first trip to the pediatrician

We had our first appointment at the pediatrician's office today. It was a little nerve-wracking since we have kept ourselves so secluded for the past week and then thrust ourselves into the germ-filed world walking into the doctor's office! We requested an appointment right after lunch to cut down on the number of people we would come in contact with and they let us right into the exam room so there was no waiting room exposure. Unfortunately, we are so in tune with the NICU standards of germ control that we were a little taken aback by some of our experience - ie: the lack of gloves and the sniffling nurse (we are hoping it was just allergies!). Maybe we should have said something, but we were so overwhelmed with it all!

The good news is Charlie has gained weight since last week. It is a little hard to tell exactly how much because the NICU measures in grams and the pediatrician's measure in pounds and ounces. He was about 10 lbs 2 oz last week and he was 10 lbs 9 oz today. That was an exciting gain for us, but while we were congratulating Charlie on being average in length (23 3/4 inches - 50th percentile) the nurse calculated his weight in the 5th percentile. So we still have room for improvement! Dr. Dracker was pleased with how much Charlie is eating though, so we will get there.

Charlie did have to get the rotavirus vaccine today. Luckily it is an oral one, so no needles there. He got the rest of his vaccines at the hospital, but not this one for some reason. Dr. Dracker thought it was important because the rotavirus can cause vomiting and diarrhea - which we do not need when trying to gain weight! He also had blood work done to check his bilirubin numbers (related to his jaundice) and his blood count.  We should get those results tomorrow. 

So, everything looked good. Dr. Dracker was pleased and was insistent that he would like to be the one keeping tabs on Charlie. The nurse practitioner in the office takes care of most patients on a regular basis, but Dr Dracker would like to be the one consistently seeing Charlie because of his history. This pleased us, especially since he suggested it before we even brought it up. We go back in 4 weeks for the next rotavirus and 4 weeks after that for the rest of his immunization boosters and a check up.