Rachel's 4 year check-up

Since Rachel is such a big 4 year old now, she had to have her yearly check-up. We haven't been to the doctor in awhile, and it's been nice not having to pay those co-pays (or be sick for that matter!), but we really LOVE the nurses and our Pediatrician! I've never met a nicer group of nurses than at this office. They LOVE Rachel and Bradley and the kids love them back, so our visits are very pleasant even when they're sick. Today I left Bradley at home since Rachel's appointment was during Bradley's nap. Gege came over to watch him. I also remembered the nurse telling me that Rachel would have to get 4 shots at this appointment, so I figured I would need to be able to give her alot of comfort. I also invited Nick along since he's never been to a doctor's appointment with me before and I knew he would be a big help comforting Rachel. When we got called back, it was one of our favorite nurses, Jenni. She was so glad to see us and Rachel was excited to see her too. First she was weighed and measured. She weighed 43 lbs. (91 percentile) and was 42 in. tall (88 percentile). Then we had to do a simple eye exam. First, Nurse Jenni showed Rachel a chart with picture symbols on it and asked her what she called each thing. Then, she hung it on the wall about 15 feet away and pointed to different symbols at different sizes and asked Rachel what they were. Rachel was so cute during this. She was so excited to be taking a "big girl" test and looked at me if she wasn't sure what to say. She was precious. Nurse Jenni gave her lots of praise and she loved that. Her vision is perfect, 20/20. :) Then it was time for her to go pee-pee in a cup. This was new to us too, but it was another "big girl adventure" so Rachel thought it was so cool. She kept asking me "why they need to check my pee-pee?" I honestly didn't know and forgot to ask, but I'm sure it's to check some type of levels...maybe glucose??? (I'll have to call and ask.) Anyway, once that was over, we went to our room and the nurse had Rachel count from 1-10 and name several colors that she pointed to. Rachel did great!! Then she asked her what her name was and Rachel said, "Rachel Jane Migilan". I admit, that's a tough name for a little kid to say...I thought her interpretation was great! Nurse Jenni asked her "who made her so smart?" and Rachel said, "my mommy's tummy." She said, "that's where I was and then I came out" (and pointed to my mouth as the exit point). I thought this was hilarious and all of us were chuckling at her. This has definitely been on her mind since Juju's baby has arrived. (We've talked for months about how her baby was in Aunt Wendy's tummy.) Throughout the whole visit, Rachel was giddy and excited and happy and enjoying all the attention! When Dr. McCorkle came in (for about 5 minutes) she was again good and sat still and cooperated while he listened to her heart, looked in her ears, mouth and nose and checked her tummy. He was very nice and asked about her pre-school that begins in August. His part was over and it was finally time for the "bad" part. We had not mentioned shots at all, but Rachel asked, "why Dr. Corkle not give me a shot?" So, I finally said, "the nurse is going to come in and give you a shot." She was a little nervous about it and knew it was going to hurt...and it did. She received a DtAP, MMR, Chicken Pox and HepB. I think it was the chicken pox vaccine that hurt really bad. The nurses said it feels like fire in your arm. So, poor Rachel didn't move her arms away as she got 2 shots in each arm, but she cried her little eyes out. It was sad having to give her a shot when I knew it was going to hurt. But, she was a champ! We left the doctor and went to Sam's to get diapers, but we also got her an ice cream sundae and grape drink. She felt much better after all those sweet treats. It was a great visit, but hopefully we won't have to go back until her next well visit...when she turns 5!!