What an icky week we've had!

It's been a bit of a rough week for all of us. I have about 40 pictures that I haven't had a chance to upload onto the computer (mainly because we've had to hide all computer-related items from our very mobile, very curious little man), but I promise I will carve out some time to get them off the camera and on the blog this weekend.

So, on to our week... On Tuesday, Billy played softball, and (to hear him tell it) out of pure instinct he slid on his leg. Of course, this would not be so bad if he had been wearing long pants, but anyone who knows him knows that he wears shorts pretty much all the time. So, he has a very large and painful owwie on his leg, that of course, Teo has felt the need to investigate with his sharp little nails more than once. Poor daddy!

Then there was Wednesday. Wednesday sucked, for lack of a better word. Teo and I both had doctor's appointments in the morning. Mine went fine, and then there was his. It was awful. Apparently, Teo is the amazing shrinking baby! Yes, folks, get your tickets and behold - the world's first live shrinky dink.

All joking aside, here's what happened. According to measurements taken at the last appointment 2 months ago, Teo was 25 3/4" long. When they measured him this time around, he was, once again 25 3/4" long. So the doctor freaked out a little and had the nurse come in and re-measure him - and the second, third and fourth time he measured only 25 1/2"! So, now you're telling me that, not only did my baby not grow, but he actually shrank 1/4"? I think not!Here's the rub: I measured him on his growth chart about 2 weeks after his last appointment, and HE WAS ONLY 24" LONG!!!! So, in reality, he actually grew 1 1/2", (as evidenced by the fact that all of his pants are too short now) but the doctor still ordered a bunch of labs to be done. And that is what really sucked.

Just last week I was tearing up reading about my former coworker's little boy who had to have blood drawn at his last check-up, and this week I had to experience it first hand with my own little one! And not just from one arm, but from both. And it's not over yet - we have to take him back at least once more and subject him to more torture because the doctor ordered 6 different tests, and they could only get enough for 2 of them on Wednesday!

The whole process was horrendous. Billy had to hold him down (I'm an enormous chicken when it comes to these things), and I could hear him screaming from the waiting room. I finally went in there towards the end of the first draw and they had to talk me into letting them do the second one. I was pretty close to hysterical. I had to walk all the way down the hallway the second time, and I could still hear him screaming. It was absolutely heart wrenching. I can't believe we have to go back and do it again. Especially when I know that there's absolutely nothing wrong with him.

And for anyone who's wondering, the doctor said that because of the slow weight gain (he's at 13lbs 2.8oz now) and the lack of growth, he "technically is meeting the criteria for 'failure to thrive.'" This, let me tell you, is an absolute crock of you-know-what (I did the research and there is more to it than that)! First of all, if he were failing to thrive, he wouldn't be so incredibly far ahead of the curve in developmental milestones. Second, he did grow. I know that he did based on both the fact that I measured him myself and came up with a much shorter measurement the last time, and because of the way that his clothes are fitting. Oh, and based on the fact that I'M HIS MOTHER AND I KNOW THESE THINGS! (If the tone of my post sounds a bit angry, it's because I am - this is just bringing back memories of unnecessary medical interventions during Teo's birth.)

Anyway, enough ranting. I know that the tests are going to come back fine. I just wish we didn't have to put him (and ourselves) through this unnecessary trauma. I can't really blame the doctor - I know that he's just doing his job and he has no way of going back two months to re-measure him then, and we live in an overly-litigious time when doctors must be overly cautious. It just sucks, plain and simple.

Okay, I'm really done now... You might want to steer clear of this topic if you don't plan on being 100% empathetic, though! ;)