Alex's 12 month Well-Baby checkup...

...was quite a trip!

We got there ahead of time as I figured I'd have lots of paperwork to fill out since it was our first visit to Davis Grant Medical Center here on Travis and I was surely correct on that one. I was fumbling trying to wrangle Bren, stroller and papers I was still working on when they called us back to take his weight, measure his height and his head circumference.

Alex was: 22lbs., 10oz.(50%); 30 inches long(50%); with a head circumference of 45cm. (10%).
Bren at 1 yr. was: 22lbs., 15oz (50-75%); 31 inches long(75-90%); with a head circumference of 46cm(50%).

The doctor was apparently alarmed that Alex does not have his "pincer grasp" down pat, but I told her I wasn't as he is walking unassisted and can stand from a squat position. I've read in many places and heard from many mothers that babies develop differently and I know that Alex is more concerned with his gross motor skills at this point and his language development. He says "Hi," "Mama," "Dada," and will shush you. This one I found out when he was squealing just the other night in the tub and I whispered, "Shhh" and he turned right around and looked at me and made the "th" sound through his teeth. He's repeated this several times since. He's also talking in full "baby babble" sentences...and rather loudly I might add.

Upon listening to his chest, she heard a heart murmur so she had me lay him back and it disappeared when he was reclined. She said it was nothing she was concerned about. That made 1 of us. ;)

She also was alarmed at Alex's flat head and the girth of his head circumference. It's only 1cm smaller than Bren's at the same age, but apparently that puts him in the 10th Percentile. He's been in the 25th Percentile with it all along until now and the doctors have assured me that he'll catch up some day and the flat spot in the back will pop out or it will just be his normal shape. Because he has no developmental delays, they weren't concerned. Until this lady that is. I did inform her that it has grown 2cm since his 6 mo. check and when looking at Bren's 6 mo. and 12 mo. checks, his too grew 2cm so it's nothing I'm concerned about.

And to top it all off, we weren't sure if he'd swallowed a calculator battery so she had us head up to X-ray where they put Alex in this horrid contraption to get X-Rays to see if they could spot it in him somwhere. They didn't see it so either he did swallow it and it "passed" quickly, or he didn't and it's still around here somewhere even though we've looked EVERYWHERE for it and haven't found it. He was a real trooper in "The Rack" and even played with the X-Ray film container. They told me they needed him to cry, but how was I to know he's a massochist at heart?

His arms were crushed up above his head, a strap keeping his head in place, and he was strattling a miniature "bike" seat with his feet dangling. It looked like a medieval torture device, but here was Alex, swinging his legs, using the one hand he could move to flip the X-Ray film container back and forth, singing and going "pffffllllppppttt." When they told me they needed him to cry, I stepped out of his eyesight and that did it. That made it not fun anymore so they got the shot they needed apparently. I was glad of that as I didn't want him to have to go through that again. I was pretty sure he wouldn't be such a "sport" about it and wasn't sure what "safe word" he'd be using, since he doesn't have but a few words in his vocabulary at present. ;)

After that "fun," it was off to the lab for bloodwork to check for anemia. Brennan had that at 18 mos. and to this day wants nothing to do with stickers as he's sure a needle will come into play if he accepts one. I'm glad they do that at 12 mos. here because I'm pretty sure Alex won't remember. The tech had trouble figuring out which direction his vein was going so thankfully, after about 10-15 mins. of pawing at him, she decided to get THE Go-To gal there for Phlebotomy. A few seconds of her feeling the vein, a little stick, and voila! Having known what he'd just been through, I just wished they had called on her 9-14 mins. before. Not only that, but Bren had about had out all of his good behaviour and the Cheerioh bag was emptying quickly. Not to mention the fact that he's not familiar with Blue's Clues but it had been keeping him entertained until the tape stopped playing just as she was going to poke Alex. One "Mommy Stink Eye" look and his own 2 yr. old curiousity settled him down till the ordeal was over.

