Piggies and pokes
The dreaded two-month appointment happened yesterday afternoon. Ruary was a happy-scrappy boy on the way over to Astoria, even sleeping on the way. He happily endured being stripped naked for his weight and length... yeah, he's huge: 15 lbs 11 ounces, and 25 inches long!!! Dr. Ram said we need to cut out one feeding since he's off the charts percentile wise. Jeez, first we were starving him (in his first week of life) and now we are setting him up for obesity. I wish that lactation consultants and pediatricians could agree on something. But besides being a bit too big, Ruary is healthy, healthy, healthy. Ruary smiled for Dr. Ram and did cute things, performing well for all of the little tests. He was taking it all in stride... at least until the next events.
The two-month appointment, for those without chilluns, is the appointment where the baby is stuck in the thighs with three needles and given an oral vaccination to boot. They waited until the end of the appointment to do it, and the nurse had me help hold him on the table. She was very, very fast (thank you Adrian!) but wow, the crying was awful. I held back the tears pretty well while listening to my child scream in pain, and we were able to calm him down to get him dressed and strapped into the seat. The car ride home was okay because of a bit o' Tylenol on board. But happy baby was no more, and the crying fits at home were no fun. He seemed to whimper in pain any time he moved his legs, and of course when my parents visited and brought dinner, he was very unhappy. I finally cried (it didn't help that I had one of my most painful clogged ducts yet, but who the hell cares about my boobs?) because I couldn't fix it by changing him or feeding him or playing with him. It was a scarring experience for us, but Ruary will not remember I'm sure.
Alright, so now the hell of cutting his feeding to every four hours begins. We're going to wait until he feels better because this isn't going to be fun. Time to un-stretch his stomach! I guess he won't be a baby supermodel anytime soon (Oh my gawd... I'm soooo fat!).
posted by K Schimmy at 8:09 AM
8 Comments:
Hi! It's so nice to hear about how things are going, even though some things aren't always rainbows and unicorns. Ruary is so super cute and happy looking! Thanks so much for the photo card - it is displayed for all to see. "We have friends that make a cute baby with long toes!"
Again, can't wait to meet him, and see you as a mom!
xoxoxo
10:47 AM
I usually don't put my two cents in like this, but remember you are the parent, you make choices, he is your son, and just because the chart says w or y or z, doesn't mean much. I will tell the story of Tony - he was 24.6lbs at 3 months. I called him the tree trunk. He walked early, and grew up for the next 4 years rather than out. Not trying to disparage Dr. Ram at all. Just giving a little perspective that if life gets tough, do what your instinct and what you and Rick decide the is the best thing.
11:00 AM
Charlie has decided for himself that he wants fewer feedings... this is really tough for me because, boy oh boy, do my boobs feel it! I now pump at least once a day, when before I only did it in preparation for a long car ride or something. I am a veritable milk machine, and my baby is working on longer naps, more play time, and less eating. I guess you just have to go with the flow. However, I would tend to agree with Loris. We have friends who were feeding their baby "incorrectly" - that is, mixing the formula with about double the powder for the amount of water, and their boy, getting twice the calories for the first couple months of his life, chunked up big time. Now, he is a normal, happy 7-month-old. A bit extra chunk is good for the brain cells. I hope your boobs get better soon... clearly, you are doing a wonderful job!
We didn't get an oral vaccine at our two-monther. What was that one?
12:12 PM
Hmmm, memories! It seems like so long ago now that all that was happening to O. I remember how wrong it felt to hold him down for those little pokes... it doesn't really get easier, but luckily it will happen less often.
I'm inclined to aggree with the mom and Dad. The most important thing that the doctor ever told me is that the babies know when they are hungry and that they won't starve themselves. I never listened to them about the food stuff and O is alright.
2:29 PM
To Amelia... the liquid oral vaccination was for Rotovirus. It looked like it tasted okay, we didn't get the "icky!" face.
Thanks for the affirmation, everyone. Indeed, Ruary is healthy and that is what is important. The percentiles just surprised me, that's all!
9:03 PM
Those percentiles are fun to try to figure out. Course they are relatively new, mind you. In the dark ages when you were born, we didn't get ultrasounds unless you were a high risk mom and percentiles were what????? Did we even take the baby to a follow up appt? Yes, we did, but he peed all over the doc. Tony did that alot. Actually we went to public health for his immunizations. Interesting how things change. You all have gobs of information we didn't think about. You are certainly more informed about stuff I never considered. wow
9:38 PM
Charlie decided yesterday to eat every hour, so we're back to filling his big stomach again! Exhausting, but better than the boob hurt. I think we got rotovirus in one of the shots, I'll have to check.
10:54 AM
Our doc proclaims the height/weight charts to be "bullshit" (his words, not mine). I say to let Ruary be your guide; he'll eat when he's hungry and quit when he's full. Just my two cents.
Be very glad about that rotovirus vaccine! Michael had "roto-rooter" virus when he was a year old and it was pure hell. Thirty (!) or so diarrhea diapers a day and the world's worst diaper rash. It lasted for two weeks. Don't remember ever being offered a vaccine for it; maybe that's new?
1:42 PM
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