Dr. Appointments

Joshua, Will and I have had a few appointments lately that I want to share with you all.

First Joshua - I finally took him in for his 3 year well check on 5/16 (I know, a little late!). Now Joshua has always been little, or petite as I like to say. He was only 6 lbs, 12 oz at birth, which was my smallest baby. So, at two years old, not only could he not walk very good, run, jump, etc. He was also still very petite. I just found the piece of paper the doctor's office gave me at his appointment last year and here were his stats - weight: 23 lbs (5th%) and height: 33 inches (10th-25th%). His stats at his 3 year visit - weight: 28 lbs (25th%) and height: 38 inches (50th-75th%)!!!! Can you believe it?? So, in the last year he has learned to walk more steady, run, jump, he gained some major confidence and independence, he's gained 5 pounds and grown 5 inches!!! He's a normal sized 3 year old! I'm so proud and so relieved! The struggle with Joshua's weight has been a huge concern of mine since he was born. There were times between 9 months and 2 years old that he would completely plateau and drop off the charts. The fact that he's not only on the chart but in the 25th% for his weight is incredible! Now, he's still shorter than all the other 3 year olds we know, but that's okay!! I know that he's healthy and strong and thriving!

Now for Will's appointment - he had his first appointment with an orthodontist. For those of you that don't know, Will has an under bite that he unfortunately inherited from my dad. Will's dentist referred us to an orthodontist and we had an appointment last week. I think Dr. Woo (the dentist) just thought the orthodontist (Dr. Manley) would want to see Will once a year to keep an eye on his mouth. I think Dr. Woo will be a little surprised when I call and tell her that Dr. Manley wants to start treatment now! I sure was! So, my 6 year old will have an expander put on his upper back molars that I will get to crank every day for 2 weeks. Then after 4 weeks they're going to put him in head gear to pull his top jaw forward. He'll have to wear that for 12 hours a day for 11 months! What will all of this accomplish. Well, hopefully it will correct the under bite for now while his mouth is still pliable (I guess that's the word). He could however still wind up with an under bite as he continues to grow. The next step there would be jaw surgery, should we choose to proceed with that. Dr. Manley said that if we didn't do this now, than the only way to correct it later would be jaw surgery. So, by proceeding with their recommendation we could possibly be avoiding jaw surgery later in life and if not, then it will make treatment less severe later in life. Got it? I know, it confused me a little too! So, he goes in for x-rays in a week and then we'll get started. When I called to make his appointment at the radiography place she said that his was the youngest birthday she had scheduled an appointment for.

Ok, lastly, Me - I had an appointment at the eye doctor. I found out all kinds of things at this appointment! I really like this doctor, he was so nice and very thorough. He really took his time, listened to me and explained everything!! So, I'm farsighted in my right eye and my right eye has an astigmatism. Oh, it also has something called GBC, I'm not sure exactly what it is, but I know that it causes my eyelid to look like a cobblestone street, instead of being smooth. My last eye doctor told me that and gave me eye drops for it, but she never told me what it was! LOL! My left eye is almost perfect! So, I decided that it might just be time for contact lenses. I tried them back in jr. high and HATED them! But, I also really don't like wearing my glasses. I almost didn't pass the vision test when I got my Washington driver's license, so I decided it was time to try again with the contacts. It's going pretty good so far! He originally gave me a toric lens for my right eye and that drove me absolutely insane!! Toric lenses are made for astigmatisms and they're thicker than the regular lenses. So, the one in my left eye was great, but my right eye - not so great! I went back last week to pick up a different lens for my right eye and I like it SO much better! It's an Acuvue Advance for Astigmatisms. It's thinner than the toric lens and I can hardly feel it. I may just be a contact girl!! It's great to be able to see with out having to wear my glasses!

Ok, I think that about covers the appointments for now. I'll update you all again later if something significant happens. If you think about Will, please keep him in your prayers. He's VERY apprehensive about new things and I'm not so sure how he's going to do with the x-rays and with letting them cement this expander to his teeth.

Thanks!