Great 9 month check up!

I had a long list of things to ask Charlie's pedi and I got every single one of them answered. It's so rare that I leave a doctor's office feeling like they were honest and upfront about everything. It's so refreshing.

Anyway, my biggest concern was discussing her blended diet and making sure her pedi was on the same page. I went in assuming I'd have to convince him that this would be best for her, but I didn't have to! He's totally on board and I feel like a weight has been lifted off my chest. It was very important to me to have someone in the medical community behind me in this. I don't know how serious the risk is, or how often it happens, but I've heard talk of doctors calling CPS for parents going against their orders by refusing to use formula and feeding real food instead. Which is the most ridiculous thing ever, but since it's so ingrained in the system that tube=formula, some doctors actually believe you are harming your child by taking their diet into your own hands.

But her doctor...shoot, he was so laid back about the whole thing it was unbelievable. He told me it was pretty much common sense and he knows that Charlie will have a better diet than most kids who eat orally, even if her diet isn't "perfect" and that's good enough for him. Like I mentioned in one of my posts before, one dietitian told me it was too hard to try and get all the nutrients in her. Formula is already calculated and balanced. True, but it's not hard to determine how much calories, fats, vitamins, ect a child should get. And yes, it would be very hard to make her diet "perfect" but he doesn't expect that. Nobody's diet is perfect and most people do fine if they avoid overdoing it on the junk and eat their veggies.

He said we could start anytime and he'd rather see me supplement with food rather than infant formula. She's getting her first food tonight...sweet potato!

So the other stuff:

She's grown a little in length and gained a little weight, but she's gone up the charts in length and down in weight...very good.

Her head is so far below the charts it's not even funny. But it's still growing...a whole 1/4 inch in 3 months.

Her eyes, ears, nose, and throat all look fine.

Her diaper rash is not yeast. He said if he had to guess, it's probably from teething. So no more disposables...back to cloth.

Her fluids are fine. I was concerned because she needs so few calories and we don't give her much water. But he said activity level does make a difference, so because she's so inactive, she's not sweating it out. As long as her output is good, she's fine. And if she has a day where she doesn't pee much, it's ok as long as she goes back to normal before long.

He said we can try Robinol when she's a year old. Robinol is a drug that will help dry up her secretions. The reason we haven't used it yet is because it dries up secretions, but also makes them thick and harder to cough out. I think he just want to wait a little longer and let her cough get a little better before we try it.

Children's sent him the results from the impedence probe. That's not his area of expertise of course, but in his opinion, her reflux is so mild, he doesn't expect they'll want to do anything like meds, a j-tube, or a nissen. Which might explain why nobody has called about it. If they don't plan on doing anything...why call and bother me right? (I still think they should have called)

He said that while her iron is on the high side, he's not concerned. He said not to give her any vitamins with iron in them (I wouldn't anyways) but that giving her food naturally high in iron shouldn't be harmful. We don't know why, but her iron has always been on the high side (14.6 at last check). Not unhealthy high, but it just seems strange since everyone is always so concerned about breastfed babies becaoming anemic. So much for that theory that breastmilk is deficient in iron right?!

I had taped some of her seizures and spasms to show him (and the neurologist) and he said he would definitely be concerned and that I should push for an EEG. I told him that it seems like no matter how bad she gets, they don't seem at all concerned. I feel like they think she's hopeless so why bother. He said they deal with this stuff all the time so it's routine and maybe they truly aren't concerned, but that they should still be explaining to me WHY they aren't. He said to make them sit in the room and talk to me until I feel like I understand and get all my questions answered. LOL I like this guy. I actually spent an hour with him...JUST him, not the nurse, asking him questions about Charlie. I'm so used to doctors making the nurse do everything and then spending 5 minutes with you before running out the door. Maybe he's used to doing things his way (actually caring about his patients) and doesn't realize most doctors won't take that kind of time. LOL

I'm sure there was more, but it's late and my brain is fried, so I'll leave it at that.