14 Month Checkup

Alisa had her 14 month checkup yesterday and it was not pleasant. We got there 10 minutes early and waited over half an hour to be called back to an exam room. The wait didn't seem as bad as usual though because Alisa didn't cling to me and there was an 18-month-old girl in the waiting room that she enjoyed closely watching.

Once we were in the exam room, Alisa cried and kept turning her head when the nurse tried to take her temperature in her ear. Her squirming made things worse because I think it might have hurt a little or just freaked her out as the device scraped against her ear. The nurse finally just had me lay her on the table (which she hated) and hold her head still. Alisa also cried when I laid her on the scale table in the hallway so the nurse could measure her length. The measurement ending up being the same as last time (2 months ago) so it was probably a little inaccurate since she wasn't relaxed (she was scrunching her neck and shoulders while crying). However, she also just didn't grow noticeably taller during the past 2 months. She cried a little during the head measurement, but not as much as last time.

After all the measurements and initialing of the vaccination papers, the nurse left and Alisa cried again as she shut the door. The pediatrician came in a few minutes later and Alisa was fine while we were just talking. But then she squirmed and cried as the pediatrician checked her heartbeat, eyes, etc. She stopped crying as we talked some more but then cried as she left and shut the door. She kept pointing towards the door and babbling while crying so it was then apparent that she really just wanted to leave. We still had to wait for the shot nurse to come though. I opened the door and let her watch the people walk down the hallway. Finally the shot nurse came and quickly administered the shots. Alisa cried hard from the time I laid her on the table until I finished dressing her afterwards. She seemed really mad and was grabbing at the 2 band-aids the nurse put on her thigh. At previous visits she didn't notice the band-aids.

At the checkout counter, I paid our copay and set up her 18 month appointment. The receptionist gave her a sticker (first time for that). She gets a sticker at the end of library story time and she really likes them.

Here are her stats:
23 lbs 9 oz (50th percentile)
29 1/2 in long (25th percentile)
46 1/2 cm head circumference (75th percentile)

My only concern was that Alisa doesn't drink much milk. The pediatrician said she needs 500 mg calcium per day and that I shouldn't be concerned that she's not drinking milk as long as she is getting calcium via yogurt, cheese, etc. She also said Alisa should be able to say 3-5 words in addition to mama and dada by her next appointment at 18 months old. She is close to saying words now and has been working on the "g" sound so it should not be a problem.