Six month checkup

Today we went to visit Chester's pediatrician for his six month checkup.  He has gained 3 pounds in two months, weighing in at 18.6 pounds.  That's a bit of a drop from his usual half pound a week which he's consistently gained every visit.  I've noticed over the last few weeks he's not as interested in boobies, and I gotta say, I'm a little sad.  In the past it was impossible to get him off in less than half an hour per side!  Now I can hardly get him to stay on for ten minutes.  The drop is startling and upsetting, although I know this is what a 'normal' feeding is supposed to be like.  It still takes the same amount of time as before, with all the starts and stops.  In fact, in the last few weeks, I've spent the last two hours before he goes to bed trying to get him to eat for about ten minutes a side.  Sometimes he won't even get that, and I'll have to spend another half hour pumping.  It's exhausting.  He's still sleeping through the night which is strange considering the fact he has so much less in his tummy to get him through until morning.  I hope his sleep patterns don't change as a result.  We are trying him on solid food this weekend.  (With a high chair on the way soon!)  Our naturopath recommended a fruit and veggie approach before introducing him to the heavier, less nutritious foods like rice and pablum and I'm super happy we're opting for this method.  She gave us a list of foods to start with that are hypo-allergenic, easily chewable, full of fibre and fluid, and iron-rich.  I love that her list is so meticulous!  We are trying pears to start.  Apparently this is a tried and true favourite amongst babies along with cauliflower.  Who knew?

Back to our doctor's visit.  What a difference two months make!  Chester was pretty high maintenance for today's visit.  He needed to be changed twice before the doctor even saw him.  (Thankfuly, it was just pee.)  The last time couple times we went to visit the doctor (two and four months), Chester received two shots.  Today's visit was more of the same, and he reacted exactly as he has in the past.  The first shot in the right leg went unnoticed.  Not a peep.  What a brave little guy!  The second shot is when it all goes to hell.  Screaming and crying galore.  Our pediatrician says it's because he wasn't expecting the first one, so when he sees that next one coming, he's already uncomfortable, and ready to react.  Last time, the only way to get him to stop crying was to give him some Tempra and immediately nurse him.  Our doctor was nice enough to let me nurse him in his office last time but this time, he needed his office and said we could use the examining room we were in until he needed it.  Knowing the huge lineup that was in the reception area, I knew that wouldn't be long.

He also refused to take any of the banana flavoured Tempra he always enjoyed in the past.  He shut his mouth so tight, (impressive when you're crying) and made the same face that he did when I tried to give him water in his sippy cup, turning his face from side to side and violently knocked the sterilized dropper I brought from home out of my hands.  This resulted in me meekly having to go ask to borrow another dropper from our doctor (who was in his office madly rushing to write a letter while hordes of patients kept arriving).  Ugh.  I got a cold stare which seemed to last for an eternity before he got up and got us another dropper.  Sigh.  The kid still wouldn't take it.  I think more got onto his face than in his mouth before I finally got a tiny bit in.  This invoked the most impressive Dustin Hoffman, Oscar-worthy performance which involved total disgust, a dramatic gag and a shudder.  Sigh.  When I tried to offer him a boob, he looked at it like it was filled with more of that gross banana juice I tried to foist on him and pushed himself away with a look that said, "Screw you, I ain't falling for this shit again" type of look.  I tried three times until he finally smacked my boob so hard I gave up and called it a day.  What a little personality.  So stubborn and willful.  Remind you of anyone?  At least we didn't use the room for too long.

On a happier note, Chester is finally ok to sleep on his tummy!  The doctor said he is past the danger stage.  This is such a relief as Tim won't have to go in and turn him onto his back three or four times a night.  (I even woke Tim up last week at 5:45 am to go in and flip him over too.)  I think we'll still tiptoe in if we see him sleeping like this before we turn in, (nee: Tim since he goes to bed a lot later than me) but we'll skip any 5 am, get-out-of-bed scenarios in the future.  Another stat:  Chester is 28 inches (71 cms) now.  (He was 20 inches/51cms at birth.)  He's almost grown out of the sleepers we bought him less than two months ago.  Another relief:  We don't have to go back for six months, but we have the option of going back after three if we feel the need.  This is great as we'll potentially skip winter and be back for our next visit around his birthday.  Let's hope this will be when I post my next checkup!