15 Month Checkup

No, this post is not being entered weeks after the fact, we actually had our 15 month checkup appointment on Friday, when he was almost 16 and 1/2 months old. We have (finally) changed doctors, mainly because we don't live anywhere near my former doctor anymore, but also for other reasons like long wait times and hostile policies. Thinking I would be escaping said policies upon my exit from the practice, I was then confronted with yet another hostile policy of ________ pediatrics. And I quote, "Do you understand that once you leave our practice, you may never, even if you move back to the area, return as a patient under any circumstances?" "Oh okay," I reply, as if I believe that this is a completely reasonable policy, meanwhile trying to reconcile how any business could possibly operate under such a policy, and more importantly how any human can say such a thing to a person. Okay, so let me get this straight, if all other pediatric practices cease to exist at the same time for whatever reason that _______ pediatrics is able to withstand, and my child (God forbid) had some kind of emergency, you wouldn't take us back... No. K, got it. Of course, I didn't say that, and thankfully, Birmingham is large enough that I should never require reentry to their practice, but sheesh, talk about poor treatment. Needless to say, I was reassured that my exit was justified and necessary. For the record, my doctor was extremely sweet and we were a good fit, and she called me personally to say there were no hard feelings about the transfer.

So,  it took a little while to get all of that straightened out and to find a Friday appointment, but we made it, and so far, we like our new doc. We mostly like the fact we don't have to wait an hour or more (so far) just to see her. Now for the stats. Z weighted 22 pounds (25%) and was 32 inches long (90%). I was shocked by this one. Little man grew like 3 inches and has never been in the 90th percentile before! Then I quickly got my bubble burst when she told me that Z has his first ear infection. Every appointment after the first few, I would wait with bated breath as the doctor would check Z's ears. For a while he fussed a lot and kept a runny nose (still has that runny nose), so I figured it was inevitable. After a few appointments with a clean bill of ear health, I thought, okay, Z  must not really get ear infections. I've even said as much, but as it goes in life (and in children) once you think you've got it figured out, it all changes on you! So I was a little bummed, but also couldn't believe that he really hasn't shown any signs. My inner voice started wondering. Has this just started? Has he had it so long he's used to it? Maybe we would have caught it earlier if I had taken him to _______ Pediatrics on time. All guilty feelings aside, I felt for my baby. Then he got three shots and a finger stick, and both of our mornings were officially spoiled.

He was a good sport. We continued our usual Friday routine and went to the gym and lunch. He took a good nap and was good as new for dinner Friday night with our friends Julie and Lance at Whole Foods.

The rest of the weekend was fun and restful. Z started saying "outside" this weekend, which started as "ow-hi" then became "ow-si." He is obsessed with going outside! He went to the gym nursery again Saturday and Sunday, started taking a disgusting antibiotic and he got a haircut on Sunday, officially making it the weekend of forcing Z to do things he doesn't want to do. Isn't that what being a kid is all about?