Last Wednesday was the babies 15 month well-check appointment. It proved to be quite an adventure. In order to see our favorite doc, we agreed months ago to make the appointment at the pediatrician's south office (about 40 minutes south). Then, about a week before Joe told me he had to be in Boise that day. I called the office to reschedule, but realized as I hung up that it is not that easy for them to block 3 appointments in a row quickly. I remembered that one of my closest friends lives near the south office, so I called her and she volunteered to meet us there. I called the doc's office back & said "never mind" & we were set.
Wednesday morning was crazy. I managed to get in the shower, dress the babies, feed the babies, get them packed up, get JP fed and ready to go, load up the babies in the stroller and walk JP to the bus, come home, load up the car & go all before 7:45 am. All this with only about 2 sips of coffee! I did have to turn around a few blocks from home because I realized I forgot to put the double stroller in the car. The ride down was pretty good until Madison dropped her binky and decided to complain about it. She calmed down once Caitlin started playing with her, but then Caitlin dropped her own binky and I heard her complaining from her for the next 20 minutes. Ryan & Madison were able to fall asleep as Caitlin continued "explaining" to me how unhappy she was. Then, about 10 minutes from the office Caitlin threw up about 4 times all over herself & the car seat. Yuk. I was on the highway and not much I could do except tell her we would be there soon. Of course even with my mapquest directions it took me about an extra 5 minutes to find the place because I was so focused on her.
Stephanie was waiting for us and was so helpful in carrying my naked baby into the office. I did think about bringing extra clothes as I packed the diaper bag, but thought- no I've brought them to every doctor's appt. and never needed them before! The nurses laughed that she had to be in only her diaper anyway, so it was just fine.
The visit itself went great. The babies are all doing well developmentally & I really didn't have many concerns. Ryan does have some eczema patches we have to try and clear up, but really its pretty amazing how great they're doing. My doctor even commented on how the 3 of them have never had many issues and their appointments can take less time than some parents with only one kid. Then we both said "knock on wood!" because I don't want to jinx it. I can't express enough how blessed I feel that these kiddos are all "normal" 15-month-olds!
The babies did have to get 4 shots each, a flu shot & 3 others. We did delay an MMR shot because of # they were getting. It's never easy to watch them get these shots and instead of doing them all at them same time as in the past, they did them one-by-one, which actually made it harder. Caitlin was last and by the time they got to her she knew exactly what was coming and was not to happy about it! Luckily they all recovered quickly. The office even keeps spare clothes so Caitlin didn't have be naked the whole way home. Armed with lots of wet & dry paper towels, and a paper blanket to put on the car seat, we headed out and Stephanie entertained the kiddos in the parking lot while I cleaned up the car seat as best I could. The ride home was fine. A little stinky, but I found a drive-thru Starbucks and finally had some coffee (at 10:50 am), so that made it much better!
Here's the kiddos 15-month stats:
Ryan: 25lbs 10oz (55%) 32 in tall (75%) 19 in head (80%)
Caitlin: 20lbs 13oz (20%) 30.5 in tall (50%) 18 in head (50%)
Madison: 19lbs 14oz (6%) 30.5 in tall (50%) 17.75 in head (25%)
The rest of the day was a little crazy as well. When JP was set to get off the bus, 2 of the babies were still asleep and of course it looked like it was going to start pouring down rain any second. I put on a movie for Madison and ran an umbrella down 2 blocks to the bus stop for another Dad to give to JP. Of course I was only gone about 3 minutes & Maddi was still sitting in the same place when I returned, but it did get my heart pumping!
Just when I thought this exciting day was coming to an end, it was topped off with a call to Poison Control. I had just finished giving the babies bathes and was bringing them downstairs one-by-one with Ryan being last. He took advantage of the laundry doors being open (from me washing the throw up clothes) and grabbed the bottle of OxiClean liquid stain remover. When I got upstairs, he had made a nice puddle on the floor and his PJ's were wet from sitting in it. I immediately stuck my fingers in his mouth and then licked them. It tasted a little like soap, but not much. I'm sure he didn't drink it, but I think he tasted some. I called JP to keep an eye on the other two as I put Ryan back in the bath. I then made him drink water like the bottle said. I called my sister, 1 of our 2 pediatricians in the family, who said that he would probably be fine, but she thought I should call Poison Control. She said they are very nice people and I should get comfortable calling them because with 3, I may need to do it again. I did call and they confirmed that he should be just fine, but to keep an eye out in case he vomits. He was fine. In fact, after that crazy day, all the babies were just fine, JP was just fine, and I was just fine. Well, actually a little tired and ready for my hubby to come home! :-)
