Baby E had his 6 month check up last week. It was good, The pediatrician said he's perfect, though she wishes he'd sleep longer (uh, really? Me, too, lady). She thought it was really cool that we're supplementing with donated breastmilk and asked all about how we found it, etc... I'd been worried about that, that she'd freak out since it wasn't through a bank. It was a relief that she was cool with it, though, of course we'd have continued to use it even if she hadn't been supportive. She agreed with me that he's not really ready for solid foods yet, but said we can start whenever we feel like he's ready, though there's no rush. Also a relief.
The only thing that wasn't awesome about the appointment (well, other than having to wait for freaking ever for the doctor), was baby E's stats. He's tiny, y'all. At birth he was 7lbs8oz. Perfect, normal size, though, according to the charts, he was in the 25th%. I didn't worry about this because his birth parents are small-ish and, really, 7.5lbs seems like a perfect size to me. And then by 2 and 4 months, he was up between the 25th and 50th%. But, this time, he was only 15lbs even, making him in about the 10th%. His height was also in the 10th%.
While the pediatrician wasn't concerned, because baby E's "doing everything he's supposed to be doing and he looks great", I'm a little worried. Hubby immediately jumped on the "let's feed him solid foods" bandwagon, but I reminded him that breastmilk actually has more calories and fat than solid foods and he backed down. Now I'm worried that we've not been feeding him enough since his last appointment. I'm worried that maybe the breastmilk isn't the best thing for him, but, really, how could that be?! He has had a cold for 3.5 of the last 5 weeks. I know that has affected how well he's been eating (since he can't breathe and all). I'm hoping that's all it is and, based on how much he's been eating today, I'm sure he'll catch up. Right????????
Isn't he beautiful?!! Those eyes just make my heart feel at peace.
Today's lesson - the charts suck. Also, my understanding is that the charts were established based on a relatively small sample of FORMULA fed babies. That makes their validity in question for a variety of reasons. And it means that I will no longer allow myself to get stressed about where my kids fall on them. As long as my boys are healthy, and developmentally on track, I'm a happy momma.
1 comment:
I so understand where you're coming from! I still haven't told our pediatrician about the donated breastmilk we have utilized b/c I'm afraid of what he will say... I mean, I just finally hit him with the "we're not vaccinating" issue at last months check up (when he was 7 months old). Sometimes I feel like I'm afraid of the "look" I'll get or having to explain myself and my choices more than anything... It's frustrating. Your LO is adorable and I think what you're doing is amazing and awesome and the best thing that you can do for him :) Those percentile charts a useful tool, I suppose, but every baby is different and "one size fits all" anything, as you probably already know, can be problematic in many ways. Keep up the good work, mama!
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