9 Months Down, 207 To Go...

The triplets went in for their 9 month well-visit this morning (currently they are 9 1/2 months old though; 8 months adjusted) and they are doing wonderfully! Tess is a tubaloo!! She weighed in at 19 lbs, 13 oz (that's almost 20 POUNDS!!), in the 62nd percentile, and was 28 1/2" tall, in the 74th percentile. Nora wasn't far behind her, weighing 19 lbs, 10.6 oz, in the 59th percentile, and was 29" tall, in the 87th percentile! Holden, our little monkey, was 18 lbs, 10.4 oz, in the 30th percentile, and 28" tall, in the 15th percentile (boys growth charts are different than girls). It's great news that they are all so healthy and growing so well; they're not even on the preemie growth charts anymore!

All 4 kids got flu shots but that was it for shots. The trips will get a slew of them at their 12 month visit, and again at 15 months, so it's nice to have a break from vaccinations for now. I asked the pedi about Holden being a midget (a concern I had since his limbs are so short, his legs are quite bowed, and his head is huge - it is 47 cm, in the 74th percentile!) and she said dwarfism is something that would be noticeable right away. I knew I was kind of silly for asking but felt like I should anyway. I also asked her about autism because I have read studies that correlate rapid cranium growth between birth and 1 year as a warning sign for autism. All 3 of the babies do show emotion, make eye contact, and don't really have any sensory issues, all other early warning signs. However, before I could even bring those points up she stated, quite pointedly, "Your kids aren't autistic." She said that there are so many warning signs present at birth, and more that can crop up in the first year of life, and they would have picked up on some of them by now. The docs in the practice will actually say to each other after they see a baby (especially if she has to see one of the other doc's regular patients, and vice versa), 'I'll bet you that will be autistic." (Not in a nasty way, but more matter-of-fact because they are taught to have thier radar looking for signs all the time.) Sometimes she can tell right away and will tell parents, "Your baby is autistic.", but most of the time newe parents don't want to hear that kind of news and will try to remain optimistic, which is fine, but she will still make it a point to let that kid's regular doc know about it and have them watch for it from then on. She said that sometimes, when you see a child all the time, you don't notice it because you assume that is just the way that baby is. That's why it helps when a doc that's not as familiar with that child sees them and makes note of something that is a warning sign. Anyway, all that made me feel good too, one less thing to worry about. At one point I made a comment like, "Her feet are filthy; they haven't had a bath in like, 4 days." and she laughed and said that they were totally clean and she actually has patients that she has to try and get them to wash their baby at least once a week. She then regailed me with a story that a couple of weeks ago she saw a 4 week old newborn that was covered head-to-toe with lice. That poor baby!!! I know my kids aren't the cleanest kids, but at least they won't grow up to be the stinky kid in school. Gross!

All in all it was a great visit. She did say that by the next time she sees them she wants to hear that they have been pointing, clapping, and vocalizing more, but that's still 3 months away, and those are all things I have been concerned about that I've been trying to work on a little more with them. Wow... to think that in 3 short months they will be a year old already. That's just craziness! Well, let's be realistic... it was all that craziness that led to all my gray hairs... Good thing I have a hair appointment tonight! : )

Here are a few pics I took yesterday, trying to get something cute where all 3 of them actually look photogenic for Christmas cards and the local papers' 2008 birth announcements... Of course, I am biased, but they're just so damn cute!