Our Big Boy

Callum had his 6 month check up (at almost 7 months) with our new pediatrician. I had been meaning to get him in earlier, but, it just didn't happen, and it doesn't help that I am extremely picky when it comes to doctors. We loved our pediatrician in Maine and I knew it would be next to impossible to find a practice that was small, intimate with awesome doctors. But, there is hope.

I was recommended this practice by a few people. Three female doctors, which I liked and an overall easygoing, laid back feel. Callum was a complete flirt with the entire staff.

The nurse weighed Callum, 16lbs8oz (25%), up from 12lbs in July! Whoa, boy! He measured 25'' (10%). The pediatrician did a double take with his length, and then asked how tall Kevin was - 5'7'', I replied. Callum is definitely not going to be a tall boy! Our dads are both about 5'7'', and my brother is about the same, so, Callum doesn't have much of a chance to be tall!

Our pediatrician was very interested in Callum's birth story. She looked at his thick chart and said "I'll read this later, I am very interested". I told her the very short version and she looked at Callum with amazement in her eyes and said, it looks like you have one very lucky little boy who looks to be doing absolutely perfectly! And she was right, Callum couldn't be doing any better. He is healthy, happy and developing. And we can't ask for any more than that.

She asked if he was rolling over, and I chuckled. Well, yeah. Kind of. I told her he doesn't roll over very much, but she said as long as he has rolled over both ways, that was all that mattered, and he has, on his own terms, when is big sisters aren't doing it for him. I will be honest, I was a little worried that he doesn't barrel roll all over the place like his sisters did at this age, but she said not to worry. She was impressed with how well he was sitting up, which is a milestone he has been working on diligently for the last week. He is able to sit up for up to a few minutes if he is interested enough in a toy.

The next topic, sleep. Amazingly, he has been swing free for exactly one week. He must have overheard Kevin and I discussing how the hell we were going to get him into his cribs for naps. He was sleeping 2-3 hours in his swing for naps, and nap time is well, very much needed in this house! Then, he started to get really restless for naps in his swing, and we tried him in his crib and he did awesome. And continued to do so. So, he sleeps 100% in his crib and doing great. The pediatrician didn't even bat an eyelash when I told her we continue to co-sleep part-time. He wakes up between 2-5am, and comes into our bed.

She asked about solid food, and told her we just started. She asked what he was eating and told her table food. I told her in the last week he's had haddock, mashed potatoes, carrots, chicken & veggie soup and countless other items, and was doing fabulously. Once again, no weird looks or telling me what he "should" be doing.

I then brought up his NICU follow up study that he qualified for in Maine. Any baby born before 30 weeks or on nitric oxide qualified for this study. She thought he should be seen, even though she didn't have any concerns with his development. So, this week, I am going to call INOVA Fairfax to find out more information on how to get him seen. I am very interested to do this, just to give another data point on how babies with pulmonary hypertension and nitric oxide are doing. I have read a lot of information in the last 7 months regarding outcomes on babies with pulmonary hypertension and it really is such a huge spectrum, with many babies suffering long term affects from their course.

All in all, a very successful well-child check with our new pediatrician. Oh and our poor baby got three shots! His leg was sore that evening, but overall, did just fine!