Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Pediatrician appointment and shots

Wren had his 2-month pediatrician appointment (and vaccinations) this morning. I thought I was going in for a general checkup but apparently since he is only a week short of 2 months it is okay to give him his shots.

He had 4 shots and one oral vaccine. I feel very conflicted about vaccinating him so avidly. Frost had only half the recommended vaccinations and we eked them out over a few weeks. Wren has had a BAM BAM series and I hope does okay. Thing is, with all his contact at Children's and with Frost bringing home all the new school bugs and of course the fact I want Wren to be extra protected because of his heart condition I am glad of the vaccines. On the other hand I am of the mind that avoiding some of them is not such a bad thing. I would have been really happy if Frost contracted chicken-pox for instance but now it would not be so delightful.

Aside from the conceptual objections, the shots went well and Wren didn't cry for long. The nurse was like a Duracell Bunny - Zap - bandaid, Zap - bandaid, Zap - Bandaid... and so on.

Anyway, Wren has a slight rash on his face and has been prescribed 1% hydrocortisone cream to reduce it.

His stats are:
Weight: 13 lbs 4 oz - 80th %tile
Length: 23.25" - 75th%tile
Head circ: 15 3/5" - 25th %ile.

Before I started to panic about him becoming a pinhead, Dr Levitt assured me it was tracking that way from birth and he is just long with a fat belly.

I am encouraged to keep him on iron unless there is actual sign of constipation and his Zantac dose has gone up to 1mg.

Now, the big news.. LAST NIGHT WREN SLEPT FOR 3 HOURS, TWICE! He went to sleep at 10.30-1.30am (nursed), woke again at 4.30am (nursed) and then again till 6.30am! It was brilliant. We kind of got up at 6.30am because he was doing the grizzle and grunt awake-sleep. He passed out again in the swing for another hour so he was wanting to sleep more in his noisy way. Still, it was an excellent night. Now, as a result of the shots, he is having another nap so its not a hard morning.

This afternoon the tuberous rats are going to be killed by the small-animal vet. It is very sad and I am trying not to dwell on it but they are having trouble moving and are so alarmingly distorted by the tumors that our guests are alarmed when their small children comment that "the rats are lumpy". It is very disturbing and I can't deal. So, they are to be gone after this afternoon.

I don't like to end on that note but I am going to sit down with the reheated decaf coffee I didn't get to drink this morning. I don't care if it tastes of the kitchen paper I used to filter it. This is the kind of thing one has to cope with when the coffee papers are forgotten in the weekly grocery haul. I can fold a mean funnel out of toilet-paper too and I'm getting pretty nifty with cloth diapers (shaped to Wren, not the coffee percolater).

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Shannon,
I am intrigued, which vaccine was oral? - Josephine

Shannon said...

The "new" rotavirus vaccine - Rotateq. Its oral.

Anonymous said...

Interesting, didn't know they were using it already. Thanks. - Josephine

Shannon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Shannon said...

Yes, I had reservations but Dr L said she has been convinced it has been much more fully tested than the prior version and its been out since last year.

I tasted it - it was kind of sweetly salty and not at all offensive.

Wyndi said...

I can fold a paper towl filter like a pro") we just bought a "gold" filter that is just washed and reused. i love it, never have to use another filter!