I have a feeling I'll be doing a few more of these posts. So I'm going to make a blog page on it's own linking to all of her 'medical' updates. This will make it easier to find out how she's doing without having to sift through other posts that may not interest you.

We went and saw a pediatrician. To our delight it was with a different doctor. We really love who we got at our last appointment.

For a basic update Anastasia is doing well. They were concerned that she hadn't reached two milestones and said we could do early intervention. At this time we're saying no simply because we feel she's getting there and going at her own stubborn pace. So for now we'll just keep working on the rolling over and sitting unassisted. By the way this did not help with my anxiety over comparing her to other babies.

We went on to get her shots done and requested the flu shot since she was of age as the flu was making it's rounds again. Yupeee.. I had that back in December and am ever so grateful I had the flu shot. I really think it helped lessen the symptoms when I did catch it. She was a trooper. A little bit of crying while both Paul and I tried to entertain her with her little monkey. Failed attempt really.

Anastasia is 15lbs 14oz, 26.25 inches long. basically 50th percentile with being a tad on the tall side. Who knew? :P Given that Paul and I are on the vertically challenged side of things this was a pleasant surprise. Likely she'll still be a shorty though.



We were then asked if we had any concerns. I bet you can't guess what I brought up ;). If I can make any suggestion to parents with medical concerns it's to document whatever it is that is concerning you. Doctors don't always remember your last visit, and sometimes our kids stop the behaviors when we go to the doctors. Having a photo or video of your concern is something that helps not only your doctor out but make you feel less like a worry wart mother and so that action can be taken. Not that we ever really care if we're thought of like that. With that being said as soon as I showed her a comparison photo (you can see that here) she immediate said she'd be comfortable if we went and saw a pediatric surgeon. I'll have you know I did not plan to leave that office without a referral. So it's good on both accounts that she immediately said it. What she also did next left me feeling better in her care. She measured the bump! her other pediatrician seemed to think it was acceptable to just do a feelskie test on her bump and that would be sufficient for future visits and keeping an eye on it. Now we have an actual measurement (3cm) and can keep an actual eye on the growth from here on out. We're going to be changing to this doctor. Not because she bent to our will. But because she goes about things the way we would like. She feels like a fit for us and our daughter.

With the referral in hand we'll be seeing the surgeon on the 5th of June. I will certainly update you with the course of action we'll be taking. Hopefully there won't need to be many more updates about the Lipoma.

 As many know my beautiful baby girl has had a bump on the side of her head called a Lipoma, since she was a month old. I discussed it in a previous post Lipoma . Since then we've been keeping an eye on things. It's painfully obvious that the bump is infact growing with her and for me it's at an uncomfortable rate. When your child grows before your eyes we don't normally notice the little changes as much as a person who hasn't seen them in a while would. So when I was looking at a photo of her Eating her first solids (yet another post for another day promise!) I noticed how much it stood out. I riffled through my phone gallery to find a photo of her a month and a half ago to do a comparison. My heart went in my throat when I saw just how much it had grown. Part of me is upset that I didn't notice it grew this much sooner. We will bring this photo with us to her Pediatrician and see what she suggests. I'm not entirely impressed with her given the last time we saw her she said "It looks like it's shrunk." Umm okay you haven't seen her in two months, you see a ton of children each day and your going to say to me you looks like it shrunk? What do you have to compare it to? Using my handy collage option on my phone I've put the two photos side by side. I'm hoping she'll see just how it has not shrunk.

Please be sure to check out my updates regarding her bump. Anastasia since originally being diagnosed with a Lipoma has been re-evaluated by a pediatric surgeon and with the assistance of an ultrasound they were able to definitively say it was not a Lipoma but she has a Hemangioma. 

