1/12/12

Yesterday I took Mia to her 2 month doctor appointment so all you moms and dads know that means shots! I was not looking forward to this at all as you can imagine, I was worried about the pain and the possibility of fever. Mia's doctor told me at her last appointment that I could give her infant Tylenol before the appointment, so I bought some last week. On the box it says to consult your physician for dosage so I called the nurse on Tuesday to find out how much to give her. The nurse told me not to give her any because new studies show that Tylenol can interfere with the vaccines. I don't like getting conflicting information. I told her that Dr. Locher suggested we give it to her and her response surprised me, "That's what we used to suggest, but we don't do that anymore." I was not comfortable with that because it was only two weeks ago that the doctor told us to give it to her, but I listened to her and didn't give her the Tylenol.

We took Mia to the clinic on December 26th because she has a red mark on her shoulder that keeps getting bigger, redder, puffier, and now it's surrounded by a bruise, which apparently is nothing to be concerned about. I guess I'm a little jumpy because of all the St Jude stories I've heard over the years. She weighed in that day at 9 pounds 11 ounces. When she was there yesterday she weighed in on the same scale, naked both times, at 9 pounds 10 ounces. She's going the wrong way! That concerns me a little. The doctor suggested she come back to get weighed again next week. She was 21 inches long so she's only gotten 1 3/4 inches longer and has only gained 3 pounds from when she left the hospital, but to me she seems so much bigger. She is in the 25th percentile for her weight, 10th percentile for her length, and 25th for her head size. So she's a peanut just like my nephew Hayden. Though Josh and I were both small kids so it should be no surprise that we made one.

She woke up yesterday morning super smiley. She had no idea what was in store for her later that day. At least that is until I put her in the car seat. She cried all the way to the clinic and in the room while we waited for the doctor.

Once the Dr. Locher came in Mia stopped crying and looked right at him while he was talking. I guess she just wanted to see a face other than mine and hear a voice other than mine. He said she looks really good so there were no outside clues to her weight loss. Besides tummy time she's right on track developmentally. He asked if while on her tummy she raises her head to a 45 degree angle. I chuckled a little and told him, no, she just screams the whole time. He said that it could go either way so it's nothing to worry about as long as she holds her head up well when we hold her in our arms and she does that very well.

So after her check up it was time for those nasty shots. I told Dr. Locher what the nurse told me on the phone about the Tylenol and he told me not to worry they'd give it to her before administering the vaccines. He left the room and Mia practiced her shot voice again. She cried unitl the nurse gave her the Tylenol, it must have tasted good. The nurse told me at that time how much to give her in case she developed a fever later that day. She then gave her the oral vaccine which also must have tasted good, Mia was happy...unitl...the nurse gave her the first shot in the leg and her face scrunched up and she screamed with tears and everything. Then she calmed a little and then got shot in her other leg and screamed again. Her poor little legs bled so much that they required standard sized bandaids instead of the little round ones. I felt so bad for her. It hurt me as much as it hurt her I think.

After her appointment was over I went up to see the lactation consultant, Lora. I talked to her about Mia's weight loss. She suggested that it could be due to her increased exercise. She is out of her harness for 8 hours a day so she is able to kick and play more so perhaps she is losing weight because she is burning more calories. That makes sense! Why didn't Dr. Locher think of that? That made me feel a lot better. I was worried that she wasn't eating enough or getting enough milk during feedings. I really don't want to put her on formula and I was worried that that was the answer, but Lora eased my mind. She told me that if she eats more than I can keep up with when I go back to work we can mix formula with breastmilk. One ounce of formula to every 2 ounces of breastmilk. That makes me feel better about supplementing than giving her breastmilk sometimes and formula sometimes.

When I talked to Dr. Locher about going back to work he assumed that I was using formula. He told me that all formula though marketed differently is pretty much the same (except soy obviously) so I can use whatever samples I get and not worry if they are different brands.

I don't want formula to make me lazy. I want to give Mia breastmilk as long as possible, the goal is a year. I am fully dedicated to pumping at work and breastfeeding at home. I have discovered I don't pump as much as she gets when I nurse her which is normal. I have some milk stored up in my freezer. Not much, but some. I am going to continue to stock my freezer now until I go back to work next week and on the weekends after I go back to work. Hopefully I'll have enough to give the sitter while I'm at work, but I'll send a can of formula with her just in case.

Moms did any of you have trouble keeping up with your breastmilk?