5 Week Check-up

Yesterday we went to a pediatrician in Macae just in case Belle had an emergency we would already know someone.

Nate and I walked in the building and immediately I felt like I stepped into a building somewhere in India. The atmosphere screamed third world and I wanted to take Belle and run. The waiting room, littered with mothers and their children, contained ten plastic waiting room chairs and a receptionist from a Stephen King novel. We opted to wait outside until Belle decided it was time to eat.... Every other mother had a boob out so I squeezed in between two people to take my seat and whip out the boob.

Imagine squeezing in to find a seat to BF your baby in a room like this?

As Belle was eating I thought to myself, how things have changed in my life and how far out of my comfort zone I have flown. I would never do this in the US. Well, I would but I would cover up and probably find a small corner to sit in and not just show the world! I could see Nate through the sliding glass door and every once in awhile we would catch each other's glance and smirk at the scene. Finally Belle finished up and I quickly cleaned up, got up and passed her to Nate outside. I went and waited inside for our name to be called per Nate's orders and against my wants.

The view in the doctors office didn't ease my worries of contracting something deadly. While we talked to the doctor both of us couldn't help but notice the rusty scale and exam table. The doctor brought up the fact that we haven't got the Tuberculosis vaccine yet and all I wanted to say was, "hell she doesn't need that she needs a Tetanus before coming to your office". I kept my mouth shut because I knew there was no real danger.

Belle's Stats:

     Weight= 5kg (11lbs)!! An increase from 3.7kg (7.7lbs) at birth
     Height= 58cm (22.8 in)!! An increase from 52 (20.5in) at birth

I just can't believe how much she has changed in the past month. She really is growing too fast. The doctor told us to watch her weight because it was above average percentile wise... then he showed us her height on the same graph for percentiles and she was almost in the 100th percentile. Shouldn't we take that into consideration when telling us to watch her weight or does he want us to watch that too! Ha! Belle looked like a toddler compared to the other babies in the waiting room so I am guessing that he is not used to big gringo babies :)

Overall things went fine. I really was a shocked to see the difference in health care in Macae compared to it in Rio. We will not be seeing that doctor again unless we have an emergency. Next month we will be traveling to Rio the Pedi that went to her delivery and she will get her immunizations. For now I will just focus on keeping her healthy and happy.

Tchau,
Sara