Making Progress

So apparently full fat yogurt, cheese and bites of mama's ice cream have done the the trick. My little guy gained 7 ounces since our last doctor's visit two weeks ago. He's up to 16 lbs, 2 ozs. He's definitely small for his age, but the doctor was happy with that growth.

She said that any number of things could have caused the slow growth last time. Since his urine culture was negative for anything concerning, he's gained a good amount and he's alert and active, she doesn't feel the need to do blood work at this time. She does want us to see a nutritionist to talk about calories and that sort of thing. I said okay, but honestly, I don't see myself getting a whole lot out of it. Obviously, if I keep feeding him like I have been he'll keep gaining.

She also said that she will take a look at the breastfed baby chart. She said that the charts they use are for formula fed babies (which I knew, having scoped the "Enfamil" logo at the bottom of the chart at our last visit), and that she doesn't know why they don't use the breastfed charts for breastfed babies. Her suspicion is that on a BF baby chart, his growth will be perfectly normal.

I'm happy she realizes the difference and that she plans to check the appropriate chart, but I'm a little annoyed that it took her this long to mention it. Granted, our 9 month visit was the first time we'd seen this particular doctor in a while since she'd been out on her own maternity leave. I suspect BFing her own child has influenced her to be a little more proactive in that department. I think the other doctors in the practice (who we saw for our initial weight checks) might be a little more old school and while they are very pro-BFing, they don't seem to see the problem with using FF charts for BF babies.

All the same, we have another weight check in three weeks just to make sure that he continues packing on the ounces. That's fine with me because I really do want to rule out the possibility of any kind of digestive issue. I'll just make sure to keep seeing this particular doctor and leave the old dudes for some other mama.

Food Log Mulligan

I had the dubious pleasure of getting a urine sample from my little Button yesterday. He was rewarded for being a good sport by having some of mama's blizzard...good stuff.

Today, I dropped off his food log and the urine sample at the pediatrician's office. The good news...no UTI or kidney issues. They are sending out the sample for a culture, but the quick dip test they did came back clean.

I had thought that my food log was complete and pretty thorough, but apparently, I was wrong. The doctor wants me to be more precise in the amounts he's eating. In other words, I have to count cheerios and ounces of yogurt.

The good news from my perspective is that he looks fatter already. I've always noticed that his arms look really skinny, and I swear they look a little pudgier already.

Full fat yogurt, buttered cheese toast and ice cream...yum. I know lots of people who wish they were on this kid's diet.

It's the Little Things

Yesterday we had blueberry pancakes for dinner. I've been feeling tired and stressed, so my darling hubby did most of the real work. I haven't been buying pancake mix because they are so easy to make from scratch, so I rattled off the recipe while Hubby combined ingredients.

Just as the first pancake hit the pan, he said, "Do we have syrup?" We had used the last of it last week...on another pancake for dinner night (we're big on brinner). He said, "Do you want to go and get some or do you want to stay here and cook?" I looked at the baby, who was munching on cheerios in his high chair, smiled, and said, "I'll go."

Suddenly the idea of five minutes to myself was intoxicating. I seriously considered cruising around town with the windows down and the music blaring. But I hate when my dinner gets cold, so I settled on getting my errand done and returning home...being responsible blows.

Luckily, Cumberland Farms doesn't sell syrup, so I had to go to the ghetto grocery store down the street. I bought a bottle of "buttery flavored syrup" (no organic anything there, let alone real maple syrup) for 99 cents and got the hell out of there. But not before seeing a sign on the exit door that read: "Have you seen our carts? If so, please let us know."

Here we go again...

So we had our 9 month well-baby check up today. Here's the good news...my baby boy is happy, healthy and thriving. He's personable and smiles at all the nurses and staff. He's something of a flirt, really. He's meeting his milestones and seems relatively smart. I'm not saying I've got the next Einstein here, but I'm pretty sure he's no dope either.

So here's the bad news...he only gained an ounce since our last visit three weeks ago. He is up to 15 lbs, 11 ozs., and we are back to weight checks. I don't know what is going on with this child, but he cannot seem to gain a significant amount of weight.

At our last weight check, we breathed a sigh of relief and I assumed all this was behind us. That's what I get for assuming.

The doctor isn't super worried, and because he's so healthy, active and happy, I'm not too worried either. But, that doesn't mean I'm going to bury my head in the sand and just hope that there isn't something more going on. So now I get to collect a urine sample for some tests, keep a food log to track calories, and go back for another weight check in two weeks. After that we'll reassess and do bloodwork if necessary.

Part of me almost wishes it were something as simple as low breastmilk supply at this point. If it were that, then I'd know that there is nothing wrong with my baby and there would be a simple solution.

But as it is, we are left to wonder. I'm going to try to wonder only and not wonder and worry, but it's a tough line to walk.

The Third of July

Last week we went to the Connecticut shore as part of our Fourth of July celebration. My father-in-law rents a house every year so we go down to spend a day and celebrate the holiday. These past three years have been an interesting progression.

Three years ago, we went and talked about our upcoming "vacation." No one knew that our secret glances weren't just in excitement and anticipation of relaxing in the Caribbean. The truth was that we were secretly planning a wedding.

Last year, we all enjoyed the anticipation of my growing belly and all the changes that the baby would bring. We wondered if it was a boy or a girl and when he would make his appearance.

This year, the baby was the star of the show. He happily babbled and bounced his way into everyone's heart. We heard time after time how sweet and cute he is (we agree).

When nap-time rolled around, I took the little Button up to the third floor of the house to lay him down on my father-in-law and his girlfriend's bed. The house is old and huge; the ceiling is peaked and the wooden rafters made it feel like we were resting in an attic. The ocean breeze and the sound of waves lapping at the shore floated in through the open windows. The day was hot but the breeze was pleasant and someone somewhere was playing a ukulele.

My sweet baby was sound asleep and peaceful next me. It was one of those moments that a woman dreams about when she strokes her pregnant belly and wonders what's coming next...it was, in a word, perfect.

Real Diapers!

We celebrated our Fourth of July on the third of July this year. We went down to the Connecticut shore to hang out with my father in law, his girlfriend and a lot of her family. As I changed the little Button's diaper, her brother in law sat in a nearby chair and saw me take off a prefold and cover and put a pocket diaper on the little guy.

The brother-in-law said, "Oh you use real diapers!"

I loved that he called them "real" diapers, as opposed to fake disposable diapers!*

Then later on, I changed Button again, and another extended family member saw me taking off an all-in-one and was fascinated with modern cloth diapers.

These are people who are more likely to have grandchildren than children at this point in their lives, but it was so nice to see their interest and support for cloth. I see many people online complaining that their family members think cloth is weird or gross and have no problem sharing that opinion with the world.

I use cloth because I think that they are better for the environment and for my baby, so it was encouraging to introduce new people to the world of cloth diapers and see that people can be supportive instead of derisive.

*I don't judge sposie users. We use them at night because I hate middle of the night diaper changes and I can usually go all night with the little guy in disposable.