Well Checks

TJ and Mikayla went in for their 6 year and 4 month well checks today.

The title of this post could have been "K-Ching!" or "Success!" or "We Made It!"

Mikayla is thriving and growing, and has increased in percentile in all areas. While this does not seem surprising to anyone who sees her, the story behind it all is that she has been almost exclusively breastfeeding, by her choice, for the last month.

About a month ago, Mikayla seemingly stopped eating, both breast and bottle. I was pumping just to keep supply up. At first we thought that she had just slowed on her growing, but after 5 days of very frustrating feeding sessions (45 min. just to get 3 oz down), I took her to the doctor, who clearly thought she was having some sort of heartburn issue. After a few days on the medication, she started to eat again, but only at the breast. (She does take a few random bottles here and there from the ladies at the Y, Scott, and Stacy at one point.) I was not confident that she was getting enough from me, but decided that I was just tired of stressing about it all, and I wasn't going to worry about it until the doctor told me she wasn't growing as expected at her appointment today. I stopped pumping (unless I clearly missed a big feeding) except for once in the middle of the night, and, well, the story is good from here on out.

Here are her stats:

Weight: 13lbs, .5 oz (38th percentile, up from 13th)

Length :2' .5" (62th percentile, up from 6th)

Head Circumference: 15.98" (42th percentile, up from 16th)


The doctor was extremely pleased at her growth, and found nothing else to be concerned about.

Developmentally:
-still sleeping 8 hours a night
-rolls over from side to side and stomach to back
-loves her baths, finally!
-stares at and focuses on her fingers before shoving them into her mouth
-grabs rattles
-turns toward voices
-smiles, giggles, coos, and razzes
-loves to read, and the boys love to read to her
-sits with support, holding head up, for long periods

Here is Luka reading to Mikayla:


Here is TJ, loving on his sister, and she is loving on him!

TJ also had a great check-up! Dr. Parkerson told him that he has one of the thinnest files, meaning he must be very healthy indeed! He got his final booster for chicken pox (ironic since Luka just had them) and needs no more vaccinations until 7th grade. He did fine and afterwards said "that was no big deal."

Dr. Park also said that he continues to gain momentum with his height and weight, especially for being a preemie. Stats:

Weight: 39lbs (15th percentile)

Height :3' 9" (42th percentile)

BMI: 13.8 (6th percentile)

Great job TJ!