Baby Stats

Our sweet little Elsie and I headed out for a morning visit to the pediatrician. I wasn't particularly looking forward to this appointment, but I was interested in hearing her new numbers and how incredibly chubilicous she was to other people, not just her daddy and me. She checked out to be perfect. Of course she is!! After her bout with RSV, etc., she will always be perfect. I love her in every way. I love her chunkiness because that tells me she is growing. I love her happiness because that tells me I am blessed to be her mother. I love her fussiness because that tells me she is alive.

I just hated holding her arms as she was poked three times in the legs. She cried so hard she turned bright red and had a hard time catching her breath. Now she has a huge bruise on her right thigh. Her sensitive skin is all red where the bandaids stuck to her skin. I ignored the nurse's instructions about giving Tylenol only for fussiness or 102+ fevers. Instead, I gave her some as soon as we got home. I want her to be comfortable, and since she can't tell me exactly how she's feeling this is the way it is. It used to be that you could give a Tylenol dose before vaccinations for pretreatment of pain. Why do all the "rules" and "recommendations" have to change all the time. My children range in ages from infant to 10, and I'm sure that all three kids have had different guidelines to follow!! Alexis, my oldest, got cough meds after turning 2. Ava still cannot have cough meds until she turns 4. Not that I want my kids medicated all the time, but it is frustrating all the same when they don't feel well. It's kind of like the fact that we as infants were put to sleep on our tummies. I wouldn't want to be caught dead doing that now! And what about crib bumper pads?? Nope, not supposed to have those either. (BTW, I still use them...) And the list goes on and on...

I brought up the fussiness issue that Elsie has been having lately. (You'd think that child #3 would be a piece of cake, wouldn't you??) I wanted to get our doctor's opinion on it. She is happy with Elsie's growth thus far and loves that she is a good eater and weight gainer. Food allergies are not really a concern that she had; however, she mentioned that I could cut milk products from my diet to see if that makes a difference in her fussiness. Milk intolerances are something that can come and then go with babies. They generally grow out of an intolerance especially in Elsie's case where there is good weight gain and no real family history of food allergies. I think I will initially try cutting back on dairy products and give the baby gas drops a try. I know I have an over abundant intake of milk, yogurt and cheese - I love milk! Maybe I'm overdoing it? I would hate to stop nursing this early because of a selfish dairy obsession...

Anyways, here are Elsie's stats!

• 13 pounds, 9 ounces (95th percentile) - yes, what a chunk!
• 23 inches long (67th percentile)
• 15.5 inch head circumference (50-75th percentile)
• 3 needle vaccines (DTAP/polio/Hib, Hep B, pneumococcus) and 1 rotovirus oral vaccine
• Negative stool heme test (they checked for an intestinal inflammation [blood] with her getting fussy and gassy with feedings)