Appointment Day!

Today I had three separate appointments in relation to the new baby in the house.

1. This morning, I had my two week post-partum checkup. I know not many providers do these at two weeks, but I am glad my midwife brings us back in.  I think one of the main reasons is to check for post-partum depression, which I don't have a problem with.  I actually had to fill out a questionnaire this morning about how I was feeling and how emotional I have been the last two weeks. I have been fine, so I marked everything accordingly. My midwife never said anything about it, so apparently I passed. :)

The first thing the nurse did today after she called me back was to have me step on the scale.  I have 12 pounds yet to lose. I gained 31, so I have lost most of it.  Ten pounds of it was my baby!! I am sure another five was all the water that broke the morning I had him. There was a lot of it! I wish I could just lose those last 12 so I can wear some pre-pregnancy clothes. I am still wearing my maternity jeans because they are loose around my tummy. I haven't lost my tummy all the way and I am sure that my hips have not gone back to where they were, so I am pretty sure my other jeans will not fit me yet.  I still cannot get back into my pre-pregnancy shirts either. They are too short! I know it will just take time, but I would really like to wear some different clothes!!

After my midwife came into the room, she sat down and talked to me about how everything was going, again, I think this is just to see if post partum depression is a problem. I told her things were going much better once I put him on a schedule and he's doing well! I told her our first week was kind of rough, but we are getting the hang of things now. 

She then wanted to check my stomach muscles and said they were still separated, so she gave me a few exercises to do to make those stronger. She said otherwise all looked good! I am glad!

I gave her a few pictures that I had developed for her and then she stuck her head into the waiting room to see Micah! Megan was taking very good care of him out there, for he was sound asleep in her arms. 

I will go back in four weeks for my six week post-partum checkup and then I will be done there for a year.

2.  This afternoon, I took Micah in for his two week checkup.  He weighed 9 lbs. 11 oz, which is not quite back to his birth weight of 10 lbs. 1 oz.  I thought my doctor would be a little worried, but she said, "Oh, sometimes these big babies don't get all the way back to their birth weight by two weeks, I am not worried." She does want me to stop in about once a week for the next six weeks to weigh him and make sure he is gaining. He is 22 inches long, which is a half inch longer than he was at birth, and his head is 15 inches, again, a half inch bigger than at birth. He is growing!

I told her that I would feed him more, but if he overeats, he just spits it up. She knew exactly what I was talking about.  She mentioned that if he doesn't start gaining, I might need to wake him up every four hours at night to eat. Honestly, I don't think I would do this!! Sleep is sooo precious!  She wants him to gain, but she doesn't want to get over-worried about it.

She said otherwise he looks good and told me not to get too caught up in his routine because it won't work in 2-3 months. We will see what happens! She also said that I need to give him vitamin D drops. We will see about that too. She listened to his heart, felt his stomach, checked out his belly button and circumcision and those were all fine.

3.  At the same time that I took Micah in, I also took Megan in for her 12 year checkup. I will probably do these two kids together for the next six years. :)  Megan has gained 20 pounds this last year and is now 5 ft. 3 inches. The doctor doesn't think she has hit her big growth spurt yet!! REALLY?  Megan has some red spots on her elbow, her face, and some on her ears that I thought were ring worm, but they are really eczema.  The doctor sent in a prescription for steroids to put on them, but I wonder if they are really allergy to something. I need to talk to my chiropractor about it. She gave me some suggestions on what she should use for lotion and soap during the dry winter months.

I also asked when Megan needed her shots and the doctor said usually around 7th grade. I think she said she needed two of them. She looked at Megan and said, "Do you want to go ahead and do them today?" Of course Megan replied, "No, let's do them next year!" We all laughed! I would have said the same thing! Our doctor also said that Gardasil is something she offers, but many moms refuse it.  I said I will absolutely refuse it too! I have not heard very many good things about that vaccine!

Tomorrow we head back to the chiropractor to get everybody adjusted, even the kids.