So for everyone who's been concerned, wondering or even just slightly curious, here is my follow-up to the "Eating Strike" blog. It's been long overdue but I finally am getting a chance to give everyone (or at least the handful of my faithful followers) an update...
I took Jace to his two year check-up a couple of weeks ago and here is how it went:
We got to the appointment on time, in fact we were early which never EVER happens when I have to take Jace by myself anywhere. We waited a short while before we were called to our room and Jace entertained himself by rolling on the floor (YEAH, GROSS) and flirting with a teenage girl and her mother. I was thinking "Wow, not too bad...so far so good." (That thought was short lived.)
The nurse (who was actually very friendly and caring which has NOT been our experience at our peditrician's office but I'll talk more about that in a second) came in and asked me to take Jace's clothes off down to his diaper so he could get weighed and measured. No problem...clothes removed, now just waiting on kind nurse to return.
Still waiting...Jace is starting to get cold and irritated over the fact that the door is open. *Come on lady, I have a cold 2 year old in here who cannot be contained for long*
Ok, here she is.
We take Jace to the scale...I'm feeling kind of nervous since I know my child doesn't eat.
HOLY COW - 27.8 lbs!!!
Now, to most people this wouldn't be that exciting. 27.8 lbs pretty average for a normal 2 year old, but MY son has always, always been in the low (5th-10th) percentile his entire life. I know you're not supposed to compare kids since they're each unique and different but this is HUGE for us!!!
Next we have to take him back to the room to measure him. *holding breath*
32 1/4 inches!!! WOO HOO Ok, cool, I can breathe for a moment...those are great stats!!!
Now the nurse tells me that she has to take a blood sample...oh boy, here we go.
Every time they do this he loses it! *Great*
WHAT?!?! You're going to prick his finger, not just take it from his toe like you have before? *This is not going so well...Mommy doesn't handle this kind of stuff as well as Daddy does. Where's Jay when I need him? Now I know why I used to make him take Jace to the appointments.*
So now I have to hold him AND try to get him distracted from what's about to go down. He happily gives her his finger and then IT HAPPENS...
The quick prick was nothing, it was the bright red stuff flowing from his finger that put him over th edge. PURE SHOCK (remember this kid isn't vaccinated and hasn't been to the doctor in a year). He wasn't just crying because he was scared and hurt, I truly believe he was so traumatized that this nice lady would do such a horrible thing to him.
Now we all know that she was just doing her job and I'm sure she feels bad for having to the bad guy all the time but he doesn't know this. He trusted her and she shattered that trust BIG TIME.
Ok, the nurse is long gone at this point and I'm still stuck in this room with a cold, injured (you'd think she actually cut his finger off by the way he was screaming), bleeding, crying 2 year old. This doctor better get here fast.
I'm trying to console him and also keep my thoughts together for this doctor. This is my first time seeing her. We have seen two of the other doctors in this facility and so far I have not been impressed. These doctors came highly recommended to us by someone I admire and trust and we also heard many, many other praises about this office from quite a few people we know. Sadly, we have not had these wonderful experiences that everyone else has had. The nurse we always see is rude, we can't understand the doctor's very well and they never tell us what's wrong with Jace (when he has been sick), it's always been "just a cold" when they, in fact, have previously missed a double ear infection. :/ Jace has always been a very healthy child, so far, so the couple of times we HAVE taken him in have been *what I consider* pretty serious. We're definitely not the types of parents that take him in for every little sniffle since we try to a) do things naturally to prevent sickness and b) do things naturally to help the sickness pass quickly.
Anyway, Jace is completely inconsolable at this point, the doctor is still not coming and I'm starting to get anxious.
Oh thank God, here she is. She's young AND speaks perfect English...I think I'm going to like her!
We go over the standard stuff: vaccinations (she didn't criticize me at all), what he's doing, saying, and here it comes...the dreaded eating. I'm ready for her to really give me what-for about his diet (or lack of). I talk in detail about what he will eat and won't eat, what I do to get him to eat, how often, how long this has been going on, how long he was breastfed, etc. Oh, all the while, Jace is STILL screaming and crying and grabbing my face to look at him and his finger. I'm starting to not feel as sorry for him at this point since it's been a good 20-30 minutes!
She actually told me that it's OK! Everything I'm doing is wonderful and to keep up the good work. Her only suggestion/question was if I had considered putting him on Flinstones and I told her he was on a multi from Better Health as well as one with the Omegas. She was very impressed and said that we were doing more than the majority of parents would do. She could tell how concerned I was and reassured my fears by stating the same thing that I've heard from everyone else but it was just different coming from her. I'm not normally one to put so much weight into one person's opinion but I cannot put into words the relief I felt at that moment. I know it sounds so cliche but I literally felt soooo much lighter after talking with her.
Jace never did calm down during this entire time. It wasn't until we got all the way back to the car and he was buckled in his seat and got his movie started did he finally quit crying. All that for one little finger prick...could you imagine how he'd react to a vaccination??? IF we decide later on to do one or two vaccinations, I think I'll skip that and make his daddy take him. LOL
After all the excitement from the doctor's office I decided we needed a McDonald's treat (sweet tea and fries cures all, right??) and a quick trip to Target before we went home to take a nap...I definitely deserved it, after all. :)
