A Day of Required 9 Month Activities

Today was a very busy day for Team Darnell!! Our first required 9 month activity of the day was our 9 month check-up. Since we live in Florida, I was really hoping to make it through the winter without having to purchase winter "stuff" like coats, hats and mittens for the boys. I mean, we never really go anywhere so I figured if it was cold, we would just stay inside where it is warm. Our appointment was a 9:30am and it was going to be cold. Yes, cold! Like... really cold!!! Below 30 degrees with ice on the car and everything!!

Because if this, I had to break down and go shopping for some hats and mittens. I went to a few stores in the mall and was pointed to the clearance bins to look for hats and mittens. After 30 minutes of sifting through the clearance bins at Gymboree I was finally able to put together three pairs of hats with matching mittens. These would NOT have been the hats I would have selected with more time and a larger selection; but, I was shopping for function over fashion. They were all very "cutesie" but they kept our little heads and hands warm.

This morning, we got the boys all dressed in their multi-layers of clothing and then dawned our hats and new mittens. I did not get a picture of Wesley in his sporty hat but Jared seemed to like his and Andrew... poor Andrew. He had to wear the worst hat of the bunch. Oh, the puppy dog ears... sorry lil' buddy! This hat was sized 6-12 months and was the smallest of the three hats we purchased. As he has the smallest head, he drew the lucky straw to wear the hat with the long ears.

At their 9 month appointment, the boys were wonderful!!! They had their toes pricked to check their iron levels and none of them cried during this activity. They were all weighed and examined by the doc. No tears and everyone cooperated! The challenge was keeping all three active boys contained on the one exam table in the room. Daddy was in charge of keeping them confined and he was great at the job! After each exam with the doc, the boys were given their very own tongue depressor! What a joy these were!

We have three very healthy boys who are on target (and even a little ahead) developmentally. We left with a prescription for hydrocortizone cream to help us fight Andrew's highly resistant diaper rash. We have been battling this for a few months. We also still only have 5 of 6 testicles. We should expect a call from the pediatric urologist within a few weeks and may have a little surgery in our future to hunt down the "pesky testie." I still thank my lucky stars that with triplets, the missing testicle is the worst medical issue we are having to deal with.
After the exams were complete, the boys were given their second flu vaccine. Wesley first... no tears!! Then Jared.... no tears!! Last but not least.... Andrew.... to our surprise... NO TEARS!!! He only let out a small whimper and then stopped. Yippee!!

Now for the stats....

Andrew -
Height - 28.5" - 55th Percentile
Weight - 21 lbs - 55th Percentile
Head Circumference - 44.2 cm - 20th Percentile

Jared -
Height - 29.5" - 85th Percentile
Weight - 21lb 9oz - 70th Percentile
Head Circumference - 46.5 cm - 85th Percentile

Wesley -
Height - 29.5" - 85th Percentile
Weight - 20lb 1oz - 40th Percentile
Head Circumference - 44.4 cm - 25th Percentile

These percentiles are based on actual age not adjusted age. Let's not forget they were born a month early! They continue their steady climb up the growth chart (see bottom of blog for their progress since birth). As with the 6 month appointment, they had to check Jared's head circumference twice. They do it once when doing all of his stats and then once they are adding it to the growth chart just to make sure. We were given a "Normal Development - 9 Months Old" handout to tell us what we should be looking for developmentally over the next three months. The boys are already doing everything on the paper.... I am so proud!

On the way home from the pediatrician, the boys fell asleep. When we arrived home we moved them from car seat to crib with clothes and shoes on. They slept just fine!

When they woke up, they had a bottle and we were back on the road to our next required 9 month activity, the photographers. We took their 9 month photos and then headed home again. Our day was finally over. It was exhausting but we were able to find out the boys were all healthy and get some great photos of the boys. I will post the link to the boys' pictures when we get them.

Take care,