Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Luke's 3 year well-check

At three years old, Roger weighed 37 pounds and was 37 1/2 inches tall. Luke, at three, weighs 29 pounds and stands 36 inches tall. Daddy was a BRICK! Granted, Roger's mom is 5'9'' whereas I'm a towering 5'3", but it does make you wonder if Luke would be a bit bigger with a 4-chambered heart.

I think we're out of the worst of the doctor-phobia phase (for now, right?). Luke was so cooperative at the appointment, saying "Aaah", giving his arm for blood pressure, letting the doc look in his eyes and ears, etc. Surprisingly cooperative. Up until the point they had to draw blood from a finger poke and then proceed to give him his 4th Hib booster. I haven't seen him cry that hard in a long time. But in the midst of his crying fit, as we're telling him "We're all done! Let's go home!" he kept saying, "I don't want to leave! I want to stay here!" Didn't I tell you this kid lives in the present?

Everything checked out great and we got quite a bit of time with the pediatrician to ask our questions. The only follow-up he recommended was with an eye doctor. They saw a slight astigmatism in his left eye and want us to get it checked out further. I was hoping we could add another doctor to our list.

Sarcasm aside, it hit me again yesterday how healthy Luke has been this past year and how thankful — incredibly thankful — we are for that. As the doc was skimming his chart, he noted aloud that it was pretty impressive Luke hadn't even been to the pediatrician since last winter, much less the E.R. or through a hospital admittance.

A few other take-aways:

  • We're going to start giving Luke Vitamin D supplemental drops, since there is no way he gets enough in his diet. We can only get him to take 8-10 ounces of milk per day. Even though he loves cheese and yogurt, I'm pretty sure he still doesn't get the recommended amount. He also wouldn't mind seeing Luke take some sort of Omega-3 supplement.
  • When Luke's Fontan was planned for this summer, Rog and I felt okay about letting Luke keep his mimi (pacifier) through the hospital stay. He only uses it in his bed right now, and we felt if it brought him any comfort at the hospital, we wanted that for him. Now that the Fontan has been pushed back a year, we don't really have a reason to keep it around anymore. I cannot tell you how sad this makes me! For some reason, I am having such a hard time thinking about taking it from Luke. Maybe I'm just too soft? I think more likely, it's that I hate the thought of taking something from him that he loves so much. He hasn't had a lot of say in what's been done to him in his short little life, and now we're going to take away one of his best buddies. "Is there really anything wrong with it if he just uses it at night?" I asked the pediatrician, praying he'd say, "No! Go ahead and let the little guy have it as long as he wants!" No such luck. He said it was time. This is one, like when we went through sleep training, where I am going to seriously need my husband's strength and reassurance Luke will come out mimi-less just fine.
  • His teeth looked great! I have always worried about Luke's teeth because of his flavored medicine he's taken his whole life along with the severe reflux his first year. He still wants us to make Luke's first dental appointment, but he saw no sign of decay or cavities.
Our prayer last night was that we don't go back to that office until Luke's 4-year checkup!

7 comments:

  1. Pacifiers are so hard to get rid of. My cousin had a cute idea of making a big deal of sending the paci to Paciland. She put it in an envelope and into the mail and everything. The transition went well for her three year old. I haven't tried it yet. Maybe worth a try.

    Remember though-Luke has you, and you're much better than a paci because you can relate to him!
    Angie

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  2. So glad to hear Luke's 3 year check-up went so well! I wanted to tell you about the Omega-3 stuff I buy for our family at Costco. It is called Omega Blendz by Nature's Fresh and it has Omega-3, DHA and EPA...all the good stuff, oh and it tastes like Lemon Meringue. My boys love it and I give it to them in the morning with breakfast...we call it our "Brain Juice" :o) Super Suplements is always a good spot too!! Good luck with the pacifier...you can do it!!

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  3. I'm glad everything went well at Luke's check-up. He has a pretty impressive record for the past year!

    I have a friend who had the paci delima, so she took her little boy to Build-A-Bear, and he put his last paci inside his bear before he was stitched up. Any time he wants his paci, he holds his bear because he knows the paci is inside. It's worked well for them...just wanted to share.

    Good luck! :)

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  4. So glad the checkup went well. We were lucky and Nana and Papa helped Zach get rid of his "happy" (paci) one time when he was staying there. They had a repairman come to work on the cable and they told him that he took it. For a long time Zach would ask, "where's happy?" and then he would say "Man got it!"
    We can relate to the need for supplements. Zach drinks very little milk and is quite picky, although he eats lots of fruits and will eat green beans and raw carrots. I will have to ask his dr about what he should take.
    Tell Luke we said Happy Birthday!!! (a little late!)
    Pam

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  5. Great news about the good well visit (minus the finger poke/shot)! I think Elijah and Luke are exactly the same size. I always wonder about growth, too, and whether or not E would be any bigger or taller were it not for his heart defects. Not that it matters, though. Our boys are perfect! Jesse, I was surprised about you being 5'3"! For some reason I was picturing you a lot taller. I'm a little shrimpier than you, at 5'1". :)

    We will PRAY with you that you don't have to bring Luke back to the doctor for another year. Good luck with the pacifier issue. Have a great weekend, you guys!! xo

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  6. Yay!! I'm so happy to hear that it went well. We have a friend whose little girl just turned 4: we were wondering why she suddenly stopped wanting to play with Mirabel. And then they told us that, in order to wean her from her binkies, they "mailed" them all to Mirabel. ;) Good luck!

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  7. Glad Luke is doing so well! Happy 3rd Birthday! What a milestone. Carla will be 3 in April, she is 35 and 1/2 inches tall and 29 pounds. I am a whopping 5 foot and her dad is 5'6" ...so I don't see a lot of hight in her future :)

    Good luck with the paci...Carla still uses hers at night too.

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