9-Month Appointment

CC had her 9-month appointment yesterday, and she and I are both still recovering.

The Good:  CC weighs 18 pounds, 4 ounces, which is 50th percentile for her age.  She is healthy as a horse, a social butterfly, and the doctor is very pleased with her appetite and skills at this point.

The Bad: She is only 10th percentile for height (26 inches).  Huh.  Well, neither MJ nor I are very tall, so she doesn't have great height genes on either side.  We always joke around that she's short and fat, but I didn't think it was for real!  Our daughter, the bowling ball.

The Ugly: They had to take blood for a routine test, and when they pricked her finger, CC screamed like crazy (of course).  Afterwards they put a band aid on her finger, but a few minutes later there was blood everywhere.  Pooling in her mouth, smeared over her hands, running down her chest.  I thought maybe she'd bitten her tongue or lip during her fit.  I called the doctor, who called three nurses, and it was pandemonium in that tiny exam room while they tried to figure out why she was bleeding.  CC was screaming from the exam table and reaching for me -- it was heartbreaking. 

Finally they realized that the band aid had not been applied correctly, and CC had just not stopped bleeding from her finger prick (the blood in her mouth was because CC had been sucking on that finger).  They put a new band aid on, cleaned her up, and I was able to pick her up to comfort her.  But it gets better ... CC still needed two vaccines.  The nurses came back in to administer them -- one injection in each thigh -- and poor CC just lost it.  She sobbed while I got her dressed, while I checked out of the doctor's office, and all the way home.  I cancelled lunch with my friend Linda, fed CC at home, and put her to bed early for her nap.

The whole thing probably only lasted about three minutes, but it was a very stressful and traumatic three minutes.  CC has been very fussy, clingy, and tired today.  It might be a coincidence, or it might be because of the vaccines, or it might be because she's still a little upset about the whole experience.  Who knows?  Fortunately the weekend is almost here, and MJ and I can spend lots of time with her over the next few days.