Monday we went in for Magnolia's 9 month checkup. I was thinking she was up for another round of immunizations, but then I remembered she's not due again until 12 months. Yay! I did decide to go ahead and get her the flu vaccine, only because The Dude is exposed to so many germs and I don't want him bringing anything home to her. This was our first time for her at our new pediatrician's office and they do things a little differently. At our old office we went back, the nurse asked some basic questions, had us strip her down and change her diaper, they weighed her and then went back to the room so they could measure her head circumference and length. At the new office they do all of this at a special little changing station that weighs, and has a length measuring thingamajigger. I stripped her down while they asked questions, then the NURSE took her diaper off (I thought that was kind of weird), they weighed, measured, took her temp rectally and then put one of THEIR diapers on. Isn't that weird? I mean, it was just a Pampers diaper, but when I went to give her one of Magnolia's diapers she said "No that's ok. We use ours." Um. ok.
Then we went back to the room and her pediatrician came in immediately. My mom knows her from working on Pediatrics at the hospital, which is why we chose her. She's seen The Dude a couple of times and now Magnolia once and I really like her. We'll call her Dr. R. She went over all of the basics. I told her about Magnolia not sleeping through the night and how we thought maybe she had a bit of reflux and if maybe that was what woke her up at night. Dr. R agreed that she had heard her reflux a few times while we were there, but that she disn't seem to be unhappy when she did or in any sort of pain, so she recommended not medicating. She told us that newer research shows that those antacids may do more harm than good. They work by eliminating the acids in our stomach which actually HELP keep out bad bacteria. In turn there is a higher incidence of stomach infections. Makes sense to me. I went with Dr. R's advice and we will try not to medicate. She checked her vitals and everything was looking good.
She then pulled her diaper down to check out her hoo hoo. Happens at every appt. Nothing new. But then I got a "huh". She then went straight into telling me that Magnolia had developed a labial adhesion. Dr. R immediately told me what it was which I appreciate. I've worked in the medical field. I've heard of this condition before, but it's nice to have a doc that doesn't drag things out and gets straight to an explanation for a concerned parent. It's exactly what it sounds like. Her labia minora had become stuck together. This basically "closed" her vagina. There is a real basic informational page on the BabyCenter website. It tells us that this happens in about 2 percent of little girls up to age 6 and that it can be a result of baby's hormones from mama tapering off around 3 months. Babies don't have the estrogen that adults have to make the natural lubricants, so there is nothing to keep the area open. It can also be related to irritation from diaper changes or maybe a scented detergent. Most of the time, they don't need any sort of treatment. We were told absolutely do NOT try to pull it apart (duh) as it can be painful for the littlest and can just re-adhere. If it doesn't heal on it's own and gets worse it can block the urethra and cause urine to pool in the vagina which could cause infection and leaking urine. She recommended in Magnolia's case to let her call in an estrogen cream. It's to be applied directly to the affected area with light pressure twice a day. She also told me not to be surprised if Magnolia develops little breast! Eeep! I sure hope not. We've used it since Monday night and it appears to be fixed already. It's hard to tell on a wiggly little baby. I'll try to get a better look tonight after her bath and hopefully we can quit using it already.
We talked about how I had started putting flax seed in Magnolia's food and that she was on board with that as long as I wasn't giving her whiskey as well. Sheesh! She's not even a year yet! We know better than to give whiskey in the first year. :) She didn't have many recommendations for finger foods to try, so I'll be researching that some more. She's had a few pieces of our food here and there. Noodles, green beans, mashed potatoes, peas, toast. I just don't want her to only eat Cheerios and puffs all the time. Do you have any finger food suggestions?
The nurse came in at the end of the visit to give Magnolia her flu shot. She was quick and efficient. Mags was shocked and immediately started screaming, but I scooped her up, snuggled her real tight and nursed and she was happy as a clam! She seemed a little cranky later in the day. I don't know if it was from her shot, lack of a good nap, teething or everything combined. She has to have a flu booster shot in 4 weeks. I guess children under 9 that get their flu shot for the first time have to get a booster. :(
I may be back tonight or tomorrow with another post, but if not I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! I have a lovely special lady lined up for a Fashion Friday Feature this week. Can't wait to share with you!
Happy Wednesday Y'all!! <3
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