Initial Exam, X-Ray, Lab...Done. Now it was back down to the clinic to see the dr. one more time where she re-measured Alex's head, again concerned, but not to the point that she's having me come back for any tests, listened to his heart and did NOT hear the murmur this time (Oy!), and gave me a sheet of paper and told me that Dermatology will contact me to set up an appt. to take a look at the spot on Alex's head that the other 3 pediatricians he's seen have assured me is a Sebaceous Nevus (mole) and nothing to be concerned about, but she balked and said that Dermatology should make THAT determination, not Pediatricians. When it comes to my kids, I'll "dance Mommy Monkey, dance" and go anywhere the dr. tells me to. I'm not concerned, but if it makes her feel better, okey doke.

2nd "delightful"/unnerving visit with the dr. was complete so it was off to Immunizations for 3 of Alex's 5 shots. We'll go back next week for the other 2. Airman "Skippy" was much more assured of his capabilities than I was. No that wasn't his name, but it's my general term for the early 20-something techs that have a "few" experiences under their belt, but don't know as much as they think they know. And I feel fully qualified to deem them such as I was "Vet Tech Skippy" at one point and was probably just as annoying. A few scars later from cats that taught me a few things, and I'm much more open to the possibility that I've got a LOT more to learn. This guy was having none of that and chose instead to regale me with his preference for Michael Buble over Frank Sinatra as he had the music playing loudly from his computer. Alex didn't seem too bothered by it, although it was loud. I enjoyed the music, not the running commentary, but I didn't want to break his "concentration."

Brennan was ready to be done. The cheerioh's were gone and the stroller, guided by Brennan, was on its way out too. Another "stink eye" moment and Bren settled down. The tech got the shots and band-aids placed just so *before* getting a handle on Alex's legs but luckily Alex didn't kick everything on the floor. Again, babies are basically hairless puppies so all of my "instincts" were in play and I felt like I was dealing with a newbie. I did tell him to get a good hold of Alex's legs as Alex is quite strong. Anyone who's ever tried dressing this kid can testify to the fact that it should be an Olympic Event.

He assured me that it wasn't his first time and I just kept silent. He did get the shots done, but it was nice to see him break a sweat and not get it done as quickly and perfectly as he seemed to think it would happen. I let him fumble for just long enough in trying to place the band-aid on Alex's left leg before I just reached in and got it on myself. He did sheepishly say, "Thanks" and it was just nice to know I've still "got it" where the reflexes are concerned and in my assessment of the situation when it comes to Restraint & Handling Techniques. I had been concerned with the aforementioned problems at dressing Alex that I was losing my touch and that, should I have the chance to get back into the Vet biz, I'd find all of IT just gone...zapped from Stay-At-Home-Mommyhood. 'Twas a nice little "Whew"/"Yippee" moment. Again, nothing against the guy and I don't want to sound like I'm "all that" because I know I'm not and then some, but it was just reassuring and something I needed to quell my own anxieties for *if*/*when* the time comes.

Alex was great through all of it and especially since he didn't get his afternoon nap. We still had grocery shopping to do and he didn't lose it till I was about to checkout and he must have noticed I was done and decided to give me another few minutes of "scream-free" time. He was happily distracted by the Mighty Machines DVD in the car till we got back to TLF.

I got the boys undone, their diaper bag, my purse and headed up to the room. Tried the key. Forgot it had been in my pocket during the X-Rays. Yup. Dead. Ugh. Went back to the car, re-strapped the boys, headed to the main bldg. Got the keys "re-charged" and asked if we could get a few more days here. We're scheduled to checkout on 7/31 but not going to be able to get the key to our house till 8/6-ish. Nope. We're on a Space Available basis now and there's NO SPACE AVAILABLE. So, we'll keep checking, but we'll probably have to head to a hotel for the remainder of the time till we can get into our house.

Oh and I put Alex to bed at 7pm because Vin wasn't going to get off till after 9pm and then Vin called at 7:43pm to tell me he was on his way home, hoping we could do Alex's birthday ON his birthday. Alex hadn't had a nap earlier so we just let him sleep and we'll be celebrating today. I'm so glad he's only 1 and has NO idea. Poor kid. Poor Air Force kid. *sigh*