Lipoma on her head

As stated in the previous post I was hoping we'd manage to get away with postponing any possible surgery talk until she was two. The fact that it's grown as much as it has leaves me thinking it's unrealistic and likely to happen before she's one. I spoke with one of our Nurse Practitioners and I showed her this photo. She agreed with my hunches that we need to move forward. We still have to go see her doctor mind you but this is what will likely happen. Get a CT scan done to see if there's any tumor below the bone and get a better feel for it overall, also to see if there's any blood source feeding it. After that they'll see if it's attached to any bone structures. If there is any just under her skull bone they will want to remove that before her skull fuses together and the tumor causes further issues (ie pressure on her brain)

I've spoken with others who have had this and there's a resonating answer of it's an easy procedure. I greatly appreciate those stories. But many of them did not involve the skull and were well into their toddler hood before removal was done :( There's something about my baby going under the knife at this age that just leaves me feeling upset. Likely more dramatic in my mind, mind you but it just saddens me that it didn't just shrink, go away and never bother us again. I don't want her in pain and I don't want this to become a bigger problem given it's placement on her head and the bigger it gets the more there is to remove, meaning more scar tissue. I'm really hoping that I can look back on this post and give my past self a virtual pat on the back saying "Everything went just fine, it wasn't as bad as you thought it would be."

We'll know more details and what the doctor thinks come next week. I don't want her to have to have surgery this young, but I also don't want this to continue to grow, I can't see the benefit of allowing that. I'll keep you updated when we know what's going to happen.

I'm just going to dive right into things. Anastasia has had a 'bump' on the side of her head that I noticed just before she was 1 month. I had them check it at her 1 month and was explained that I was likely fatty tissue that would go away on it's own. fast forward to 2 months later and it still hasn't resolved itself. So when we took her in when she was sick I mentioned it again. This time we were scheduled for an ultrasound to rule out other possibilities.

If any doctors (unlikely I'm not that popular in the blog world ;) ) who read this please take note of the below paragraph.

We went for her ultrasound on Monday. She was happy as can be until she needed to have her ultrasound done (go figure). The technician was such a nice man and helped us first time parents with handling her/trying to calm her. Sometimes you need a reality check to calm the heck down lol. Not that I was freaking out but my body was tense. I mean I was tense that she was crying, tense at what they'd possibly find. So my body was a ball of nerves while I held Anastasia and she knew it. Way to go mommy ;). Any ways the technician thought he got what he needed so wanted to consult the dr. The doctor came in and he wanted a bit more info (This is where you take note all you wonderful doctors reading this AMAZING blog ;)) So the technician did as he was told while I spoke to my daughter trying to keep her amused for the time being while the dr looked on. Then out of no where he leaves. Not a word to us or the technician just leaves, No "Okay I've seen what I need to." Nada. Umm Mr and Mrs doctors. Hello first time mom here you just freaked me out! I was relatively calm until this happened. Thoughts like "Why did you leave without a word." "Does this mean something is terribly wrong and he couldn't bear letting us see it on his face?" Just don't do this. Please for the sake of our sanity just give some acknowledgement that you at least have the info you need before leaving. Don't just leave, it says so much for such a small action. Even the technician appologized profusly (I didn't say anything was just in shock) and he kept saying how 'weird' it was that he'd behave like that. A simple "Okay thanks." Would have sufficed. I wasn't looking to get a diagnosis from you just some ounce of professionalism and heaven forbid proper social skills when dealing with something that is possibly as sensitive as this :/


We got the call yesterday that Anastasia has a Lipoma, a benign tumor of fatty tissue. Upon using Dr Google. (BAD Amanda) I found that it's rarer to have in small children and sometimes it can go away while others it stays the same or can get bigger. I'm hoping for the first two. As she gets older it'd be easier to hide under her hair, I figure it will be noticeable when she puts her hair up :(. If it becomes painful to her or we notice it growing we'll have to come to terms with possibly having it removed preferably by a plastic surgeon so that there's minimal scaring.

So that was my week so far. I'm feeling much better about it, just anxious to see what the future holds for this bump. Hoping future ones don't pop up and that this one just goes away.