Skinny minnie

I took Rachel and Zoë to the doctor for their (somewhat) annual check ups today. My kids all go in the fall because we've always needed a physical for school paperwork when moving...and have always moved in the summer right before school starts. I suppose we would have needed to go in to become "established" patients at a clinic, anyway. You can't wait to become an established patient, otherwise you might not be able to snag a sick-child visit when you need one right? So, they all went in for physicals in the fall after moving here, but then their visit dates have been creeping later and later in the calendar year because insurance will only cover one well-child visit in a 12-month period. 

So last year Rachel and Zoë had their doctor appointment late in October. But this year they had it on November 2 instead. The next batch of kids to go will be Alexander and Benjamin. And finally (at the very end of November) Phoebe and Miriam. 

Soon we'll be taking the kids to the doctor in December, I'm sure! 

I understand the policy regarding only one well-child visit annually. I just wish they were a little more chill about the dates. Like, maybe have a policy that well-child visits must average out to be 1 per year and must not be closer than 340 days to the last visit...or something. That way it would be possible to keep the appointment more or less around the same date each year—or if you get off for some reason, you can get back on your preferred date later.

For example, I've often heard the suggestion to schedule well-child checks on your child's birthday. We don't follow that advice, personally, because who wants to go to the doctor on their birthday? 

Happy birthday! Let me stab your arm 1–4 times! Have a nice day!

But, like, if we were to follow that advice, what happens when the child's birthday falls on a Saturday? Suddenly you have to wait until the following Monday for an appointment—which will no longer be your typical day. And then the next time you call, they simply tell you (as I so often hear when I call to make appointments—and I literally have reminders in my calendar for me to make appointments for my kids early...ish), "We have an appointment available for you on November 2." 

I have no control over it! They just look at their calendar and stick me later and later in the year, which makes sense, given the rules they have to follow re: insurance and so forth. But, like, eventually it might be nice to start these well-child checks earlier in the year. 

Anyway, I took Rachel and Zoë to the doctor for their well-child checks. They are both doing well.

Rachel was ecstatic to be told she's 67"—that's 5'7"! She's super happy because 5'6.5" is, according to her, "such a lame height!". She's still hoping to grow another inch, but her growth has slowed significantly, which means she might be just about as tall as she's going to get. 

Zoë, on the other hand, grew three inches! She is now 53" tall (4'5"), which is the 77th percentile for height, so she's tall! The doctor raised some concern, however, because she's only 49.4 lbs (which is the 12th percentile for weight). That gives her a BMI of 12.4, which is...less than the 1st percentile. 

So now we've been assigned to feed her lots of nuts and peanut butter and drizzle everything possible in olive oil and have her guzzle whole milk. Which we can do. We are not lipid-phobes at our house. 

I just...can't guarantee that anything she consumes will stick to her bones...

The doctor asked about celiac symptoms and/or family history. My sister Kelli has celiac disease and I actually had myself tested for it when we first moved out here because I was having tummy troubles (that turned out to simply be...stress...and cashews...), but I don't have any indication of celiac disease (and my sister thinks it perhaps runs on her mother's side, so thus wouldn't be a risk factor in my DNA). Plus, Zoë doesn't really complain about tummy troubles. 

I don't think it's a lack of absorption? I think it's more about...just burning up energy really quickly. 

She's just going to be skinny for a while. That's all. 

I will absolutely try to be more mindful about getting more calories into her body—and will hope for results the doctor is looking for so that we don't have to visit the nutritionist (who I am sure is very nice, but who I would simply like to avoid visiting anyway). She has to come back in six months, so wish us luck!