4-month check-up

Friday was Sabrina's 4-month well check-up. I left the office at 12:45 and decided to call the day care center on my way there to ask that they feed her so she's not starving/crying at the doctor's office. they were very accommodating and said they would. That plan worked beautifully because just as I arrived, she had been fed, changed and ready to go!

Since Gene usually does pick-ups, I don't often get to see her interacting with her new playmates (when I drop her off at 5:30 each morning, she's the first one there). One of the teachers said that Sabrina is "very social!" :)

So we drive over to the doctor's office where Sabrina weighed in at 15 pounds even and is 26 inches long! That's 1 pound and 1 month in a month :) The doctor said she looks great and is the 97th percentile for length, 80th for weight and 50th for head circumference. As he went over the things a 4-month old should be doing around this age, I was mentally checking them all off. Next comes the ability to sit up (she can sort of sit up but soon topples forward LOL), and the ability to transfer an item from one hand to another. He reiterated the importance of "tummy time" (check), interacting with her (check check), and giving her lots of TLC (but of course!). He also suggested we put toys in front her but slightly out of reach during tummy time.

Next came vaccine time. As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm using Dr. Sears' alternate vaccine schedule. This visit called for 2 vaccines: Rotovirus and DTaP. Luckily Rotovirus is an oral vaccine liquid so the nurse gave her that one first, and it went down pretty well. It's funny to see her face when she is fed something other than formula since that's all she knows as far as taste goes. She looks at me as if to say "Mommy - what is this? It's not my usual food!".

Then came the DTaP vaccine, a good old fashioned injection. The nurse asked me to put her on the table and I suggested that I just hold her which she was OK with as long as I prevented her hands/arms from moving. I had been trying to desensitize the area by rubbing that spot on her thigh where the injection would go. Not sure if it helps, but it made ME feel better anyway :) This time there was maybe a 1 second delay in the screaming/crying (previous shot reactions were instantaneous). I held it together, but I sure felt sad for her. I just held her, talked to her, and rocked her for about 4 minutes until the crying stopped. Even then though, she had that look in here eyes where you could tell she was still recovering emotionally.

I put her in the car seat carrier, paid the co-pay and as soon as the car started moving, she was out like a light. She stayed asleep during my stop at Barnes and Noble, too. Gene and I decided to go to a Japanese steak house for dinner -- the kind where they cook the food at your table. Sabrina slept through most of our meal. At one point she was awake and saw the huge flames produced by the chef and didn't seem phased it one bit! :)

Her next appointment is a "shots-only' visit in a month.