it pours

I brought Olivia for her 1yr check-up this morning. We had the worst nurse ever - she rivals Nurse Ratched. She asked me lay Olivia down on the table so she could measure her head. I warned her that she hates her head touched and has an independent mind lately. I offered to hold her in my arms upright and she could sneak the measurement of her head just like the other nurses in the office have done in the past. She refused and instructed me to lay her down on the table. Of course, Olivia freaked out - shaking her head back and forth and waving her hands. I tried holding her still the best I could only to hear the nurse say "Um, Mom - could you do something to hold her still? I can't do everything! I'm not Supernurse!" Clearly. She finally got her head measurement and did a quick length measurement but it was shotty at best. She didn't stretch her heals or try to get her body in a straight line. Olivia was 28in long by her measurements. We then go into the hallway to get her weight. The nurse attempted to zero the scale but didn't place the pad on the scale first. I had to ask her to zero the scale again before placing Olivia on it. Olivia weighed 18 lbs even. We go back to the room to wait for the pediatrician where we waited for at least 15mins. When the pediatrician came in she immediately got to work. She first addressed Olivia's skin tone noting its orange-yellow appearance. It has been this color long before she started eating carrots, sweet potatoes, and squash. The pediatrician said to watch the whites of her eyes for any yellow coloring since this could indicate a liver problem. She then shows me the weight and height charts and points to the dots slightly off the chart that represent where Olivia stands. She said her weight was acceptable since babies tend to lose or plateau when they become more active but she was concerned with the fact that her height had declined slightly. She suggested that Olivia might have a thyroid or growth hormone issue going on that would explain her slow growth. I couldn't believe it! What else could go wrong in one appointment? The pediatrician suggested that we wait three months until her next appointment and recheck her height. If it's still an issue we'd get her thyroid and growth hormone checked with a blood test. Because we are going through this with Jake, I requested that we have the blood test done before leaving the office. Olivia got three shots which left welts and blood stains on her clothes. We then headed down to the lab to get her blood drawn. My poor girl was stuck four times before we left the building.

When we finally got home I made her a bottle and cuddled with her on the couch until she fell asleep on my chest. She was so peaceful in my arms after such a stressful morning. I placed my lips on her forehead for a minute breathing in her sweet smell. For these short moments my baby was safe with me.