Doctor Visits

We had doctor visits last week...Wednesday - Friday. I'm just going to update you on them by day.

Wednesday - We went to the pediatrician. A couple of people we know and love recommended her. We really liked her. Doesn't matter too terribly much though...we'll be moving again in a few months. But, still...good to have a doctor you like. The kids had fun. They loved it when it was their turn. We were all in the same room (which is also the doctor's personal office...it's pretty big and has 2 couches that the kids played on while they waited for us to give histories and get shot needs straightened out). Eissa went first and didn't know exactly what to think about it all, but didn't really fuss about it either. She almost teared up a couple of times and looked at me as if to say, "Um, what's going on...what's she doing?" But, was fine. The other 2 couldn't wait though...loved the whole process of the doctor's special attention...going to the scale to weigh, being measured for height, having their eyes, ears, noses, and mouths checked, having their blood pressure taken and their heart and lungs listened to...just all of it. It was so cute to watch. Grady was very serious. The doctor even told him that (in English)..."So serious" she said...at which point he broke out in a huge grin and smiled the rest of the time. Hadley was her normal self...probably felt like she was in a movie or some major production as she was being checked...the star you know. It was funny.

Anyhoo, their stats came out like this:
Grady - weight: 43 pounds
height: 3 ft. 7 1/2 in.
wt. percentile: 90 (which means he's taller than about 90% of the kiddos his
age)
ht. percentile: 95
Hadley - weight: 29 pounds
height: 3 ft. 1 1/2 in.
wt. percentile: 40
ht. percentile: between 50 and 75
Eissa - weight: 21 pounds
height: 2 ft. 8 in.
wt. percentile: 25
ht. percentile: 90
So, basically the girls are tall and skinny and Grady is just "enormous" (the doctor said about Grady..."enorme." :-) And also, that's about as close to true stairsteps as you can get...they are almost exactly all 6 in. apart.

After the doctor we went straight to the shot place. The kids got 2 shots each. Both shots they got were combination shots, so they actually got vaccinated for several things at once which is nice. What's not nice is that it was SO EXPENSIVE!! The best option for us as far as health insurance is a thing called Unimed. They are good, but don't cover vaccinations. So...yeah...900 reais later (that's over 500 US dollars, people!) we had some vaccinated kids. Seriously, when they told us how much it was, we just stood there with our jaws wide open for a while. :-) Gone are the days of 10 dollar co-pays. :-) Of course you can go to the equivalent of the health unit for shots, but we were told by them at the health unit that the particular shots we needed weren't available there...that we'd have to go to the other place. So, basically we had no other option. Bummer...there went our savings/retirement/furlough money for the month. :-) Oh well...God always provides. It was just a shock is all.

The kids did fine with their shots. Eissa cried pretty hard, but was still. Grady cried a tiny bit, but was really still and fine seconds later (he's always been that way...when an infant, he wouldn't even cry). Hadley on the other hand...she screams and thrashes about. I was sweating after holding her for her shots. Whew!! But, all 3 immediately get a lollilop out of my pocket after their last shot needle comes out of their skin and once it touches their tongue, they are miraculously healed of any hurts. :-)

Thursday - Joel and I went to the OB here in Anapolis, Dra. (that's doctora...the feminine form of doctor) Kenia. She is the one that we needed to ask if she'd take over if something went wrong in the delivery and we needed to go to a hospital. So, she checked me all out and then we asked her. She was thrilled for us and agreed without hesitation, although she called me a "parteira" (Joel's translation for this was "baby-spitter-outer"...birther is basically the literal translation) and was sure that I wouldn't need her services. We asked her if she wanted to see us again or get updates. She said no...that I was healthy and a parteira :-)...so, if by chance we needed her to just call her cell and head to the hospital there where she would meet us. It was great. We were so glad that she agreed so easily and that it didn't hurt her feelings in the least that we chose another doctor who would do a homebirth.

We also did several other errands that day, including I went to get my CPF number. For you Brazilians reading this, you know that I am feeling pretty important and special these days. :-) Hee hee hee.

And, that was the day we sat in that fine mobile called a Kombi. Ahh, good times.

Friday - Joel and I went to Goiania to see the doctor who is going to do the birth, Dr. Luiz. Everything went really well there. We just discussed everything in depth about the birth and treatments, etc. He will be bringing a pediatrician with him (the midwives we've had before have always been able to do the baby stuff...the exams, vit. K shot/drops, etc.). So, he gave us the name and number of that pediatrician. We will be going to see the dr. again in 3 weeks at which point we will also meet the pediatrician and just discuss with her our expectations and hers and such. I'm glad that she will be coming along with him for the birth. As it was, I was going to be the only female at the birth with 2 men (the doctor and Joel). Although it's fine...I'm usually a little busy during that time anyway and I completely trust them both...still...will be nice to have another girl in the room. It will be esp. nice if she's at least given birth before, but whatever...doesn't really matter. It'll be good to meet her and see what she's like, too, before the birth.

We also ran other errands there in Goiania too. We went by Pastor Jefferson's and Carmen's house to grab something there and visited a bit. Then we met Joel's friend (mine too now) for lunch. Then, Joel went to try to get his driver's license yet again...a huge, long process...still not over. Maybe someday he'll be driving legally...until then, we are completely illegal (me too when I drive), but you know, we have to drive.

It was a productive week and that's the update with where we are with doctors.