2 yr. appointment

Last Thursday Ava had her 2 yr Dr's appointment. She was actually very excited to go and see Dr. Plotnik. However, it usually sounds more like "Dr. Picnic". I made the appointment for the morning since I feel like they are always running behind in the afternoon. It was great, our appointment was at 9:10 and we were out of the office by 9:40. Ava checked out great for the most part. She weighed in at 32 lbs 6 oz (95th percentile), is 36 1/2 inches tall (97th percentile), and had a head circumference of 19 1/2 inches. The Dr. said that she's perfect and not to worry about her belly. I've been a bit concerned that her belly is too big and that we need to start eating salads instead of fish sticks.

I thought that we were going to be able to get out of there with no needle sticks. I was wrong. We started the appointment out with a finger stick to check her lead level, which was normal. The poke didn't bother her at all, and she watched as they milked the blood from her finger while telling me that her blood is red. It was the bandaid that sent her over the edge. She was adamant that she did not want to wear a bandaid no matter what little cartoon creature was on it. Unfortunately she is a bleeder and we had to put a little pressure dressing on there for a bit. We finished up the appointment with 1 immunization. They gave it in her arm this time which surprised me. She cried for a second, but then the tears dried up as soon as she got a sucker.

The one thing that we need to follow up on is Ava's umbilical hernia. We were told that she had it when she was born, but that most children's resolve on their own by the time that they are 4 yrs old. Ava's hasn't really changed in the past two years so our pediatrician is recommending that we see a pediatric surgeon to see about getting it fixed surgically. She said that we could wait another year or two, but that children Ava's age do better with surgery and that she doesn't think that it will resolve on its own since it hasn't changed over the past two years. We go to see the surgeon on the 23rd. We'll find out more then. The thought of Ava having another surgery makes me cringe only because she won't know what's coming and can't really understand. Besides, nobody wants to see their children go under general anesthesia, and then wake up in pain. On the upside, maybe it's better that she doesn't know what's coming...then she can't be scared.