4 Month Doctor's Visit

Today was Caroline's 4 month well visit at the pediatrician. She will actually be 5 months old this weekend, and I'm not really sure how we got off track on that, but oh well. When we arrived in the office I was immediately put "on guard" by a girl who was in the waiting room, wearing a face mask and coughing loudly every 30 seconds or so. Swine flu alarm bells went off in my head, my paranoia kicked in and I decided to wait in the hall while Paul checked us in. :)The girl's mom kept glancing in my direction and it was clear to me that she knew her daughter was the reason we weren't coming in. Better safe than sorry in my opinion though, because Caroline can't get the flu vaccines for about another 6 weeks.
After Paul checked us in, we were sent to the "well patient" waiting room, which made me very happy. Soon after we got called into the back. We stripped Caroline down for weighing and measuring, which is a shame because I always dress her so cutely for these appointments. The nurse wouldn't even let me keep her hair bow in!
Paul and I were really excited to see how much Caroline had grown since her 2 month check up. Turns out, she's grown quite a bit taller (for a baby) but not so much bigger. Caroline weighs 14 pounds, 13 ounces and is 25 and 3/4 inches long. That puts her in the 75th percentile for weight (down from the 90th at her 2 month appt.) and the 95th!!! percentile for length (up from 21 inches). We were glad to see that our little Sugarboo is growing like a weed. :)
With the weighing and measuring done, we settled back into our room and Caroline happily went to work dousing the paper on the examination table with her drool. I put the hair bow back on so she wouldn't feel completely naked.
Dr. Ranney came in soon there after and being checking Caroline out. Caroline was quite the ham, smiling and cooing at Dr. Ranney - until the "hands on" portion of the visit began. As soon as Dr. Ranney started checking Caroline's heartbeat, the frowns began to appear on her face as "stranger danger" started to set in. Dr. Ranney did a great job finishing her exam quickly so Caroline didn't fall into total meltdown mode. Caroline checked out perfectly healthy and is on target with all the developmental milestones (sitting with support, rolling over,laughing, and cooing, etc.). Dr. Ranney also assured us that we should have no fears about Caroline being autistic, given her clear attachment to Mom and Dad. :)
After that, Dr. Ranney made some suggestions about starting solids (we can wait another few weeks) and nighttime sleep (it's time for Caroline to get less night time visits from Mom) and away she went to see another patient.
Then the real fun began. In came the nurse, toting syringes. Caroline eyed the nurse warily. We laid her down and with one look at Mom, Caroline melted into tears. The nurse acted quickly, first administering Tylenol and the rotavirus vaccine orally. Then came the fun stuff. Two shots in the upper thigh and Caroline was done. Literally and figuratively. She just looked so pathetic lying there on the table, crying her little eyes out. Luckily, we were all done and Mom and Dad could comfort our little crying bambina. The nurse gave Caroline a big metallic band-aid to cover her "boo boo", we got her dressed and away we went, prepared for a long and loud car ride home. Fortunately though, Caroline fell asleep before we even left the parking lot and the only noises we heard from her were occasional sad little sniffles that come from crying too hard.
All in all, it was a pretty good trip. We thwarted the Swine Flu (at least for now), got a good report from the doctor, and don't have to worry about any more shots for several more weeks.