9 Year Well Child Check

Today we got to go see Dr. Benson again.  I love to see him.  He is such a sweet doctor. I hope he is around for a long time still. 

Mei does worry about shots.  She just worries herself sick about if she's gonna get a shot.  I did tell her that last year they told her that unless something changes she would not have to have a shot until she's 11 years old.  So she was happy for a while then.  But when we left she worried, and when we were in the car she worried, and when we got to the clinic she worried, and while we sat and waited she worried.  As soon as sweet nurse Kasey called us back Mei asked her, "Do I have any shots?"  The nurse told her that usually 9 year olds don't have shots, but that Dr. Benson had the last say.  When Dr. Benson walked into the room, the first thing he did was say, "First I have something very important to tell you. There won't be any shots today.  Would that be ok with you?"  Mei grinned and said, "Yes, that would be ok."  He says, "Yes, I know sometimes some people worry about that shot a bit, so I just wanted to make sure to let you know right away."  So she relaxed finally. 

Next thing the doctor did was check her growth and mark her growth chart.  I'm always excited to hear this, because it just seems like she grows so much every year.  This year she grew 3.25" and gained 8.6 pounds.  This put her at 65% for height and 55% for weight with a 50% BMI on the growth chart.  So, as I thought she has just shot up even more in the last year.  I'm looking back and the last 3 years she has been at 50% in all 3 areas.   When she was 5 she was 50% height and 40% weight, when she was 4 she was 50% height and 25% weight.  Interesting to look back.  And looking forward - it won't be long and she'll pass me up.  She's only 8.25" shorter than me!  Yikes!

We talked about her allergies.  They were even worse this past year.  I had only noticed cats and horses, but now I'm sure she also has plant allergies.  The doctor suggested that we put her on a once a day dose of Loratadine (Claratin).  He also said we probably won't ever want to have our windows open, just use the AC.  We do that because our neighbors don't clean up their yard and it literally stinks so bad we can't sleep with the windows open.  So I guess that worked out well.  It's good to know that it was beneficial for Mei that they were closed.  Makes me feel a bit better about being forced to keep the windows closed. 

We talked about her anxiety.  I told Dr. Benson of the various therapies we had gone through in the past year and the sensory issues that we have learned of.  He asked Mei when she's in school, does she like it better and can she learn better if there's lots of noise and commotion or is it easier for her if it's calm.  She said, she can learn better and likes it better if it's quiet and calm.  She told him that she was at a parade and that it was so loud there.  He said, well he's proud of her that she went to a parade even tho it's so loud for her.  And that after something like that, then she would probably feel much better if she would do something very quiet and calm for a while.  He said that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to go to a parade and then go straight to a sleepover with a whole bunch of girls, that it might be just too much commotion for her and too hard one her.  He told her that he wouldn't be surprised if she is an author when she grows up, or something similar to that.  It was great, him saying that.  Mei talks all the time about that she is going to be an author (along with other things:) when she grows up.  I wouldn't be surprised if she is.  Right now, she loves to write.

We talked of other things too, but mostly just the normal doctor visit stuff.

And so another year of growth behind us.  What will the next year bring?  Even more growth, I am sure, in more ways than one.