December 27- Sterling's 9-mo. check-up

And today was Sterling's turn to visit the doctor. He had no idea what was to come. We were headed out the door to his 9-mo. check-up, but we had to get a picture of him in his little bear hat that Daddy brought home from Korea for Christmas. Isn't it just precious? His appointment didn't go as smoothly as Ella's and now he's feeling pretty crummy from the vaccines he received. He’s had his first cold lingering for a little over a week now. Nothing big, just a little stuffy, but never any fever. So, before the doctor could even look in his ears she had to suck and scrape earwax out of his ear canal to view his eardrums. Luckily, he has no ear infection, he’s just congested. This all proved very traumatic for the poor boy. He also had his heel pricked to check his iron and platelet levels. Iron is good (12.6) and platelets are good and high at 500,000. Certainly wish we could save some of these platelets to pass along to Becky May’s next little one (who hopefully will not need them).
He weighed in at 16lbs.6oz. and was 29in. long. His head circumference was 45cm. He’s grown 2.5in. in length since his last appointment. He’s in the 75th percentile for head circumference, 50th for weight, but he has dropped down to below the 10th for his weight. I was very concerned about this, but again the doctor assured me this is all perfectly okay. He has grown in length as well as in his head circumference, therefore we don’t have to worry that he’s malnourished. In fact, she said in just looking at his figure, it was plain to see there was no concern about his weight. Apparently breastfed babies slow down in their growth the second half of the first year (but I think that’s true for formula fed babies as well). She says we can expect a big growth spur for both babies between their 18mo. and 2year check-ups, but until then we shouldn’t be surprised if they’re on the lower end of the scales. He also received the same four shots Ella got yesterday, but they seem to be affecting him worse than they did her. He has been pretty unhappy, and generally lethargic since his appointment this morning. I’ve been dosing him with Tylenol, but I’d say these were easily the worst round of shots he’s had to date. From what I understand, each shot in the series of immunizations has stronger and stronger side effects. Luckily we’re finished with a few of the immunizations now, so it shouldn’t get any worse than it is now. Still, we didn’t want to drag the poor fella on a car trip to Alabama, so we’ll be headed out in the morning instead of today as we had originally planned. I’m sure everyone will understand. We look forward to seeing some folks very soon!