Yesterday (12/16/09) I took Jacob to his 12 month check up. We had to reschedule from the week before due to the weather. He weighed 24 lbs, was 29 1/4 inches long, and had a head circumference of 18 1/2 inches. This puts him in the 70th percentile for both weight and head circumference and the 25th percentile for length (shorty!) Dr. Wynalda said he is perfect again. He will need to have his blood drawn sometime this month to check for lead and anemia. This is a standard testing and he said he can't remember the last time either of those came back positive on a child. I will probably take him in this weekend so that I don't forget to do it! He said, based on what I have told him he does and does not do, he will be walking within a month. I said no. I think I am in denial a little bit. We'll see if he does or not.
Now here's the bad part of his dr visit. When we first got there the nurse took me back and did the measurements then left. I was waiting for the doctor when the nurse came back in to do his shots. I thought it was a little strange because we always do them after the appointment but I didn't really think anything of it. He got four shots total - two in each arm. He did really well. The first two he didn't really react at all. The second two he poked out his bottom lip and whined just for a split second and then was happy again. Then the doctor came in and asked me why he had bandaids on his arms. I said it was from his shots. He asked me what shots he got and I said I was just going to ask him (usually they tell me and for WHATEVER reason I still don't know, I didn't ask. I always ask!!) He asked if they were from the health department. I said "No, he just got them" Dr. Wynalda got this look on his face and said "Oh.... I'll be right back." My heart sank. As it turns out he received the wrong shots. He received the shots that were supposed to be for the kid next door. LUCKILY that kid was also a 12 month old so they were mostly shots he was going to get anyway. He received two of the vaccines he was supposed to get (prevnar and MMR) and he also received the H1N1 vaccine which I probably would have agreed to give him anyway and then the seasonal flu shot. He has already had the seasonal flu shot but the extra dose won't hurt him other than an unnecessary poke. BUT he was missing two of the vaccines he should have had (chicken pox and hepatitis A) that the people next door decided to delay. So he had to be poked again. I could tell the nurse had been crying when she came back in. She felt terrible and apologized to me a million times. Luckily no harm came from it and I told her so. She still felt bad. He got his next two shots again in the arm and this time he had had it. He was screaming!! He was actually quite inconsolable for awhile. My poor little buddy :-( So anyway, what could have been a disaster was actually okay. The dr popped back in and thanked me for being so nice to her. But, you know, I am a nurse and I know mistakes happen. And like I said, no harm came from it. Otherwise, I may not have been so nice!!
He goes back to the doctor in March for a 15 month check up.
