02 May 2007

Noel's six-month checkup

We went to Noel's appointment this morning while Dominick was at PDO. It was so nice not having to keep Dom from leaving the exam room every few minutes! The trade-off was that Noel's nap had to be delayed, but he went to sleep when we got home without any problems. He had three shots today, which left him a little tired and fussy. You can see in this photo that he was feeling out of it. Poor guy.

As usual, the appointment started with weighing and measuring. At six months, Noel weighs 14 pounds, 6 ounces and measures 26 inches long. While he's still in the fiftieth percentile for length and head circumference, his weight has dropped to fifth-tenth percentile from 25th percentile at the last visit. With all the eating he's been doing, this came as a bit of a surprise. The doctor wants us to start him on solid foods right away and come back in a month for a weight check. I cooked and strained some sweet potatoes tonight but didn't think Noel was up to trying them tonight. Maybe he'll feel better tomorrow.

The other concern is Noel's birthmark. The doctor doesn't think it's likely to go away. I can't remember the term for the kind of birthmark he has (it starts with a v), only the kind he doesn't have (capillary hemangioma). She pointed out that he has a patch of several small spots at the back of his head. I never noticed it under all the hair. Obviously, this was disappointing news. Still, the mark should fade, and laser treatments are a possibility in the future.

The good news is that, apart from these two issues, Noel is doing very well. He's right where he should be developmentally. Also today, the doctor's office set up Noel's follow-up renal scan at the hospital. It's scheduled for May 23. If the ultrasound shows that the kidneys are growing properly and the hydronephrosis has resolved on its own, we won't have to do anything else.

Here's another photo of Noel. He's just started sucking his toes. Everything goes in his mouth these days! He was even going after the doctor's fingers while she was listening to his heart.




3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's torture looking at these photos and not being able to get my hands on the drooly little thing!

Anonymous said...

Well, he may be skinny when compared to Dom at the same age, but he still looks healthy to me!

Kelly said...

I think so, too. But how strange that one kid is at the very top of the growth chart and the other near the bottom. They both ate the exact same thing for the first six months!

I should also clarify that the birthmark doesn't bother us: we just don't want it to cause Noel any problems when he starts school. At least he'll have a big, strong older brother to take care of him!