doctors and dum-dums

Alex had his 2 year well child visit this afternoon, and the doc confirmed that he is, indeed, a well child. Our previous pediatrician moved his practice to Rockwall, TX, so we spent some time catching our new doc up to speed. And I don't want to throw her under the bus or anything, but she wasn't exactly the warm and fuzzy type, and while I respect a doc who takes her job seriously, it would be nice to have one who seems to like kids. Okay, that's being a little harsh. But my usually outgoing Alex took cover in my armpit when she walked in the room and attempted to say "hi" to him, which wasn't the reaction I expected. Of course, he warmed up in about 1.5 seconds and was soon running around the room, banging tongue depressors against the doors and windows.

To be specific, the doc was more clinical than I am used to pediatricians being, in that she was more focused on the paperwork than on Alex. When I mentioned his...um...er...digestive issues and his sensitive skin, she thrust a bunch of papers at me outlining the prevention and treatment of constipation and eczema, then rattled off a list of child-safe laxatives and allergy medicines that I might try. (She also gave me an oatmeal cookie recipe that is supposed to help...move things along, which A will be oh so happy about. Lucky kid. I mean, I've been suffering from chronic fatigue for a while - I wonder if I can get my doctor to write me a prescription for coffee cake?)

At some point, she asked me how he was doing at school, and I stupidly mentioned that he has had a few instances of biting other kids. She then proceeded to lecture him about how biting wasn't nice and he shouldn't do it, and I was all, Wait! You mean I should have told him not to bite other kids!? Why didn't I think of that!!??

She spent a grand total of twenty seconds actually looking at Alex, then continued to grill me about his eating habits and sleeping habits and any other habits he might have. I mean, I definitely appreciate that she wanted to be thorough. I know there's a lot of protocol when it comes to these well visits, and even more ground to cover since she's never treated Alex. But I was hoping for a little more personal interaction straight out the gate, know what I'm sayin'?

Whatever the case, she was very impressed by his statistics, which were as follows:

Weight: 29.4 lbs (68%)
Height: 38.5" (100%)
Head Circ.: 19.3" (56%)

I could swear that the nurse said he was 37.5" tall as opposed to 38.5 when she measured him, but the "official" growth chart they sent home with us said 38.5. I may measure him myself, just to double check. Either way, he's a big little guy. She also said that, at 13.9, his BMI is "ideal". I guess his All Prune Juice Diet is paying off.

While I wasn't totally smitten with our doctor, the nurses at the clinic are awesome, especially the one that took A's vitals and gave him his last Hep A vaccination. So that made me a little less anxious about her jabbing my darling child in the thigh with a needle. The boisterous nurse was just yakking away as she yanked the cap off the needle (which I swear she did with her teeth, now that I think about it...) and jabbed A in the leg. He had no idea it was coming, and she had shot him up and got a bandaid on before he even got a chance to react. And he reacted by yelling, "boo-boooo!!!!" and crying really hard for about twenty seconds, until the nurse came in to bribe him with a giant bucket of Dum-Dums.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the end for Alex. The doc wanted to have his blood drawn to test for anemia and...something else that they routinely screen for in kids his age. So we had to head to pathology to have another nurse stick a needle in his arm - and then leave it there for what felt like ten years. Worse yet, I had to restrain my poor baby myself, using some sort of elaborate wrestling hold that the nurse showed me to keep his arms and legs still while they took his blood. He cried pretty hard and screamed throughout the process, but as soon as I let go of his arms, he stuck his Dum-Dum in his mouth like a pacifier and immediately stopped crying.

So that's the scoop on Alex's 2 year visit. Aside from the occasional rash or bellyache, he is a happy, healthy boy, and we are so blessed by that. Now that he's two, we won't have another well visit until he's three. Lord willing, we won't have any visits with the doc before then!