Wednesday, December 13, 2006

4 Month Check-up
Anna and I just returned home from her appt. Her stats: Height just above 75th% and weight 33rd%. So, not a porker. The doc says she's fine, but he would like to see her put on some weight. My options as mom are 1) Eat Ice Cream Every Day, 2) Supplement with formula, or 3) Start Anna on rice cereal. Option number one is dandy fine to me, but that is kind of a paraphrase of the doctor's exact wording. I had planned to wait until Anna was 6 months before starting solids, but today the doctor said that starting at 4-5 months helps the baby develop feeding skills better. I don't know.
Also, to increase Anna's calories, the doctor recommended some sort of feng shui tea- it sounded like feng shui; I don't remember the precise name. And he also recommended, and was half serious, a beer a day, for me, to drink. No thanks, I'm not a Lager girl. He said that beer drinkers recommend that option. Righto.
Immunizations today- not so bad. They gave her four shots, which is better than five, and she stopped crying the moment I picked her up. She did better than the little boy in the next patient room- I put my hands over Anna's ears so she wouldn't hear his screams. =( After it was over, he kept howling "I hate when people shot me."
So, that's the story on Anna's check-up.

Anna's looking at the pendulum of our clock.

That little outfit she's in is so soft and cuddly. Thanks, Grandmom!

8 comments:

  1. 33% is NOT BAD!!! I wouldn't stress out about. Ellis has always been around 25% for weight, and his ped. has never minded, because he makes steady growth progress and is satisfied when he eats.

    Don't stress too much about it. Esp if you and she aren't ready for cereal yet. NOTHING is as good as mom's milk. Maybe sneak in an extra feeding?

    Hmm. don't mean to sound too polemical. Just that 30% isn't something to start infringing on b'feeding--the best thing ever--for. And I'm always suspicious of those docs. Hmmm. Grrr. Especially when they want to supplement b'feeding. Grrr. ;-D

    Okay. *steps off soap box*

    Anna's growing beautifully. Four months already!!!

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  2. I agree that 33 isn't bad, but she was at 50 for wt and 75 for ht and if we keep going down for weight and up for height, we might turn her into a bean pole. Yikes!
    In reality, Anna isn't always satisfied when she feeds, especially during the afternoon and evening and I know that's because I'm neither a good breakfaster nor luncher. I think she'll be fine if I eat more.
    Eventually, we need to start her on cereal- when did you moms start your kids??

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  3. Anonymous3:35 PM

    missy,
    maddie did the exact same thing with height/weight. also, we just went to the doc today, and she was down to the 10th percentile in both. The doctor didn't seem to think it was a big deal, since our family's pretty small and all. I started cereal right before 6 mos., but as long as you're not taking away breast feeding and just adding the cereal, I'm sure you can do whatever feels right.

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  4. Anonymous3:40 PM

    Also, beer = blech! (in my opinion), but I've been on the ice cream every day diet since Maddie was born, and I highly recommend it. :)

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  5. Hannah started 50/50 then dropped 50/25 and settled into 25/10. She was just petite. She's always been a pretty good eater though. My doc said to watch it there for awhile too (went in more regularly for weighing) but eventually they realized she had just settled in to a lower percentile. I think it was probably around the age Anna is. I think I started rice cereal around 6 or 7 months....awful, she's only two and I'd have to look it up!! :o)

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  6. Anonymous6:39 PM

    She's her father's daughter--long and lean. I started Chris on cereal and formula at four months because I couldn't keep up with him. Also, he was my second, so I didn't have time to cater to his needs exclusively. I remember having the same doubts you're having about supplementing b'feeding. However, feeding and brain development go hand-in-hand at this stage, so supplementing the b'feeding might be something to consider. But if I were you, I'd go with the ice cream diet! What a win/win situation! Anyway, here are Chris' stats: By 3 months, he was 15lb 2oz and by 5 months he was 19lb 2oz, 28". By his 1st birthday he was 25lb and 32", not quite triple his birth weight of 9lb 8-1/2oz.

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  7. Wow! Anna is not quite four months and her weight today was 12lbs 10oz. Dad had a couple pounds on her by this point. My mom had to start Nick on cereal at 4 mos, too. Right now, we're thinking that I'll try to eat eat eat and then probably sometime in January we'll debut this little girl on cereal?

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  8. My Joshua is actually in the 3rd percentile for height & like 5th for weight, we are shorties,but you have seen him, not exactly a skinny fella.

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