four month appointment

December 16

On Thursday, I took Miller to the doctor for his 4-month checkup. He weighed 14 pounds 10 ounces and was 27 inches long! He was only in the 38th percentile for weight but was in the 96th percentile for height. He is long and skinny! and is back on the right track for weight gain.

We saw Dr. Mange, who has been substituting for Dr. Knippers since he has been out on medical leave. I hate to be a complainer, but I really do not like Dr. Mange. We also saw her when I took Miller to have him weighed at the beginning of November. The day before Miller's 4-month appointment (which was originally scheduled for December 10) , the office called to let me know that we would be seeing Dr. Mange instead of Kathy. I told them that I would prefer to reschedule his appointment so that we could see Kathy. So, I rescheduled for December 16 and was very surprised to see Dr. Mange instead of Kathy. After our appointment, I told them that I was supposed to see Kathy and asked them to put a note in our chart that we would prefer to see only Kathy or Dr. Knippers. Dr. Mange is rougher with Miller and was unable to offer me suggestions for questions that I had. Instead, she smirked and treated me like I was ignorant. Kathy is so gentle and playful with Miller and really puts him at ease during her assessment. She always explains exactly what she is looking for and gives me great advice. Even though I hate complaining about people, I feel that it is important to always have a healthcare provider that you feel comfortable with and that you feel is giving you the best possible care. When it comes to the health of my child, I will always advocate for him. This is one situation where you shouldn't be a pushover.

Therefore, I didn't feel like I had any of my questions answered. Miller still does not sleep through the night and has been waking up several times a night. I asked Dr. Mange for suggestions to help Miller sleep through the night because Colby and I are both exhausted. She just replied that there was nothing we could do. Overall, she said that Miller was healthy and that we could start feeding him rice cereal anytime around 5 or 5 ½ months.

Miller also had his 4-month immunizations. He was much easier to comfort this time than at his 2-month appointment. He was pretty sleepy for the next day or two and even had a fever of 100.9. He wasn't very fussy and the Tylenol helped with his fever. He was back to his normal, playful self after a couple of days.