12 month checkup

Mira had her 12 month checkup today. Let me just say that I love her doctor. He is amazing. He doesn't over-prescribe, over-analyze symptoms, intimidate me or Mira. He always eases my worries, allays my fears, and gives me facts I know I can trust. His nurses are so nice and they all love and coo over Mira. He has two wonderful nurses with super speedy hands who are designated to delivering shots and getting them over with quickly, so that Mira doesn't come to associate Dr. Dan with needles (at least not directly). His waiting room has a separate area for well patients with separate toys. So yay for Dr. Dan. And yay for my mother AND my Ob/Gyn who BOTH recommended him. The only little issue I take with him is that he is against co-sleeping, but not overly so. If you tell him you co-sleep, he'll be like "Well, you probably should think about getting her into a crib. She'll sleep more soundly in her own bed." But he's not overly pushy about it. And I don't co-sleep anyway so that's not an issue for me personally, but I *do* think that there are some parents who find that is what works best and so that is what they should do: what works for them. But if that's the only thing I can find that I don't like about Mira's doctor, then I say "yay". So yay.

Anyway, back on topic.

She had her 1 year checkup. Here are her measurements:

Weight: 18 lbs, 5oz (10th percentile).

Height: 28.5 in (30th percentile).

Head size 47 cm (77th percentile).

So she's still got a big ol' noggin but she's slipped a bit further down on the growth charts for weight (last time we went she was 30th for both height and weight). When I talked to the doctor about that, he just asked me how frequently she was eating/nursing and whether I felt that she ate a good amount and variety of solids. She is currently nursing 3 times a day: first thing in the morning, right before nap, and right before bed. She eats solids 4 times a day: breakfast, lunch, snack, then dinner. She eats a good variety of solids, but she doesn't seem to eat very much at a time. Anyway, Dr. Dan says that she's probably still getting a majority of her nutrients from breastmilk, and for now that's perfectly ok. And given that she's so active and getting essentially 7 meals a day, he's not concerned about her low weight.

I asked him about Mira's teeth (she's only got 3 incisors on the bottom). He said not to assume she's missing one yet. Apparently, those outside lower incisors are sometimes the last teeth to emerge, so one could just be lagging behind the other. And I asked if she should start seeing a dentist, and he said to wait till she had her full set of teeth, so somewhere around 2-3 years old.

Last I asked about vitamins. I had heard some of the mothers in my mommy's clubs talking about which vitamins they give to their babies and I went "... hang on... I don't give Mira ANY! Am I doing something wrong?" So I asked Dr. Dan, and he said she didn't need any as long as she got a few minutes outside most days, and he said that even just going for a car ride to run an errand is enough, since the sun shines into the car and it doesn't have to be direct sunlight. So no vitamins needed here! He did say that some pediatricians will recommend them to all babies, and certainly you're not hurting your baby by giving them the prescribed amount of vitamins, but he doesn't think they're necessary unless they're really picky eaters who are no longer nursing.

And then the shots. Poor baby, she got 6 sticks. She hasn't had that many since she was a newborn! I don't know what it says about me as a parent, but this time, despite the fact that she was getting so many shots, I didn't have that mother-bear-don't-touch-my-baby-you're-hurting-her reaction at all. On the contrary, I was like, "Shoot her up! I'll pin her down!" Heh. The doctor told me that two of the vaccines were ones that parents sometimes like to postpone: MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) and chickenpox. I said, "Let's do 'em all! No baby of mine is getting measles." He smiled and said, "Good!" So then the nurse came in and stuck her a bunch. Luckily, those vaccination nurses have hands like lightning. She was done with the first 3 sticks before Mira even knew something bad was happening. Luckily, since I had heard that the 1 year checkup is heavy on the vaccines, I had given Mira some Tylenol in advance!

She's napping now, so I'm going to go enjoy the rest of my quiet time before she wakes up!