Andrew is such a big boy! Like we didn’t already know that but the doc confirmed it for us. He weighed in at a whopping 19 lbs and 8 oz, and measured 26 ¾ inches long. I knew he was big for his age because he no longer fits comfortably in 3 -6 month outfits. He can wear some 12 months though they are long on his legs but fit his waist.
Some may say it’s the breastfeeding. Like breastfed babies are just somehow bigger. Not completely true. Healthier yes, but bigger? Not always. I am a member of a breastfeeding mommies message board and there are some mommies that exclusively breastfeed as well and have 9 month olds that are much smaller than Andrew! I think it’s in his genes. His Daddy was a hefty sized baby. Andy and I are both pretty tall humans though I think we are more on the new average. Andrew is just going to be a big human. So good! I will just never buy him clothes brand new because he’ll outgrow them before he can wear them more than twice!
I had about a billion and one questions for the doctor. The last visit I had no questions but he’s gone through so many changes since then. I just wanted all his baby parts generally checked and okayed. He gets congested and has a lot of earwax so I wanted her to check all of that, and he is, of course, fine. He might have had a touch of eczema on his arm but it has cleared up with a little cortisone that she recommended so I am going to keep an eye out for another occurrence. And I am still hoping that isn’t what it was. Eczema often means there is a food allergy and those are a bummer to deal with. It is unlikely Andrew has any since Andy and I both have none though so that’s encouraging.
I asked her if we could take him swimming in a pool since he seems to enjoy swimming in the tub so much. Her only things were to make sure the pool was heated and that he didn’t drink the water! So we will start looking in to that soon. It has been awfully cold here lately and I am not interested in swimming.
I also discussed with her my plans to delay solids. Some pediatricians tell moms to go ahead and start giving rice cereal at about 4 months old. Well, the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) actually recommends waiting a full six months before starting any solids to help prevent food allergies from forming. And especially breastfed babies to give them even more of the breastmilk benefits for longer. Babies will often nurse less when they start solids. And it is a myth that cereal helps them sleep through the night. More often then not it upsets their tummies and makes it harder to sleep. Anyway, enough preaching, sorry. She was totally on board with me delaying as long as I wanted. I said six months she said sounds good, I said maybe later even she said sounds good! I am glad I didn’t have to butt heads with her over it. But I think there is zero concern about Andrew’s weight gain! I just want to make sure he can sit upright on his own without propping to be completely safe.
I also talked with her about skipping rice cereal all together. By the time he does get solids it shouldn’t be necessary to start him on cereal because his intestines will be more ready and she said great! I want to start him on spinach mixed with breastmilk since it is high in iron and will help any iron stores he is depleting by then. I do read mixed results about iron stores in babies. Some say they get plenty from breastmilk and it is more absorbable than any other form and some say they can deplete. Who knows. I am well above the norm in my iron levels so I am not worried about my breastfed baby!
The sad part was the shots of course! We hate it. And the nurse that took care of him seemed very inexperienced and may not have even been a nurse but a medical assistant. And Andrew is big and squirms so it was hard for her to get him still and she took a lot longer than the last lady to get all four shots in. Then he was just yucky for about 2 days. No fever, no real symptoms, just sad and crying and needing to be held. So he got held! He also got his first doses of Tylenol. They really seemed to help him feel better but it was still a full two days before he was back to his normal happy smilie self.
I was so grateful to have him back yesterday too because Andy was sick! He was actually sick the day before too so I had a sick Daddy and a sick baby! But at least Andrew got better and then I just had a sick Daddy. Andy spent most of the day in bed and is feeling all better today. I said I need a normal week next week, no one is allowed to be sick! I was so tired from Andrew not sleeping well but I am recovered also.
So we are all back to normal today and planning to have a much needed fun family day together!
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