Annie's "Doc-da" Appointment

Today was technically Annie's 15 month "well-check." Hmmmm, not exactly. I brought the camera but, as always, when I have legitimate concerns it gets left by the wayside. I was concerned about two main things: 1. Annie's ears and 2. Annie's chest. Annie's fever went up a bit last night, so I was especially wondering about her ears. Luckily, this morning there was nothing coming out of her right ear and her left ear looked like her right ear did a few days ago (minor discharge). Perhaps this was a good thing? As for concern number 2, Annie is really coughing a lot, even coughing in her sleep! This shouldn't surprise me, really, in that Leia has been doing the same thing as a result of the nasty virus. Anyway, I wanted Dr. Stephens to check for fluid in the lungs. (Laurie got me REALLY scared with a story of a friend from church who just lost a child in five short days to pneumonia.)

First for the stats. Annie is 24 pounds and 11.2 ounces (in the 80th percentile). She is 31.5 inches tall (which is only 8.5 inches shorter than Leia Rose at FIVE) which is in the 50th percentile. Annie's head circumference is 18 5/8 (in the 90th percentile).

Annie was so good when Dr. Stephens listened to her heart/lungs. Not a peep! : ) And no fluid in the lungs either. (Yay!) I asked if that type of thing ran in families, and Dr. Stephens said it did. It was around this time (while I was thinking of my next question), when Dr. Stephens said, "Do you realize that she's saying 'Doctor'?!?" Suddenly, I shifted focus to Annie and sure enough, she was pointing to Dr. Stephens and saying, "Doc-da! Doc-da! Doc-da! Doc-da!" again and again! We couldn't believe it!!!

Then, ironically, Dr. Stephens went to look inside Annie's ears and right after I said, "This isn't going to be fun," she didn't fuss at all for the right ear, . . . it was just the left one that held a bit of fussing. No surprise there. Anyway, Dr. Stephens said that her right ear only had a tiny bit of dried drainage around the tube with no further infection, and that the left ear still had drainage, but was clearing!!! This was with just the drops, and no oral antibiotic!!! And Dr. Stephens commented, "Thank goodness she has tubes in her ears, because this would be a really hard infection to clear if she didn't." When I mentioned wanting to get more tubes when these fell out, she said, "Maybe she won't get any more infections, though." Hmmmm, interesting! Maybe! But at the first one, by golly, she's going to Dr. Drake. ; )

Dr. Stephens only minor concern? Can you guess? Annie isn't walking yet. She wanted to know if she "liked" to bear weight on her legs. Hmmm, "like" is quite a subjective term. I showed her how Annie could walk across the floor while she held my hands (but Annie certainly doesn't prefer to do that). Anyway, once 18 months rolls around, Annie will have to be tested if she isn't walking yet. I told Dr. Stephens that I could basically guarantee Annie would be walking by then. I mean, I've felt like it would be "any day" for months. It was also interesting the questions about motor skills that followed. Can she: use a fork, drink from a cup, wave good-bye, scribble with a crayon? An astounding "yes," to all except the fork one, considering the last post. (Ha!) Yes, yes, we know. Annie is advanced mentally, but behind physically. This as my child is chiming out, "Doc-da! Doc-da" again as she waves good-bye to Dr. Stephens. ; )

And after her second flu shot booster, we were off. Now if I could just get Annie well enough so she won't scream whenever she wakes up (whether it be just an arousal at 5AM or after a 3-hour nap, she's still wailing). Poor little baby! And how CRANKY after naps now! Yikes! Hope this isn't a trend!