. Either way, he is the one who was super sweet to me when I had all of the nursing issues and never once got down on me for starving my baby. I love him.

It doesn't hurt that he is always telling me how smart Punk is and how great she is. Because, well, I think that, too! He said her fine motor skills were really good and she obviously has good vision considering how she can pick up tiny things. We chatted at length about her muscle tone and it's funny - the PT is always talking about how abnormal things are and how concerning it is, and the pedi is always talking about how he thinks she's just on "the high end of normal" and she will work it out. He said we should make a neurologist appointment for 6 months out and cancel it if we need to. He also said that he echoed my thoughts that she doesn't need an MRI unless she starts showing major delays. He said she is just a strong kid and will stretch herself out as she stands and walks. It's funny, because he is not concerned AT ALL that she can't sit and play with toys but the developmental person in me is freaking about that.

He also wasn't bothered that her fontanel is nearly closed already. He said that some strong, active babies seem to develop faster like that. When he makes weird statements like that he reminds me of my dad, who was always making stuff up when he didn't know the answer. :) But he sounds so believable! Either way, her head is growing along her curve so I guess it's not a big deal.

I told him we had dropped down to reflux meds once a day but she started urping and stuff again and were thinking of going back to twice. He said it was up to us but he thought the increase in refluxy stuff was probably from increased saliva from teething. He hoped we would be able to stop the meds soon. (ME TOO.) He also said to try her on yogurt and see how that goes, and if it goes well, to try cheese. I haven't done any dairy stuff since she had such a problem with dairy formula when she was little. So I will give it a try.

What's awesome is that when he was walking out, I told her, "Say bye-bye," which she normally NEVER does... and she waved! Which reinforces that he thinks she's a genius, of course.

Also, she is still freakishly tall. 85th percentile for weight at 21 pounds even, and 95th percentile for height at 29.75".

Weight:


Height:

Comments

[violane.livejournal.com]

Sounds like everything went great! I can't believe she's so tall; Ben's never even been at 95% and Michael is 6'5"! I wonder if she's got some major tall genes somewhere.

So, how does one check to see if the fontanel is already nearly closed?

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I have no idea where she gets that height. I come from a long line of short people and the donor was 5'11" which isn't super tall by any means (though it is tall for my family, where tall is like 5'7"!). So who knows? Weird. :) Must be all that super food I make for her or something. ;)

You can feel the top of the head and check for the soft spot. I remember when she was so little and you could see her pulse in there. Now it is all closed except for a small spot about the size of a fingertip. My little baby is growing up!

[amyura.livejournal.com]

Yeah.....so she's like two pounds less than Julia was at age two.

[sassywoman.livejournal.com]

Gus is really close in size (at least weight wise) as Emma was at 9 months. Gus is so tall! I always figured Emma would be longer then she is with me being 5'9 and Joel 6'3. Glad you like your ped so much!

Here was Emma's 9mo:
20 lbs, 5 oz
Height: 28 inches
Head Circumference: 17 3/4

[gabriellag.livejournal.com]

Yeah for the good check up. Even more yeah for the good doc.

I moved recently and switched to a new gyno, whom went to for the first time last week and figured out in that I adore and love and had the super best experience with ever. I literally called all of my friends and told them to switch to her. It was just the first time in my 29 and a half years that I left a doctor's office satisfied. What a fabulous feeling!

[colleenod.livejournal.com]

I'm glad your ped is mellow. That's one of the things I like about our ped, too. And our midwives. I just saw our midwife yesterday for my yearly GYN appointment. She's the one who delivered J. So fun to see her and she's just so mellow about stuff and took lots of time to talk with me. She even had saved the name of a highly-recommended genetic counselor for me in case I wanted to pursue that, given my ovarian cancer family history.

And as for Gus being a giant... she can join J. in that one. He's 80-somethingth/90-somethingth percentile for height and weight all the time. And our donor is only 5'9". Then again, this stuff doesn't mean he'll be tall later. I was a very chubby baby and grew into a short, skinny kid.

[jadefu.livejournal.com]

Re: Dr. K.... Yay! :) So glad you're happy!

[gimmeapony.livejournal.com]

Man, your munchkin is clear off the height rainbow!

Also, The Fontanelles sounds like a band name, so much so that I just googled it and found out their is, indeed a band, and also a Babes in Toyland album of the same name. Amazing!

[eight.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure your daughter is now taller than I am ...

[dolomite2531.livejournal.com]

that's awesome that you now have a ped you like and trust (who doesn't stress you out!)...Punk sounds like an amazing kid (and I love the bullying blog!)...talk about freakish (our 6 month old boy was the same height as Punk at his last check-up and weighed 22 lbs...ugh...can't wait for him to move on his own...yes..I DID just write that! :-)