The Stats

Noah had his 6 month well visit today. Other than getting hungry in the middle of it, resulting in a fussy baby, he did really well.

So here are the stats:

Weight: 23.8 lbs
Length: 27.5 in
Head Cir: 47 cm

He got shots again, which I hate. I don't hate that they'll keep him well. I just hate watching him scream in pain. Brad cries every time. This time, though, he realized he had to be stronger, because if Noah saw him get upset, it would make it worse. The worst part? Tears. He had tears. Real, watery, crocodile tears. Ugh. Awful. But we're all okay. We all survived, and now, you wouldn't know he even had any shots. Thank God for Tylenol.

The best part of the visit for me? The simple fact that the practice we chose respects the decisions of the parents. We were asked if Noah was going to get a flu shot today. We just said no, and that was it. No discussion, no lecture, no "you realize the ramifications of this decision..." talk. We got to be parents, and there were no arguments about it. I'm actually so thrilled, that I'll be writing a thank you note to them this weekend.
It's not that I don't ever want him to get a flu shot. It's just that we're not comfortable with it at this early stage. And really, the kid doesn't go anywhere. We go to Target twice a month for groceries, and we visit family. That's it. Brad is finally agreeing to let us go to church this Sunday. He refused to let Noah go to church until he was at least 6 months old. I have a feeling, though, that if anyone so much as sneezes, we're outa there. I've been having serious withdrawals actually, since I was too uncomfortable at the end of my pregnancy to go. Ok, maybe I was also a tad humiliated at my size. And I couldn't bend my ankles, because I didn't have any... kind of necessary to walk. So I made it clear that what I wanted for Valentine's Day this year, was to go to church. Yep.

(Fortunately, my husband is great and is also taking me out on a date. I mean, really, I like church and all, but spending some QT with the man is always nice too, especially for VDay.)

If you're wondering, yes, my son still needs a helmet. His head has actually gotten much better on its own, though. We've graduated from plagiocephaly (flat mostly on one side) to braciocephaly (just a flat spot in the back).

We've been working on this for 2 months now. At first, we were referred to Cranial Technologies, who are the best of the best on this issue (aka. expensive). Our insurance would cover it, but it's out-of-network, which means LOTS of $$ out of pocket. Money that we just don't have.
So we filed a "network exception" since we thought they were the only ones in town that would handle this type of thing. Turns out, we were referred to an orthotics & prosthetics place (yes, the kind of place that makes fake legs).

At our first meeting with them, there was an obvious difference between them and Cranial Tech. While CT was in a huge complex, full of cute artwork and bright colors, this place was pretty office-y and small.
The clients at CT were all infants. The new place? Well, we walked in and there was a young man (20's) missing the lower half of his right leg.

Now, this totally doesn't bother me. My late granddad (the one on David Letterman) had severe diabetes and lost most of his leg. I'm familiar with the whole concept, and I don't get freaked out by it. He was a sweet guy too. But between him sitting there, smelling of cigarettes, and the receptionist (who I'm assuming must have a fake eye because only one seems to be looking at you, while the other is looking at the ceiling I think), I was secretly longing for CT and all their pricey cuteness.

Such is life, though.

So to get to the point...

We had to switch places, retake measurements, and now we're rewaiting on the insurance stuff to process it. I'm hoping to get this helmet on him before he's a year old. Otherwise, I might just go get some foam from Michaels and make one myself.

ps. Totally being sarcastic. I'm not ignorant enough to try that. :)