The Two Week Appointment

I'm happy to report that Ellie got an A+ at the pediatrician today, but what a day to go... Her appointment happened to coencide with the exact time a tsunami was moving through the area. I clued in that we were about to be totally underwater in exactly enough time to get her in the car seat and pull out of the driveway. It's going to take a while before I'm am a pro at getting her out of the car while tolding my purse, diaper bag and umbrella.

The whole appointment went really well and I'm glad I picked the pediatric group that I went with. I didn't know it until today, but the medical assistant for Ellie's doctor was one of my Tuesday night step regulars, so it was good to see a familiar face. Ellie was completly happy being held by her, being weighed and then being held by the doctor. Ellie has gained one pound since our visit eleven days ago so she's now 8 pounds 6 ounces. The doctor was really happy with her progress even though I've been stressing that I've only been feeding her 7 times a day rather than the "recommended" 8-12 times a day. I seriously don't know how she could eat more than she does. The doctor said that whatever I was doing was working, which was good to hear. She's also grown 3/4 inches so she's up to 22 inches long and her head is 14.25 inches. That means she's in the 50th percentile for head and weight and >95th percentile for length. She still looks skinny because she's so long.

Then we had to do something that Ellie did not like - she had to get her heel pricked for the rest of her PKU stuff. It tests for metabolic disorders. She screamed like a banshee. Poor thing. They make you sit there and hold her while they do it so I'm sure she thought I was trying to saw her foot off. That was enough activity for Ellie and she promptly went to sleep.

Two other big milestones occurred yesterday - Ellie's umbilical cord fell off and we got her social security card in the mail so she is officially a tax write-off. She's also making big strides with head and neck control. Today after we got home and she ate, I put her on her stomach for some tummy time. If you lay her down with her head facing one way and then move to the other side, she'll turn her head to look at you. Of course,she face-plants for about 5 seconds during the transition, but she works it out. When I'm holding her upright, all she wants to do is hold her head up and look around with her bright eyes. She gets a little fussy if she can't see what is going on. She's still really wobbly so she looks like a turtle bobbing along. That was Ellie's big day - it doesn't get much more exciting around here!