We had Evey's 2 month check up this afternoon at 3:15pm. Christopher brought her from daycare, where they'd just heated up her bottle. When I met them at Commonwealth Pediatrics, I signed Evey in and tried to keep Christopher company while he fed Evey, but she wasn't having it. She couldn't figure out why she had to eat out of "that thing" if mom was there with the "magic bottle." Since breastmilk is a hot commodity in our house, it's not something easily wasted, so I took her and bottle fed - which ended up being a little more normal for her. She finished up the bottle, and then we read a really strange book called "The Wretched Stone." It's about sailors who discover an uncharted island and find a weird glowing stone. They took it with them on their ship and become so obsessed with it that they turned into monkeys. The one sailor who didn't stare at it all the time ended up figuring out a way to turn them back human again and when they got rescued (because a storm broke the mast and rudder) he set the ship on fire and sunk the rock. When they got to shore, the human-monkey-human-sailors really liked bananas. And then it ended... it was rather disturbing for a children's book, so I guess it's good that Evey doesn't understand words and pictures yet.
After waiting around 45 minutes, we finally went back to our room. On the walk back, I saw a mom with her newborn and I had my first official omg moment. I couldn't resist looking down into the carseat and remebering when my sweet girl was that small. When we got back, the nurse got straight to work. Evey weighed 10lbs 4oz and was 22 1/4 inches long. Her head was 14 3/4 inches (it had grown a whole inch since she was born!). She's growing like a weed!
While we waited on Dr. Poole to come in for the check-up, we gave Evey a diaper change and let her air-dry. She LOVES to be naked. We had some serious snuggle time to keep her nice and calm before the main event. Mom - who was a little on the spacey side this morning - had forgotten the diaper bag and camera. It's a good thing Christopher works so close to home, because he was able to run home and grab them. Unfortunately, the diaper bag wasn't completely packed. We didn't have any burp cloths or a blanket. We had to be innovative, so I used a wet wipe as a burp cloth and wrapped her in my nursing cover to keep her warm. At least we know we can survive without those items!
When Dr. Poole came in, she was so happy to see our girl. She couldn't believe how many times we'd missed her over the past 7 weeks. Poor Evey hasn't been able to stay away from CWPeds. She checked her temperature, eyes, ears, lungs and chest. She checked to make sure her abdomen wasn't distended and that her hips weren't dislocated or out of place. Evey spent some time on her tummy while I got some advice on breastfeeding and pumping at work. Then it was time... Dr. Poole asked if we'd had our flu shots yet and since we hadn't she got us signed up to get them. We figured we could get stuck since Evey had to.
While we waited on the nurse to come back for our shots, Evey started to get a little fussy. Papa put her in his special hold and was able to get her soothed.
The nurse came in and said she hated making happy babies cry. She said that the worst part about her job was the parents telling her kids she was the "mean lady" and we promised never to do that to her. I was up first... I typically hate needles and cringe at the thought of shots, so I braced myself for the worst and by the time I did, she was done! I decided it must hurt less when you're a mom. I took Evey and Christopher got his shot and then it was her turn. Christopher took all of the pictures for me - I knew I wouldn't be able to. So I leaned in to comfort my girl in her first official moment of pain. They should pull you aside in your baby care class to prepare you for that moment. I thought I was doing so well and then she screamed. She screamed like I'd never heard her scream before and I lost it. I kept telling her that mommy was there and that mommy had her. I told her how sorry I was. She screamed until she ran out of breath, but she kept on going. My heart was breaking because I couldn't protect her from the pain she was experiencing, from the pain she was too young to have to experience. Mommies shouldn't have to endure that either.
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| evey's "saddlebags" |
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| crocodile tears make mommy cry |
