Emma had her two-month check up at the doctor today. Besides getting to find out her latest "official" measurements, this appointment was a big deal because it's when she got her first round of immunization shots. And, while Evan didn't know this, he also had a shot in store for him today too!
It all began after Evan's tumbling class this morning. It was his last class of this session, and last class for at least a few months since we'll be out of town during the upcoming sessions (plus with holidays and stuff we're not going to bother with it until February or so probably). We headed over to the doctor's office for Emma's appointment and decided that since Evan needed a second flu shot (since this was the first year he was getting it) that we'd get that done too while we were at the office.
Emma's appointment began with the usual measurements. Weight: 12 lbs 9 oz (76%), length: 22 inches (29%), and head circumference: 38 cm (42%). Since she had just been weighed this past Saturday at her doctor's visit due to her eczema (and she weighed 12 lbs 5 oz then), I can easily say she's gaining about 1 oz per day!
Emma had been sleeping all throughout Evan's tumbling class, but awoke right at the beginning of her appointment and was so bright-eyed and alert. She did great! I even caught her staring at her fist while she laid on the exam table waiting for the doctor to come in. She let the doctor examine her without any fuss, and showed off some of her babbling skills too.
Then the appointment had to end with her shots, and the nurse brought in Evan's flu shot for him at that time too. We started with Evan, who had to be held still in John's lap and cried, but was easily consoled afterward with an Oreo cookie that John brought for him. Then it was Emma's turn. She was given one oral vaccine, which she sucked down without a fuss. Then she was given 3 shots; two in her left leg and one in her right. The poor girl was in so much pain from all of those needle pricks. Her cry was so unbearable to hear. I got her dressed as quickly as I could and then nursed her (she had been getting fussier while we waited for the shots because it was about time for her to eat anyway), and that helped calmed her down. She fell asleep on the drive home, and has been napping on and off since, but when she wakes up she's pretty upset and hard to console. So, I've just been nursing her a lot and thereby serving as a human pacifier to help soothe her, as well as I spent most of the afternoon and all of the evening holding her to help her sleep better. I just put her down to bed and she fell asleep in my arms as I sang her "Twinkle twinkle" (as I do every night when I rock her before bed), so she's definitely tired. Her poor little body is working hard to build up immunity to those nasty things she was just vaccinated for!
Speaking of that, we're not planning to give her any Tylenol unless she gets extremely irritable and fussy (unable to sleep well in particular), because the latest advice suggests that the body's natural ways of fighting off the vaccines (fever, etc) are the best ways for the body to develop the needed antibodies. When you give the baby Tylenol, it has now been shown that the body doesn't produce as many antibodies and thus the vaccine isn't as effective. I want to make sure that if she's got to go through misery to be protected from bad diseases that she gets fully protected! (I remember reading about this after having just given Evan Tylenol after one of his rounds of shots and feeling bad like I ruined his chance to be fully protected. Let's hope that's not the case though....)
Anyway, now Emma's okay on shots until her next check up at 4 months old in January when she'll get another round of vaccinations. It's no wonder kids learn to not like going to the doctor when they get pricked and poked at pretty much every check up they have as infants and young toddlers. The things we do to keep our kids healthy! But I'm very happy to say that the verdict from today is that Emma is healthy and doing great!
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