Kate saw Dr. Oates this morning. She weighed LESS than at her last appointment, coming in at 18 pounds, 6 ounces and 28 1/2 inches high. Despite a perfect physical exam and her obvious curiosity and energy (getting into everything she could in the office and even trying to open the door to explore the hall) — Dr. Oates had to admit that her weight on the growth chart has plateaued a bit too much for comfort. The doctor even took out Will’s old charts to compare them (Will also plateaued sharply at age 1.) but still agreed with our assessment: Kate’s is too much.
She sent us to Children’s hospital where they drew Kate’s blood. It took multiple attempts and two blood draws (her right arm and then her left hand). She did not cry for either stick. For the second draw, she didn’t cry a bit until the very end, when the needle started to move a bit in her hand. Yup, Kate is THAT TOUGH. For the record, tears were dripping off of my nose on to where I held her to me. I needed the sticker after it was all over.
We are still working on getting a urine sample and, should we be successful, will consider it an amazing feat in par with juggling 4 balls while unicycling on a tight rope. To catch urine, they give you two baggies with U-shaped foam stickers on the ends and a standard cup for collection. It’s your job to glue that U-shaped puff to your daughter’s vulva, hope it stays in place, and hope that when she does pee, it actually is caught in the bag… and doesn’t run out during a diaper change. She has yet to pee, despite my forcing drinks into her mouth until she swallowed and repeated trips to the bathroom where I put her hands in warm water. While the trick may work at slumber parties, it is not so effective with 1-year olds.
Now we are home. Waiting for blood test results and waiting for Kate (who is sound asleep, thoroughly exhausted) to pee in the bag. Wish us luck.
Kak | 20-Jul-07 at 11:49 am | Permalink
We’re keeeping y’all in our prayers. There’s nothing worse than worrying about the health of your children. Hope all the tests come back OK, and she’s truly just “little”.
Head Lima Bean | 20-Jul-07 at 1:06 pm | Permalink
h:
that sounds FAR more challenging than giving birth today! you are in my thoughts! hugs and happy pee catching!
gwen
Cold Spaghetti | 20-Jul-07 at 1:56 pm | Permalink
No, I’d say creating a BRAND NEW PERSON triumphs anything for difficulty! We are thinking of YOU!
As for pee catching, if only we could think of a good invention for this… !