4 month check up

Brody had his 4-month check up on February 11.  He is meeting all his milestones, including rolling over.  He got two more vaccines (HiB and Prevnar), and we will be going back in March to finish up the rest of the 4 month-ers.  He is still a LONG, skinny baby. Here are the stats:  length: 25 inches (55th percentile), head circumference:  16 inches (50th percentile) and weight: 12 lbs, 10 oz, (10th percentile).  Dr. Agolia was concerned that he hadn’t gained enough weight, he said that by 4 months Brody should have been double his birth weight.  I didn't think he was so little until I considered this... double 8 lbs 6 oz is almost 17 pounds, so we aren’t even close. 

We scheduled an Upper GI, to eliminate any structural abnormalities and to see if Brody has reflux (which we know because he spits up EVERYTHING he eats, hence the problems with the weight gain). 

Mercy Chidren’s hospital (where I work) has just opened their new Pediatric Testing and Treatment Center, so that is where we headed for Brody’s test.  

We checked in at the new Pediatric Admitting desk, and waited our turn.  The waiting room had lots of bright colors and fun pictures on the walls.  Brody watched trains on tv and looked around at everything while we waited.  Next, we went into the XRay room, and they gave me a shield to wear so I could stay in the room.  The tech fed him a bottle filled with Barium (yuck) and I took pictures while he ate.

The radiologist was really nice, and told us everything he was doing.  He even let me take pictures of the screen.  You can see all of his ribs.  Pretty cool huh?

nothing like a barium mustache...

Everything looked pretty normal, except that he has mild to moderate reflux (well, duh!), so we have started Zantac liquid 3 times a day.  So far, Brody has been taking it like a champ.  It tastes terrible, so I had the pharmacist flavor it grape.  He opens his mouth for each squirt, and even “helps” me by trying to hold the syringe.  We are scheduled for a weight check with Dr. Agolia on March 4th.