Thursday, November 12, 2009
Jack's 6 month check-up
We had a really nice appointment yesterday. Too bad it takes sitting there for over an hour to see the doctor. Especially with a baby; fun, fun! By the time the appointment is done we've been there two hours, every time.

Jack is now 18 lbs. 4 oz. and 27 inches long. That puts him in the 55th percentile for weight and 60th for height. So he's a medium sized guy so far, like his dad.

I found out I've been giving him too much milk. I've been giving him anywhere from 32-36 oz. a day and he's supposed to only have 24 oz. at this point. I was told that if I kept over-feeding milk, in the long run it can make Jack anemic. I can introduce water and highly diluted juice if I want. I tried some water last night and Jack wasn't having it. I guess it will be a "process." My ped is really down on juice because it's just basically sugar (fructose). He likened it to poison for your system. He said with fruit the poison, the sugar, is wrapped in the antidote, the fiber. So in every case it's better to give your child (and yourself) the whole fruit. Or in the case with babies, the puree. BTW, poison/antidote idea wasn't original to him, it came from a Pediatric's conference he'd just attended.

Another thing that came out of this conference it that they've changed their recommendations for how to introduce solid foods to babies. Now they want you to start with meat and vegetables. They now understand better that protein is important earlier on. It makes perfect sense because that's what we're being taught for children and adults too. Eat your meat and veggies. His recommendation was fruit and cereal for breakfast, meat and veggie for lunch, and meat and veggie for supper. So, now we'll adapt to this feeding schedule.

I had to run right out to the grocery store and buy more veggies and pick up our first meats. Let me tell you, Jack was all over that meat. I started with chicken and there was no resistance whatsoever. The only downside was having a dog at each elbow when I was feeding him. Once the meat smell wafted through the house I couldn't get rid of them. I'll be interested to hear from my many friends with new babies what their peds tell them when the time comes.

Finally, Jack didn't get any of his six month shots. The ped posponed them to nine months, when he wouldn't have had any scheduled at all. Instead Jack got the first dose of H1N1 flu vaccine, the regular flu vaccine, and the pneumonia vaccine. He also got a rotavirus oral dose. I have to go back in a month for the second round of flu shots. Let me tell you, having him old enough to be vaccinated against this flu stuff has really given me a lot more peace of mind. All the fearmongering has left me with a constant low hum of worry in my head. Now everyone in my family has had the H1N1, Jack and Emma will have the regular flu vaccines, and Jack will have the pneumonia one. Winter can come now.

If you're not Noni and you made it to the end of this bless you ;)
Written at 12:27 PM by Highlandgal.
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