Check-Up Time

Clare had her 18-month well baby visit with the pediatrician yesterday. Poor thing had to get two shots plus blood work, so she was not a happy camper by the end of the appointment, fell asleep in the car on the way home, and took a 3-hour nap.

Her pediatrician is pleased with her progress. He checked her hips and legs to be sure that there was nothing mechanically wrong with her that was getting in the way of her crawling (and there wasn't). He agreed with the plan of adding PT to Clare's schedule. Clare's weight is up to a whopping 17 lbs, 3 oz (which, incidentally, is what Jamie weighed at 3 1/2 months old). The pedi was not as thrilled with her low weight gain as he was with the rest of her progress, but since Clare has a follow-up with the GI in a few weeks, we are going to wait until that visit to discuss weight-gaining strategies - again. Other than weight, though, Clare is doing well (which we knew, but it's always nice to hear the doctor say that as well!). We obviously already know that she is delayed in her motor skills and speech skills, but since she is learning more words and has started signing, her pedi is happy that she is making steps in the right direction. He wants Clare to receive the RSV-antibody shots again this year, like she did last year. We just have to get insurance company approval before she can (since the shots are $2,500 a pop and it's a 6-shot series, $15,000 is a little steep for us to pay out-of-pocket). But given Clare's medical history, and I am confident her cardiologist will be on board with the RSV series, hopefully approval will be a non-issue since the shots start up next month. Clare does not have to see her pediatrician again until she is 2 years old! At which time, she will receive more vaccinations because we decided to delay Clare receiving the MMR shot since it is the shot that is "linked" to autism ("linked" in quotes because the jury is still out on that one). Although I am not 100% convinced there is a link (and neither is our pedi), we agreed that since Clare is more at risk for developing autism given her Williams syndrome, why throw another risk factor in there.

Clare also saw her endocrinologist this week (thus the blood work after her pedi appointment). Again, other than weight gain, he is pleased with how she is doing. She has always been asymptomatic when it comes to her hypothyroidism and takes her Synthroid without a problem (wish I could say the same about her Plavix!). Her thyroid levels have been in the normal range for a year now. It was comforting to touch base with two of Clare's doctors and have everything be fairly status quo. (At least there were no shockers.) Our next hurdles are the GI and cardiologist next month, and those I will be more worried about!