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Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Small Toddler; Big Baby

This week has been, and is, chock full of dr. appointments: Even Scooter has his yearly wellness exam tomorrow!  Jerry happens to be the only one in this family who somehow avoided a check up this week.  Hmmmmm....

Assuming you're not riveted by the results of Scooter fecal test, here's the low-down on Norah and I's appointments:

Norah:
Had her 21 month check up yesterday, and she is healthy and developmentally on track in every aspect.  The one interesting anecdote from the visit is that her height measurement revealed that her growth has slowed, and she only grew half an inch in the past 3 months.  No big deal, but the doctor approached the subject of her height as if he were hedging around bad news:

"She probably won't be very tall," he said.  "She's now in the 40th percentile for height and she's only estimated to be a 5'4" adult."

Me: "5'4" sounds pretty good to me!"

He kinda let out a chuckle of semi-relief (do parents really care that much how tall their kid is that they might get riled up over such a thing?) and said:  "That's good that you're realistic about it."

Me: "I don't understand genetics that well [how, for instance, has she ended up with blond hair and blue eyes?], but I do get that my genetics play a 50% role here, and not only am I short, but my whole family is short.  So, even though my husband is of average height, I never expected her to be tall."

Short of strapping her to a medeival stretching machine, height is not something we can control, so why would I concern myself with that?  I have other things on my plate, like getting her to not pinch the dog.

Now, on the other end of the spectrum, I had my 36 week check up this morning, with an accompanying ultrasound so that the dr. could get a guesstimate on Caleb's potential size.

Me:
The lowdown is that the u/s estimated Caleb's current weight to be at least 7lbs, which means if he goes to 40 weeks, they estimate his birth weight at close to 9 lbs.

Emphasis here on "estimate."  Both the dr. and the u/s tech called it more of an educated guess, and the dr. isn't concerned about him being too big for me to naturally deliver.  I'm glad she's relaxed; I thought I was gonna have to defend a recommended induction or planned c-section, but she didn't bring either subject up.  Good.

The u/s over-estimated Norah's birth weight by more than a pound, so I don't really trust it to be accurate.  I bet he's healthy and hearty in size at birth, but no more than I can handle.

The other fun u/s stuff was that we got a good look at hs face, and even in utero, he looks like a cutie!  Maybe he will even have the same chubby cheeks as Norah.  We also got re-confirmation of his boy parts -- he must like showing 'em off, cuz they were easy to spot once again.  And, she showed me the left foot of his that keeps jamming me in the rib cage.  I don't know why I was delighted by that; by feel, I can tell it's his foot, but for some reason, seeing his foot kicking me in the ribs on the u/s just seemed funny.

Anyhoo, that's all the dr. news for now.  I'm sure the vet is gonna tell me that Scooter is a fatty-fatty-two-by-four at his check up tomorrow (that chunk-la-funk is constantly stealing food from Norah -- what dog eats carrots?  Scooter.  but, only because Norah is eating them).

18 comments:

JojaJogger said...

5'4" sounds just right to me! Congrats on all the great checkups.

Marlene said...

I'm glad everybody is doing good!

I wonder how many parents really do get all worked up over the predicted height of their child.

Wes said...

basketball center is not in Norah's future? blech... who cares? I love that you giggled...

I'll hold out hope for a slightly smaller baby this time :-)

Julie D said...

I'd kill (not really) to be 5'4"! Not sure why this is concerning to the doc at all!

Shellyrm ~ just a country runner said...

I'm 5'2" and a smidge. Short is where it's at!

Stacey said...

I give my dogs carrots as treats. They love them!

Nicole @ Haute Runner said...

Great news!! Those ultrasounds always seem to overestimate how big babies are going to be!
Caleb will be just perfect!

N.D. said...

That's pretty cool they estimated Norah's height actually. 5"4 is a good height! Sounds like everything is going well. I never thought the u/s at the end was helpful.

Erin said...

She didn't stop growing and 5'4" sounds downright tall for a female in your family :) I think that's why I love that doctor's office. They give it to you straight but also tread lightly to feel you out for a reaction.

Caleb will be just right also. I remember them telling you Norah would be gigantic too. You handled her just fine.

Scooter is a cute chunk la funk but he keeps the floors crumb free :) I am sure they won't lecture you too much. He still looks like a hot dog. If he starts looking like a hamburger, then you have a problem. *At least they don't tell you he's evil and prefer you sedate him before you bring him in. Annie goes back tomorrow for her check up. I am sure I will have a post about that.

teacherwoman said...

glad you all had good results at your appointments!

ajh said...

Will Scooter freak out when he has more competition? Our cat said oh the heck with it when the second one came and seemed to stop being jealous.

Jess said...

So glad to hear that you, the baby and Norah are all doing well!

And 5'4" isn't really that short. I think that's not too shy of average.

Alison said...

Ha! My son is in the 5th percentile for height and weight - he's 22 lbs at 21 months. I will be happy if he makes it to 5'4" :)

Robin said...

As a 5'4" female, I have to say its a pretty decent and probably fairly average height to be. Would I like to be taller? Sure but that's what high heels are for!

And I know of another dog that eats carrots--my min pin Lucien loves them. My other dog won't touch them but Lucien thinks they're great.

Glad yall are all checking out a-okay.

MCM Mama said...

My cat eats broccoli...

Nothing wrong with being petite. And I'm sure Caleb will be nice and sturdy, but it's not like you haven't done this before. ;o)

Unknown said...

As a mom of two HUGE babies, all I can say is that if your little guy does turn out to be big during the delivery and they suggest a c-section to help get him out - TAKE IT! Don't sacrifice your own lady parts just to say you did it naturally! Ha ha. Big babies can do a heck of a lot of damage...I BEGGED them to induce me but they won't do that here in Canada for reasons of size. Perhaps if they had, I wouldn't be waiting to have so much reconstructive surgery! Sorry, I don't mean to be rude and scare you, but keep it in mind! So glad everyone is well - enjoy your last few weeks!

d.a.r. said...

That's just so weird...like it is a huge accomplishment in your kids are tall? Odd.

Glad everyone is healthy!

MNFirefly said...

Both of my children were tall babies and tall toddlers. I already know that I am going to a shrimp compared to them. *sigh* I am jealous that you had ultrasound during your 36 week check-up. I wish I had that with the oldest. It might have prevented uncomfortable events during delivery. Sounds like he will be a tall baby.