Tuesday, September 23, 2008

bad mommy?


Liam had his 4-month well baby visit on Friday. Another round of immunizations for my Little Man. These were worse than the first (for me). He was smiling and playing happily with his feet when the nurse got him with the needle. He gave me a puzzled look and promptly burst into tears, which in turn made me tear up. Sigh. The sound of my baby crying is worse than the rap music on Phil's iPod. Heart-wrenching to say the least. Here are his stats:

Height: 26 1/4 in.
Weight: 12 lbs. 8 oz.
Head circumference: 16"

He grew almost three inches in two months, but didn't even gain one pound. 90th percentile for height, 10th percentile for weight. I had the nurse re-weigh him just to make sure. Considering my back is bothering me, I thought for sure he was closer to 15 lbs. No luck. It was the same. The average weight gain for an infant is roughly 1 oz. per day...do the math and Liam should have gained around 4 lbs.

So I felt horrible, believing I was starving my baby. The doctor wasn't so concerned- she described him as long and lean. She suggested adding a couple of ounces to each of his bottles at day care and supplement with one formula bottle to boost his caloric intake. We go back in two weeks to see where he's at. If he hasn't gained much, maybe I'll start feeding him candy.


I know this will be one of hundreds of times I question my instincts. He's generally a very happy little guy so I think I would have known but then again, everything is a guessing game.

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