Recap of Our Day of Appointments

This should be an easy enough post. The only camera used that day was Easton's. We started the day just as usual and Easton snapped some pictures at breakfast:






We left the house at 9:30 stopping at Krispy Kreme on the way but didn't get anything for ourselves. We bought two boxes of doughnut holes for the NICU we'd be visiting later in the day. Then we headed on up to Boulder.

Our first stop was to drop off some old VHS tapes to a unit I used to work on. They have DVD/VHS players in all the rooms so I know the Med/Surg patients get bored and could use some VHS's to watch. Ice Castles anyone? Anyway...we didn't see anyone we knew and we avoided room 320 where Easton coded that day 3 years prior. :( We headed on over to the doctor's office. Easton's 3 year well-child appointment was first and he did so well. He weighed in at just 24 1/2 pounds which would be average (50%) if he was 14 and a half months old! But no, he is over twice that age being that he is 36 months. To be 50th percentile for weight for his age he would have to weigh 31 1/2 pounds. So to all those people that kept telling me the past three years, "Don't worry...he'll catch up!":

Okay, where he is doing fine is height. He's 41st percentile. And of course, these percentages are coming from this chart as the doctor didn't give me any specifics. His head is 5th percentile. Hasn't grown at all since the last time it was checked...they didn't say anything about it one way or the other so I assume it's fine enough. It's only half an inch bigger than Dalton's dome. Hmmm.

So can you perhaps see this dilemma I have in finding the child clothes? Average height for his age, therefore needing the length of 2T/3T clothes BUT not even average weight for an 18 month old!!! He is the skinniest child I have honestly ever seen in person. Yet he doesn't appear unhealthy or whatever. At least not to these mother's eyes.

Anyhoo...I was talking about the appointments...sorry.

Okay, well, he did super and because he is following his own curve for height and weight there is really no cause for concern. The doctor listened to him and checked things out. He has been "prescribed" Benefiber (except it's over the counter). Just like Mommy! Poor bum-oley. The doctor sounded impressed we were done with day potty training and even more impressed that he poops in the potty rather than his nighttime diapers. She said the nights can take quite awhile for boys anyway so no concerns there either.

He impressed (and probably annoyed) her with his conversational skills and did all the right smart things when "tested"...counting to 12, drawing a picture of mommy's face, identifying colors (which I thought was a 2 year old thing but whatever)... all that good stuff.

It was time to recheck his anemia so she wrote an order for that and we were done with E.

Next it was Dalton's weight check and scheduled flu shot. Only, he was sick and I'd heard you're not "supposed" to get a flu shot if you're sick. So I asked the doctor about it and she said, "Really it's up to you as it is likely to exacerbate whatever he's got going on." Well, stupidly, I thought he was getting better. His croupy bark was gone and so I let him have the shot...and he got worse. But whatever. It's done. I regret it and I won't do that again. The kid didn't cry at all for the shot this time either. Crazy!

Anyway...poor Dizz hasn't gained well at all. He's up to 20 pounds even right now. Despite the increase in solid foods, despite nursing him both before and after sleeps, despite not trying to get him not to nurse in the night he's only gained 6 ounces in as many weeks. :(

I know you guys are all thinking how fat healthy he looks. But, the concern is over how much he's dropped on the curve he'd been following. On the doctor's computer screen it is quite dramatic. Enough to where she wanted to run some tests on him. She said that she of course hopes I'm just destined to have skinny children, which would be fine. But I'm also fine with ruling out anything that might be hindering their growth. It's weird that Dalton, my healthy on-the-charts 20 pounder is more worrisome to the doctor than his big brother who hasn't been on the charts for weight since 6 months of age. That just tells you it's the fact that he's falling off the curve he had set for himself that is concerning. Not quite as much where he actually falls on the charts. Anyhoo...

At that point, when we were going to have to get labs drawn on both boys anyway I brought up a thought I've been having for awhile (Thank you, Kelly!): celiac disease. I'm of course hoping it's not that...but it's strange that both boys began their "growth issues" after 6 months of age when they were introduced to gluten (in oatmeal). Now, it's also when they both became mobile and perhaps it's just that. Let's hope it's just that. The doctor didn't dismiss this idea at all, rather she was almost like, "I'm glad you brought this up..." So, again, since they'd both be getting lab draws anyway she wrote for them to have a celiac panel done on their blood. I could go on and on about why I think celiac is a possibililty and I could also give you reasons why celiac disease couldn't possibly be affecting my boys. But, really I just want to know one way or the other.

Haven't heard any results yet but it apparently takes awhile.

So, at that point we moved downstairs to the lab. While we were waiting for our turn I told Easton we were gonna head to the potty. He pulled down his pants right there in the middle of the waiting room! Not to pee there...just in preparation. I was like, "Whoa! Not yet, Buddy!" and he was just like, "Oh...where's the potty?" Silly goof! Back to the lab and for our turn, it was in the antecube (crook of the elbow) for both of 'em. Easton went first. He did not want to have blood drawn and as we'd pull up his sleeves to check for the better arm he'd pull it right back down. :( It was sad and he was crying but it wasn't that bad and honestly, he wasn't fighting. He was just crying. He wasn't trying to get down off my lap or kick anyone or pull away. He was just scared. I still think he is so brave. Once they were actually in the vein he really calmed down a lot. He was talking to the guy holding his arm about what kind of smoothie he was going to go get when we were done (yellow). Poor kid. Just the anticipation is rough. Glad he went first. He got a sticker and then it was Dalton's turn. Dalton didn't even flinch! He just sat there on my lap and sucked his pacifier till they were done. Everyone involved was in shock. Dalton is my crier and if you even look at him wrong he's been known to burst into tears. Apparently he's toughening up. Or was just too sick to care. :) But seriously, it was pretty wild.

