9 month check up

On Sunday night, Ashley had a terrible night, it was so uncharacteristic for her...she woke up at 12:15 (this is a normal time for her) and I fed her, then she woke up at 1:45 and I thought, "she can't be hungry already," but I sleepily went in and fed her and she was asleep within minutes. As I put her down she woke up and then she cried for the next hour! Nothing I did wouldn't make it better. I could tell she was exhausted so she occasionally quieted down, but would immediately start moving around and fussing again. I tried everything I could think of. She finally burped a few times, and I thought maybe that was the problem.
We went in on Monday for Ashley's 9 month check up. It was a very interesting appointment!
I mentioned to the doctor the rough night Ashley had, and after the exam, he told me she has double ear infections! The poor girl, no wonder she was so upset! I had no idea, she wasn't pulling on her ears or anything to make notice, but she was pretty fussy all of last week as well. So, now we are on our first antibiotic and she seems to be doing pretty good (except for the diaherrea...right Gigi?)  :)
  Another thing the doctor had some concern over was the size of Ashley's head. He has mentioned to me before that she has a large head circumference and at all of the appointments he double checks the nurses' measurement of her head. This time it was 18.25 inches which is in the 98th percentile. I told him she was doing really good developmentally and right on track really with motor skills and the other bench mark things that a 9 month old should do. He told me about another patient he had who was in the same situation at 9 months, and when the patient came back at 12 months, he had learned no new skills. Come to find out the patient had fluid in his brain that wasn't being reabsorbed into the body...a condition called congenital hydrocephalus. He was concerned that since Ashley's head was always measuring so big that she may have the same condition. He assured me that the condition was treated with a surgery where a tube is inserted into the brain and then fed into the stomach to allow the fluid to drain. He decided it would be best to do a CT scan to confirm if this was the case with Ashley.
I was quite shocked! All along I have felt that Ashley has been fine in the speed she has developed and haven't noticed anything alarming. Concerned that I would go home and google this condition and read one too many horror stories, the doctor made a few phone calls and the Radiologist worked us right in. We left the pediatrician's office and went to have a CT scan...Ashley cried and screamed through the whole thing. It only took about 2 minutes Then we jumped back in the car to go back to the pediatrician's office to discuss the results. What speedy service!!!  I called Nate and he decided to join us for the results of the test. THANKFULLY the test came back fine and the scan showed that Ashley has a big head! :) She has external hydrocephalus, which is extra fluid AROUND the brain which basically fills in the extra space that her brain doesn't take up. So, no need for any concern, she just has a big head...who does she take after? Hudson, Papa Bear, Uncle Pete? I don't know, I told the doctor that no one really in my family had a big head, but maybe it does run in the family?
I've never thought of her having a big head. She is beautiful just the way God made her!

see what I mean?