A Trip to the Doctor

On Wednesday, I let Christopher take his very first shower with me. He decided that he wanted to hold Daddy's soap (a bar of SafeGuard soap). I thought it would be funny to see IF he could hold the soap. Well, he had no problems taking it from me, but IMMEDIATELY went to rub his eye. It was like slow motion: him moving his hand toward his eye and me saying, "NO!" and trying to stop him. I was unsuccessful, though, and he got soap in his eye. Of course, it burned, but I flushed it and doctored him up and he was fine within a couple of minutes. Needless to say, he won't play with Daddy's soap anymore. ;)

Later that evening, I noticed that his top eyelid looked slightly swollen. I just figured it was still a bit aggravated from the soap in his eyes, so didn't think much of it. When he woke up Thursday morning with it still swollen, though, I called his pediatrician's office to ask for advice. I was told that not much could be done and to flush again and use cold compresses. Except right after naptime, it stayed about the same the rest of the day. However, when he woke up this morning, his eye was nearly swollen shut, so I called his pediatrician's office once again and made an appointment for this morning. Thankfully, they had an 8:45 slot open, so we were still able to make our park playdate.

He's going through this phase of being terrified of doctors, dentists, exterminators who come to our house and strangers in general, so he totally freaked out once we got into the waiting room of the doctor's office. He cried/whimpered the entire time until Dr. Tammy started looking for Diego in his ears. That seemed to pique his interest and calmed him down. It was then that Dr. Tammy was able to get a good look at Christopher's eye. She then realized that what was wrong wasn't irritation from the soap, but a stye! Poor thing! He claims it doesn't bother him, but when you're eye is swollen so much with a little red bump on your eyelid, how can it NOT bother you??? I think he just didn't want me taking him to the doctor! LOL! ;-) So, we came home with a sample of antibiotic eye drops to put in his eye (1 drop 3x a day) and instructions to alternate cold and warm compresses. It should go away within 5-7 days.

Here are a few pictures of his boo-boo (it's his right eye):

Oh, and he now weighs 27.8 lbs!!! So, that's the news from our house!

2-Year Check-Up

Poor thing was as happy as could be...until we got called back to the exam room! LOL! He DID NOT like being weighed, measured, or ears, eyes, nose and heart checked! If he only knew that was the EASY part!

He got 1 shot: Hep A. He did as well as could be expected. Cried, of course, and said "Owie, owie, owie!" But settled down quickly when I gave him a sucker.

I asked about the recalled HiB vaccine and was told that the kind C got at his 18 month appt wasn't the same brand, so wasn't affected. Dr. Tammy said that if it had affected him, we would've received a letter in the mail letting us know. That made me feel MUCH better!

Other than a lingering cold, he's healthy! Dr. Tammy gave him a prescription for Zithromax (what we've found to work best with him), so hopefully the cough will soon be gone. Thankfully, his ears are all clear, so no EI's to deal with at the moment!

Here's his stats:

Weight: 23 lbs 8 oz (much lower than I was expecting but ok by Dr. Tammy; I was thinking more like 25 lbs)
Height: 32.75 inches
HC: 48.5 cm

Overall, he's continuing along his normal growth curve, so Dr. Tammy says everything's great!

Except for any sick visits, we don't go back again until his 3-year appointment.

Trip to the Doctor's Office

Christopher's been battling allergies, which turned into a cold for a couple of weeks now. The snotty nose went away last week sometime, but the cough has been lingering, so since it's been over 2 weeks, I called and made him an appointment for this morning. Dr. Tammy didn't diagnose him with anything specific, but said that the nose was still congested and the cough was probably from the drainage. So, she gave him a prescription for an antibiotic. Her first choice, Amoxicillin, was ruled out since Christopher's allergic to it. Her next choice was going to be Omnicef, but I mentioned that it was the Azithromyacin (Z-pack) that finally knocked out the last ear infection, so we went with that instead. He only takes it for 5 days, so his last dose will be on Friday.

For the weight check, he got to use the Big Kid scale instead of the baby scale! It was his first time. He was a little unsure about it, but stood long enough to get his weight, which was 23 lbs. Yep, he's still on the small side. I measured him at home with a tape measure this past weekend and he's about 31-1/2 inches tall, which is only a 1/2 inch difference from his 18 month appointment. I guess the growth spurts slow down around this age, so I shouldn't be surprised that he didn't grow much in the last 2 months.

12 Months 6 Days

We went today for Christopher's 12 month check-up. Here's his stats:

Weight: 18 lbs 4 oz (no change from his last check at 10 mos)
Length: 28.5 in
HC: 45-3/4 cm

His weight hasn't changed at all since his follow-up weight check at 10 months and it's dipped on the chart again, so instead of the regular 18 month check-up, the pedi wants to see him at 15 months for another weight check. She's not too concerned and says she sees it quite often in breastfed babies. She also said that he might just be taking on a new path on the curve. She wants me to stress the solid foods and whole milk more than the breastmilk at this point.

As for length and HC, he's just below average in those areas, but is staying on his own consistent path, so all is well there.

She did mention, however, that she's detected a heart murmur. She said there's nothing to be concerned about at this point as she more often sees it in babies than she doesn't see it. She said there's nothing wrong with going to see a specialist now, but she's going to check it again at the 15 month check-up. If it's still there and we're worried about it, she suggests going to a specialist at that point. DH found a website about it and, according to that website, it's extremely common and that many kids are found to have a heart murmur at some point in their lives. I'll ask more specific questions about it at the next appt since I know what to ask.

He got 2 more shots: the MMR and the Chicken Pox/Pneumococcal Conjugate (combined). One was in the leg and one was in the arm. He screamed harder and louder than he's ever cried for them. I almost cried this time. He was okay after a few minutes but was a complete sourpuss on the way home. As soon as we got home, he went down for a nap.

Our follow-up appt is on March 22.