9 Month Check Up

Today was Ben's 9 month check up. He had his second flu shot (booster) and his first H1N1 shot. They also drew blood to check for anemia and he barely flinched during the finger prick (test came back normal). He has had more blood drawn and IVs in his short little life than I have had in all of mine.

He weighs 17 lbs 3 oz. and is 26 inches long. That puts him in the bottom fifth percentile for weight and the third percentile for height. The pediatrician said that if he doesn't grow more in length, then at his one year appointment he would like to run tests to check his growth hormones and thyroid levels. This came as unnerving, but not a huge surprise because I have been concerned about his size for quite a while now.

Yesterday we met with Dr. Sami and the helmet company, Larson Inc. Dr. Sami said Ben's head looks great and his healing is going very well. In the picture above, you can see how small it looks when compared to his first surgery scar.

Larson had to make a plaster mold of Ben's head. He is older than most of the babies that require this and he threw a huge fit. It only took ten minutes, but it was a long ten. He pulled the plaster away the first chance he got and we had to hold his hands. By the time it was over we were all covered in plaster.

His helmet won't be here for two more weeks. This is much longer than we originally expected, but I am out of paid sick days so I'm going back to work on Monday anyway. I'm sure Josh will be fine with Ben for those two weeks before Christmas break.