First Physical

Ariana, this is for you and posterity...

You are 31 1/2 inches tall standing up but 33 1/2 inches long laying down. There are different charts for height and length. Your height is fifth percentile and your length was 45th percentile... even though the charts are different to adjust for gravity pulling down the spine.. Bizarre. So we will go with 25% being in the middle.

You weighed 20.5 lbs at that moment. I see it fluctuate at home from 20.2lbs to 22 lbs.. but at that moment, after a full breakfast you were in the 5% for weight.

The good news was that your head is around the 50%. I missed the exact #.

They drew blood. The first time they dug around your right arm and never got a vein. EWWW. They really didn't think it was ever going to work. But your left arm opened right up and filled the entire syringe. Let's hope it is enough for the 3 vials full they need for all the test they want to run. They are going to do the normal blood count stuff, anemia etc.. but they are also testing for antibodies to show you have been vaccinated already.

They also squirted some serum up your arm to check for TB. We go back tomorrow to find out the results.

On Thursday I dropped off a stool sample. You had a bowel movement with blood in it. The doctors were calm. I was not. They don't seem shocked given the giardia.

And, of course there was the famous urine sample your dad got to help collect. I really wanted them to test for candida, but I think they said, 'sure' and then didn't ask for it. The lab tech didn't see it on the request form.

You have these random lesions on your skin. They are scaly and somewhat round. The doctor said that it was a reaction to a button. But, I commented that you get them on your privates and that you don't have a single outfit with buttons. Then, he said it was just eczema. They don't bleed. They don't seem to bug you. So we will just be patient and see what it is.

You had a cold so I had no intention on letting you get any immunizations. The good news was that no one planned on giving you one. That is going to be quite the battle. If you were an Ox like your brothers, I wouldn't bother with it. But, you have had one ailment or another since I met you, and I don't think your immune system is ready to deal with all 3 parts of a MMR shot. Research agrees with me, so if you need shots, you will be healthy (not on any antibiotics especially amoxicillin) and they will be given 1 at a time at least a month apart from each other.

Honestly, you are a strong little girl. I just want to heal your gut so you can absorb all the nutrients you consume and have more immunity to fight off all these new American versions of viruses and bacteria that you are being exposed to for the first time.

I was happy to report how you are copying my words now and that is a great start to language acquisition. You still call 95% of everything Dada.. but mimicking is wonderful progress. I swear you can speak Russian. You have definite phrases you repeat especially when you are scolding Aidan for being loud. We really need to try to tape you talking.