Elise and Margot had their two-month well baby visit this morning. At 7.3 weeks, Elise measured 22 inches in length, her head circumference was 35 cm, and she weighed 7 lbs. 15 oz. (One or two more days at this rate daddy and she WILL be ready for that baby Bjorn!) Our pediatrician was quite pleased. He said that Elise is at the 50% percentile in terms of her growth as compared to normal children (Trisomy 21 babies have their own growth charts, but we're not mapping against them at this time.) Margot measured 21.1 inches in length, her head circumference was 34.5 cm, and she weighed 6 lbs 14 oz. (The pediatrician did not tell me what growth percentile this measures up to, and unfortunately I forgot to ask.)
Both girls had their DTP immunizations as well as their polio vaccines. We will hold off until next week on the other two immunizations that babies normally get their two month well visit as the girls will be getting their Synergis shots tomorrow. Since we'll be back to the pediatrician again next week for a weight check, the doctor agreed that it would be wise to space these shots out a bit.
Both girls cried out when they received their injections; however the tears stopped soon after the shots were administered. The pediatrician told me that this is a typical response for babies with Down syndrome as they have a higher threshold for pain. That made me a little sad, but I quickly comforted myself by looking at the chart on the wall in the exam room that lists the developmental milestones that babies should be achieving with each increasing month.
According to the poster, they should be opening their hands, tracking you with their eyes/following you with their head, beginning to hold their head up on their own for increasing periods of time, pushing up with their arms from their belly, smiling in response to your smile, and a couple of other things that I am not remembering at the moment. I celebrated the fact that our girls are clearly doing all of those things. The doctor even commented that the girls are very strong. I told him that I agreed, and reminded him that Margot had her roll-over incident last week. I asked him to explain the difference between strength and low muscle tone (which the girls reportedly have). Unfortunately his explanation was not at all clear to me. The only example that he gave was that babies with normal muscle tone ball themselves up tightly-- he also mentioned that it has to do with the way they hold their bodies. I plan to ask the PT to explain the difference when we meet with her this coming Wednesday.
I anticipate a rather sleepy remainder of the afternoon as the girls recover from their immunizations. That should give me some time to work on their birth announcements and thank you notes, and to read a little more in my books on Down syndrome.
Tomorrow, we've got 4 doctor visits (two for me and two for the girls). The girls will finally get their synergis shots to build immunity against the RSV virus, and we will meet with the Cardiac specialist. My mom (Yiayia) will be arriving tonight to help with the girls. The reminder of the week is also packed with Doctor appointments (one more for me and one more for the girls). In addition, on Wednesday we meet with the folks from DC's Early Intervention Services to review our Family Service Plan. Depending on the girl's health we will begin PT and Special Education Services at 10 weeks of age. We'll keep you posted...