Just some doctor stuff

Today was Baby Girl's two month well check and H's three year well check. Baby Girl is now 11 pounds 8 ounces and 23 inches. H is 42 pounds and 40.5 inches. She is in the 50th percentile for weight and the 60th for height. He is in the 97th for height and the 98th for weight.

Okay, now that the stats have been properly (pseudo properly) recorded...

I am one of those mothers that firmly believes that we over vaccinate children here in the States. I am one of those mothers that also believes there is a link between vaccines and autism. My husband was raised in a third world country and contracted malaria twice, hepatitis once, and goodness knows what else. He lost two of his siblings at very early ages to illness. He has a niece and a nephew that are both permanently disabled because of childhood illness. He firmly believes in vaccination. So, we compromised. We decided to start our children on a scaled down vaccination schedule at age one.

H was born and we were in agreement that we would start vaccinating him after his first birthday. Then the months progressed and it was clear to us that there was something different about him. My family/friends/doctor were leaning towards autism as the answer to why he was different. They scared me. They scared us, and so it was decided that we would wait until H was three to start his vaccines. He received his first two today, which leaves him with two more that he will need this year and one that he will need next year.

I wanted a doctor that I had faith in, one that also had faith in my child. I wanted a doctor who believed that I as a mother had some credibility even though there isn't an MD after my name. I found one. We waited (and waited, waited, waited) for an opening in their practice. Finally when Baby Girl was born we were able to slip in because they started accepting newborns and their siblings. I had been eagerly anticipating the well check appointments we had today.

The doctor is convinced that H, based on meeting him, reviewing his records, and talking to me, is NOT autistic at all. She is confident in her diagnosis based on his exemplary communication skills. However, he shares many problems commonly found in children with autism. She notes that as being a curious kind of coincidence. We are now going to embark on a path to try and make H (and me) happier. She will treat him for yeast infection because he has problems with excess levels which is theorized to contribute to some of his behavioural issues. We will also start eliminating foods from his diet (like dairy, ugh) and see if he needs to be tested for food allergies. There are a million other little things that I am too tired to get into right now. I am putting all my eggs in our new doctor's basket. I sure hope that I am doing it because it is the right thing to do and NOT because she is telling me what I want to hear.

Having unburdened myself of this weight, I am going to bed. H fell asleep while I was typing. He is snoring on the Thomas table and I am contemplating replacing the Cranky the Crane under his head with a pillow and removing the rest of the trains and track so I can cover him up and leave him there. Hey, he is 42 pounds after all.