Doctor frustrations

Jacob now weighs twenty two pounds, 5.5 ounces. He's still 29 inches tall. This doctor's appt. he didn't like strange people touching him. I wish we could have had the same lady we had the past two visits, not only for continuity, but also because she was much nicer and seemed more concerned. I spent most of the actual doctor visit explaining backstory to the student and then the doctor. We decided to do an allergen IgE first, and if that's not the cause, then we can see a specialist. She said that basically means that he would just be predisposed to eczema and that if that's what is causing it (rather than a specific food or pollen or animal) than there is nothing you can do about it. But if it comes back that his levels aren't high on that test, than we'd have to do more testing to see what's causing his problem.
Then there was the issue of shots. The last two visits he couldn't get shots because of the medication for eczema. So he's behind. The doctor told me, ok, he's getting 8 shots today. And I said no he's not!
This was clearly new territory for her. She said which ones don't you want to give. I said, well, what are the eight shots? (And they wanted to do a flu shot on top of all that too!) She starts reading them off and she said well he should get this this and that. So she wasn't really letting me decide or even giving me time to consider. It was frustrating. So we left it at him getting four shots, which to be honest, I'm still not thrilled with, but I can live with four at once as opposed to eight. But then she comes back a minute later and says, Oh I forgot one of these is a three in one shot, so he can get an extra one! At the time Jacob was crying and wanting to get down and continue rearranging their furniture. So I wasn't fully paying attention. I tried to explain to her that my objection wasn't to four pricks with a needle, I just didn't want the vaccinations all at once. She said yes and left, but the more I thought about what she said the more it seemed that she wasn't understanding what I meant. I was unsure if she had done what I asked. She came back to bring lab papers and I apologized and questioned her about it once again. She said but the three vaccinations are all in one shot! I explained that I was sorry to be a bother, but I really wanted to minimize the amount of shots at once. He already has the eczema flared up-and that is essentially an immune response-and he also has high lead levels. I don't know if the lead would do anything or not, but having extra lead in your system certainly wouldn't help. I'd rather error on the side of caution. Let me be clear here, I wasn't even refusing the shots, just getting them all RIGHT NOW.

I'm just not comfortable with so many things that can cause so many adverse reactions being thrust on an immature immune system. Particularly when other factors like the eczema are involved.
The doctor said she's go check and see if they had prepared all the shots yet because they would be wasted if they were already prepared. So I said ok. Still not thrilled, but exhausted from two hours with three young children shut in a room with nothing to do. So he ended up with 5 instead of the four that I agreed to and the six that she wanted. Although she never explained to me that two of the others were three in one shots. So he had five needles inserted, but two of those needles had three vaccinations each. So he got vaccinations for NINE diseases today. I thought they would be taking away one of the three in one shots, and she never mentioned there were two of them.
He's supposed to come back in a month to get the other two shots yet. Oh yeah, and then in January he's due for his 18month checkup which means MORE shots! Oh joy.
I hate going to the clinic, both of them. They treat you like you're a moron and need the most basic parenting lessons. Does your child use a carseat? Don't let your child play with electricity. Can your child say 3 words? Sometimes it's kind of funny to hear these young students trying to give me advice on matters they've clearly never dealt with. In some cases book learning just does not trump real experience. The nurses never believe me when I say my kids don't need their limbs forcibly held down-just a hand around the wrist or leg in case they jerk with the shot or just in case. I don't need extra people to hold them down. Why isn't a parent's experience and observations about their child considered ever (not just with that issue)? I hate the condescending looks when I answer positively to them being able to speak many words or accomplish tasks. They aren't geniuses, but they do have a parent who interacts with them. I wish they would take individual patient's histories into consideration in matters like this one today.

Jacob's 2 month checkup

Jacob had his 2 month old checkup today. He's 23 1/2 inches long, which is a little taller than the average height. And he's 14 pounds, 5.8 oz, which is in the 95th percentile!

He got 5 shots today and one rotavirus "shot" which isn't a shot they give a dose orally. This is new, he's the first one who has had this. They told me to make sure to wash my hands after I change his diaper tonight because they give him a live virus. Wow. I can tell he's not himself tonight. I hate shots.

I think it will be interesting to see when Jacob starts solids, if it's sooner than his siblings since he's so much bigger. (I don't start them on food at a specific time like 4 or 6 months which is what they recommend. I wait until I see definite signs that they are physically ready and interested) The other three all started sometime during their 7th month, although with Leanna I felt pressured, I actually think she would have been fine with breastmilk alone until closer to a year. Leanna was my second biggest baby(smallest at birth, but she gained weight quickly), so size may not be the only factor for when they start solids.

2 week old checkup

At two weeks and two days old Jacob's up to 9 lbs, 7.4 oz, and 22 inches long. He's around the 90th percentile for height (Timothy's tall too) and I think the 75th for weight. The red circle around his eye is a normal bloodshot eye, a product of the fast birth (She said some Moms get them from pushing too). It'll disappear within a month and has no effect on his vision.

It's funny how many tiny little things there are with kids like that. There were a million things they thought were wrong with Leanna(birthmark on her forehead, supposed click in her hips, galactosemia, sachral dimple, etc....) Justin had a blocked tear duct, the hypospadius and for a while eczema. He had a lot of infant acne and the sachral dimple too. Timothy had jaundice and much later eczema/weird skin rash. Jacob has an extremely mild hypospadius too. We still have to take him to the urologist to get it looked at, but it might not need surgery. In fact, the pediatrician didn't mention it to me at either visit so they might not have even noticed it.
So now we're free of doctor visits until mid-September!(Jacob in September, Timothy and Justin in November)