Women are like lionesses at the gate of the home. . . . She guards that gate, and things matter to that family if they matter to her. . . . Sisters, you are each like the lioness at the gate. This means that there has to be some prioritizing. I was taught years ago that when our priorities are out of order, we lose power. If we need power and influence to carry out our mission, then our priorities have to be straight.

Friday, June 13, 2008

18 months

Shaelyn turned 18 months old yesterday, and today we took her in for her 18 month check up. She currently hates going to the doctor, and screams whenever he walks in the room. She continues screaming until he leaves the room. He's a great doctor - I just adore him - but Shaelyn just associates him with getting poked and prodded. Poor girl. I know she'll like him one day, too.

Her 18 month stats:
height: 40th percentile (31 inches)
weight: 5th percentile (20 pounds, 3 ounces)

She has consistently remained in the 5th percentile for weight over the last 3 visits, which means she's growing at a normal pace, so the concern about her low weight is no longer a concern. Yippee! Everything else looks good, too. We were happy to report that she's sleeping much better at night, with one glaring exception. It's something I've been thinking she's been having for a while, but it was nice to get it confirmed by the doctor:

night terrors

These are different from a nightmare in that she doesn't wake up from being afraid, and she doesn't respond to any comforting measures. We've had nights where she's wimpered and thrashed for a good hour or more, only to finally wake up and be unable to go back to sleep. It's awful. She cries in a way that we'd never heard before - like she's truly terrified or in pain. She clings to your clothes and even though her eyes are open, they are totally glazed over and it's obvious she has no idea you're even there or talking to her. Last time she had a night terror, she walked around her room in a sleep-walk state, whimpering and cowering, and finally stopped and stared at her nightlight for 30 seconds before we scooped her up - it just freaked me out to see her so dazed and zombie-like.

She doesn't have them consistenly enough to establish a pattern of when they happen in her sleep cycle, but enough that they are certainly a concern of ours. The doctor said there's not much we can do - just make sure she gets enough sleep and that she doesn't hurt herself during these episodes of crying and flailing. He said it makes no difference if we are in the room holding her or not, but if you heard your child crying the way she does when she's having an episode, what parent wouldn't be there holding their baby. Anyway, her doctor said that it's completely developmental - it has nothing to do with stress or anything scary in her world - and that she should grow out of it within a year or less. Babycenter.com says that 5% of children experience night terrors. I told Michael that if there's a sleeping disorder out there with a small chance of your child having it, of course our child would be the one experiencing it! But we're grateful to have an otherwise healthy child. I can handle a scary night every now and then. I think she looks so old in this picture. She starts nursery at church on Sunday. Can you believe it?!?