After that it was getting late. We had Jason meet us at the smoothie place and I gave Dalton some milk while Jason and Easton ran in to get our lunch. Easton apparently told J that he cried for his blood draw but Dalton didn't and that they got stickers. Cute.

I didn't get to see J but we talked on our cell phones about it all briefly. Worrying over these kids at that point made Jason declare, "No more kids!" Poo head.

The boys and I were on our way to the dental clinic associated with our Children's Hospital. Easton's first dentist trip! He took this of me when we were stopped in the car...

He was not being very good in the waiting room. He didn't "want the other people!" Grrr. He was traumatized by the recent blood draw I'm sure, and still tired from partying the night before. But still... So I had him sit in the chair next to me and gave him his camera. Later I noticed he took these:


And this Viking nose self-portrait:


Before long they called his name, first stop...x-rays. Didn't go so well. Easton didn't want to bite down on the film or whatever it is they make you bite. And he didn't want me to leave but the clinic didn't want me and D exposed to the radiation. Um, then give me a friggin' gown and I'll put Dalton somewhere safe for two seconds. But whatever...

Next it was on to the chair for his cleaning and such.

This is when it became quite clear that the clinic we were at was the dental school... Dang it, I'm not against learning and all but if I had known they made our appointment for the dental school rather than the actual clinic then we wouldn't have gone. It was Easton's first dental experience and the girl just needed a little more work on 3 year olds. She kept asking his permission for crap and then when he'd say "No" it was like, "Oh too bad, I'm doing it anyway." I wanted to buy her a copy of "Love and Logic" so she could better learn how to phrase her questions.

Student: "Can we count your teeth?" (while I come at you with my sharp and shiny poker tool?)
Easton: "No" (said very nicely, I might add)
Student: "Um, open up."

Grrrr. There were so many better ways to do that. Being that I am an expert and all. :) But still, he did great from that point on. But because she was a student she had to have a real dentist come check her work and such. Well, Easton got tired of waiting. He was so antsy. Dalton was antsy. The doctor wasn't coming. It wasn't going great. Easton kept going, "Am I all done? I want to be all done." I gave him his Viewmaster but he was ready to go.

Finally the dentist came and the chip in his tooth doesn't need any treatment but he does have 1 cavity and he also has some staining that they want to do something or other with. They were driving me crazy, treating me like I didn't speak English or something. At one point the student was saying to her note-taking student: "__ is occluded. There's an occlusion at __" So I asked, "What's an occlusion?" You know what they had the nerve to say? That the film they take the x-rays on is the occlusion. What the frick, people? I knew they weren't being honest right then and there but I didn't make a big stink about it and looked it up later...an occlusion is simply where teeth touch. Can't you give me that explanation? Grr.

So, he has to go back to have his cavity filled. The next day I promptly canceled the appointment and made sure I made one with the actual dental clinic rather than the student section. Doodie heads.

Easton did amazingly given the circumstances. I feel sad that I even subjected him to that. Our insurance doesn't cover many pediatric dentists and since he is only 3 I wanted one good with kids. Hope it goes better next time for the filling. I think he'll have to get a painful shot in his mouth to numb it and that's gonna suck. Good thing Jason will be off then so he can hang with D. That was a little hard having Dalton there too.

You live, you learn.

Anyway, we still weren't done. We had to make our annual trip into the actual hospital. In September the Children's Hospital where Easton lived for awhile closed it's doors and opened a new location. It is unbelievable and looks nothing like a hospital. It is so nice to not have yucky memories associated with the building. So, we headed up to the NICU where it was beautiful and didn't make me feel sick and worried to death (the old place did that to me). Anyway, dropped off some doughnut holes and said please save a box for nights. Night shift always gets ignored on those kinds of things. I should know...I used to work days. We ate everything before nights got there. The receptionist was like, "Don't you want to put your name on it" and I said, "Nah...no one would remember us." Which is actually a great thing...it means our son wasn't sick enough, wasn't severe enough or there long enough to become noteworthy. I just wanted to be nice, but didn't need credit.

So, then we went downstairs to drop off the presents we had picked out. I love that we do this. I love that I can show my boys we can be charitable by donating things they can understand: toys! We picked out a Viewmaster and some cartridges, a MagnaDoodle, a small painting craft project, and some small Cars figures and another movie. The kids can pick gifts out on special occasions, like if they celebrate a birthday in the hospital or after they finish a course of treatment. Or they can be used during procedures that might be scary or where they might need to hold a little still...they could focus on the pictures in the Viewmaster, or draw on the Magnadoodle. There was thought behind what we picked, even if we didn't donate much.

They guy that took the gifts from us was very appreciative. Even though Easton was rearraging their waiting room furniture. It was time to go.

On the way out I saw the doctor who just so happened to be rounding in Boulder that day 3 years prior and just told him, "You saved my sons life". I forgot to say thank you or anything! He just said, "Well, he looks good" and moseyed on. D'oh!

Oh well.

At that point we headed home, D got to nap and I heated up leftovers for dinner. It was a looooooong day.

Thanks for reading about it.