Ainsley's Doctor's Appointment

Ainsley had her 18 month Well Baby check up today. I know that she is just days away from being 21 months old, but with her having been so sick for so long, she was unable to have the appointment until now.

She has reached all of her major milestones; such as stacking blocks, forming simple phrases, following simple directions, and having a vocabulary of at least 10 words. She weighs in at a whopping 26.5 pounds, which puts her in about the 65th percentile. Height wise, she is 33.5 inches tall, meaning she is in the 79th percentile. I thought she was pretty short, but I guess I was wrong. Maybe all of these people that have been telling me that she is big for her age have been right???

On the vaccine front, she was scheduled to get the first dose of the MMR vaccine. That shot scares the HELL out of me. It just gives me this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I have done tons and tons of research since Ainsley was born regarding the vaccines she has to have. This is the ONLY one that I have any problems with. I won't go into details, as I want people to do their research and know what they are getting into before they vaccinate their child. Choosing to vaccinate your child is a very personal decision, not one that should be taken lightly and definitely not one that can be made for you. Please know your options.

I opted to postpone the MMR vaccine to a later time. Instead, she got the 4th DTaP and the 2nd Hepatitis A vaccines. Poor baby girl got both shots in her little left leg. She SCREAMED like you wouldn't believe. This is the part of the appointment where I have to fight the urge to hurt the nurse because she is hurting my baby. The shots were over in 2 seconds flat, but the tears kept coming for several minutes. She just threw her little arms around my neck and cried into my shoulder. It breaks my heart when she cries like that.

The doctor did hear a heart murmur for the very first time today. He said that it sounds like a Grade 1 Systolic Ejection Murmur. Grade 1 meaning "Very faint, heard only after listener has "tuned in"; may not be heard in all positions." Systolic Ejection means that the murmur is occurring while the heart is contracted, just as the blood is being released. Make sense??? Yeah, me either. Cardiology was NOT my best subject in Nursing School. basically what it means is that is not really anything to worry about.

They will have her come back in about 3 weeks or so and see the same doctor again. If he hears it a second time, he will have her come back again in another 3 weeks. If he hears it a 3rd time, he will refer her to a Pediatric Cardiologist for an Echo cardiogram. 9 times out of 10, he says it will come back as nothing. I had a Grade 1 murmur when I was a baby, not sure if it was systolic though. Steven had a murmur when he was a preteen. We both outgrew them and I believe that Ainsley will too.

So, because of getting 2 shots in the late afternoon, Ainsley was sort of a pill tonight. I can't blames her. vaccines make you feel like CRAP. But, she has fallen asleep on my cchest for the VERY first time today. She had no nap at all. She was EXHAUSTED. And she looks SO peaceful right now.