Today, we had to take the baby to the doctor's office. It wasn't for anything serious, just her regularly-scheduled checkup. Since she is now 4 months old, it was also time for another round of vaccines.
After checking in, we waited for our turn in the waiting room. While we waited, the baby became restless in her stroller and since I'd forgotten to pack a blanket to lay on the chair for her to play on, I used the newspaper I'd taken to read as a cover. It was then that I discovered that newspaper makes a great DIY toy for a curious baby.
In fact, the baby was so into playing with and chomping on the newspaper that she didn't want to let go of it when we were called. So, with her in one arm and maneuvering her stroller one-handed, I followed the nurse to the exam room to get her vitals recorded.
My husband predicted that based on a recent weighing, she'd weigh in at around 15.5 lbs. So when she actually was weighed, the figure came in at over 16lbs, and my hubby was quite surprised cuz that figure blew the linear model he'd designed to track her weight gain clean out of the water. She also measured in a little over 2 ft long, which we both were surprised about. I knew she was growing, as she'd literally just outgrown her size-2 diapers, but I was surprised to see how much she'd grown since the last appointment.
Our doctor was absolutely delighted to see her progress. Her weight and growth put her in the top 94th percentile, and her development is rapidly progressing. Baby can now sit up with assistance, and control her head movements. She also rolls regularly and is working on standing up. The doctor advised that when she reaches 5 mos to start introducing her to solid food. I was a little surprised to hear that, as I'd always been told that 6 mos is the starting point for solids. The doctor explained that recent studies showed that the way we currently approach solid feeding for babies makes them more susceptible to developing food allergies and that the earlier you start feeding, the less likely they are to develop allergies. Weaning will be an interesting time, cuz I don't want to give up breastfeeding too soon (I want to shoot for at least a year or so). I don't think the baby would appreciate being cut off from the titty too soon either.
Finally, the vaccines came. Baby got her second round of DTaP, IPV, and rotovirus shots. She was not pleased about getting poked. Like last time, her shot spots were sore after a few hours and she was crying for about 20 minutes before a dose of kiddie acetaminophen helped make the discomfort go away. After that, she played a bit with some newspapers before going to sleep.
As painful as it is to see my child screaming and crying after getting her vaccine shots, I know she is given them to keep her healthy. Unlike anti-vaxxers, I don't see vaccines as the tools of the devil and would rather deal with a few hours discomfort than risk my child dying from a treatable disease because I took herd immunity for granted. Yes, shots suck. But getting sick and dying sucks worse.
Today was a good day, and getting the clean bill of health from the doctor's made things even better.
After checking in, we waited for our turn in the waiting room. While we waited, the baby became restless in her stroller and since I'd forgotten to pack a blanket to lay on the chair for her to play on, I used the newspaper I'd taken to read as a cover. It was then that I discovered that newspaper makes a great DIY toy for a curious baby.
 |
| The hipsters call this "upcycling" |
In fact, the baby was so into playing with and chomping on the newspaper that she didn't want to let go of it when we were called. So, with her in one arm and maneuvering her stroller one-handed, I followed the nurse to the exam room to get her vitals recorded.
My husband predicted that based on a recent weighing, she'd weigh in at around 15.5 lbs. So when she actually was weighed, the figure came in at over 16lbs, and my hubby was quite surprised cuz that figure blew the linear model he'd designed to track her weight gain clean out of the water. She also measured in a little over 2 ft long, which we both were surprised about. I knew she was growing, as she'd literally just outgrown her size-2 diapers, but I was surprised to see how much she'd grown since the last appointment.
Our doctor was absolutely delighted to see her progress. Her weight and growth put her in the top 94th percentile, and her development is rapidly progressing. Baby can now sit up with assistance, and control her head movements. She also rolls regularly and is working on standing up. The doctor advised that when she reaches 5 mos to start introducing her to solid food. I was a little surprised to hear that, as I'd always been told that 6 mos is the starting point for solids. The doctor explained that recent studies showed that the way we currently approach solid feeding for babies makes them more susceptible to developing food allergies and that the earlier you start feeding, the less likely they are to develop allergies. Weaning will be an interesting time, cuz I don't want to give up breastfeeding too soon (I want to shoot for at least a year or so). I don't think the baby would appreciate being cut off from the titty too soon either.
Finally, the vaccines came. Baby got her second round of DTaP, IPV, and rotovirus shots. She was not pleased about getting poked. Like last time, her shot spots were sore after a few hours and she was crying for about 20 minutes before a dose of kiddie acetaminophen helped make the discomfort go away. After that, she played a bit with some newspapers before going to sleep.
 |
| Nothing like using your imagination to keep yourself entertained |
As painful as it is to see my child screaming and crying after getting her vaccine shots, I know she is given them to keep her healthy. Unlike anti-vaxxers, I don't see vaccines as the tools of the devil and would rather deal with a few hours discomfort than risk my child dying from a treatable disease because I took herd immunity for granted. Yes, shots suck. But getting sick and dying sucks worse.
Today was a good day, and getting the clean bill of health from the doctor's made things even better.
No comments:
Post a Comment