9 month pediatrician appointment

I took Cameron in for her 9 month well baby visit at the pediatrician today. First and foremost, it was our first appointment where she didn't need any shots!! Poor girl has endured so many shots in her short life with everything in the NICU, her RSV vaccinations, and then our regular vaccinations. So that was really exciting!

She was 15 lb 1.4 oz, 24.5 inches. She is 30th percentile for weight, 10th percentile for height, and 50th percentile for head circumference (all for her adjusted age). Still definitely not on the charts for her actual age for height and weight, but she just barely made it on the chart for her actual age for head circumference! Really it's not a big deal but somehow I still think it's exciting.

We will be going to three puree meals per day with Cameron and we will be starting meats. Her eating habits are becoming more and more like an adult's. It just seems crazy to me how fast Cameron is becoming more of a "person" and less of "just a baby". At night Cameron still wakes up for one nighttime feeding sometimes (about half the time) so her doctor hopes that upping her puree intake will help her sleep through the night every night. It's not a guarantee but it could help. Her doctor just doesn't want her body being trained to need a feed in the middle of the night since a baby her age really doesn't need one anymore.

We have a couple appointments coming up this summer with specialists. Cameron's pediatrician wrote an order for another echocardiogram which we go for on July 30. Remember the hole in Cameron's heart (PDA)? Well they want to make sure it has closed. If not they may explore avenues of closing it, which means surgery :( Hopefully it is closed though, the murmur that used to be there is no longer audible. Also, in late July we go to see the developmental neonatologist at the NICU follow up clinic. There they will do what's called a Bayley screening, which thoroughly screens her development. I really expect everything to go well with that. As far as development goes Cameron's pediatrician is thrilled, she just thinks she is doing absolutely wonderful. But we shall see. Lastly, later in the summer, probably September, we have to go to another ophthalmologist appointment. After her ROP resolved her doctor wanted us to come back at a year and have a follow up appointment just to make sure that everything is still going well. Preemies just need closer attention paid to their eyes because of their medical history. So anyways, those are all of our upcoming appointments. Hopefully after we finish with those Cameron will no longer need special appointments and will only need to continue on with her well baby appointments, wouldn't that be something!