Report from Carolyn's 9 month well-visit:
weight: 18lbs 12oz (50% - mom's guess was 18lbs 7oz)
length: 28 1/4 inches (66% - almost time to move to the big girl car seat)
head circumference: 46.5cm (97% - top of the chart)
no. of shots: 1 (and barely a whimper)
Carolyn seems to be doing well! With a healthy appetite she's put on 4lbs since her last visit at 6 months. I told the doctor that her only "reaction" to food is that she wants more of it. Developmentally she's doing well, sleep is generally great and we're pretty happy overall. Carolyn does have a heart murmur which as detected at her 6 month visit. The doctor believes the murmur to be innocent at this point (50% of infants have one). They'll monitor this at her 12, 15 and 18 month appointments and in all likelihood she should grow out of it.
As for this girl's big noggin... at first the nurse measured her head at 47cm which put her "off the charts." I tried to explain that she's not an egotistical baby :) I asked if that was anything to be concerned about and the nurse said "the doctor will explain it." No parent likes to hear that. Anyhow, the doctor took her own measurement and came up with a circumference 1/2 a cm smaller and she said "well, that makes a huge difference." There can be concern if a baby has an excessively large head and is experiencing developmental delays, but that's not the case here. Carolyn is right on track.
This is another thing that the doctor will keep track of. If at 15 or 18 months her head growth hasn't reached a plateau then the doctor might recommend a CT scan, but most likely Carolyn will just grow into her "big head." I guess we just have to stop telling her how cute she is.
** Additional note**
The doctor asked if "big heads" run in our family (no comments from the peanut gallery okay?). I just checked Robby's records and his head was 46cm at 9 months. The charts are a little different for boys and girls putting Robby's head at 75% at that same age. So there. I think this just proves that my kids have big brains.
3 comments:
Jack has consistently had a 95ptile and sometimes 90th head..(the rest of him is not so big, at least not now - so it is disproportionate). I feel like I everyone I know has kids with huge heads...I think the charts might be wacko!
Lauren, I remember you telling me that Jack's head always ranked high in percentile. Those charts can give any parent something to be concerned with. That's why I hate them. My friend's husband teaches at Stanford and according to him big heads are a good sign of intelligence :)
Let's see
Lots of smarts in the family, including occasional smart - a**
Occasional absorption of too much praise, leading to inability to fit into one's hat, at least until another family member comes up with a good quip.
We'll skip the fat-head's lines
Love
from The Peanut Gallery
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