Well Baby Visit

X-man had his 6 month check up on Friday. In general, everything went really well. His length is 26 inches...up two inches from 2 months ago. That's good.

His weight? Only up 2 oz. since his 4 month check up. He went from 14 lbs 14 oz in June to 15 lbs in August. The doctor wasn't too worried since X-man was dealing with Rota virus for two weeks and a few extra days (I'm not so sure that we're completely out of the woods with that). Doc did say that his weight was more in line with his height (height still in the 25th percentile). He's quite certain that he had gained weight, just lost it with all the diaper-making.

Everything else checked out nicely. His ears look good, his eyes look good and the flat spot on the back of his head is evening out (therefore his forehead is more symmetrical). Doc even looked in his mouth and saw no signs of teething. So, for all the people that have been telling me for three months that X-man's teething, just go with it that he's a drooler, ok?

He did get more shots and again, took them like a champ. He fussed when they injected the immunizations (I'd have to agree with that...that hurts more than the stick I think!). But the minute I picked him back up, he was fine and even flirted with the nurses a bit more. And there won't be any shots at his 9 month check up!

Solids. Doc said we can start introducing solid foods starting with rice cereal. He would like me to wait until all the diarrhea is over. Then after 5-6 days on the rice cereal with no reactions, to start on veggies. I did ask about when to introduce fruits since I've read that you should do veggies first and I've also read that it doesn't matter what order. He suggested veggies first. Ok, no biggie.

Oh, the doc also said that at this point he gives mothers the go-ahead to drop the middle of the night feeding...if she is comfortable with it. That's what I like about this doctor. He knows that some women may not want to drop that feeding so he's ok if you keep it up. He just says that it's ok to drop it if you are comfortable with that. He suggested that I wait a few more weeks to get X-man's weight back up. In about two weeks I'll probably go back to the hospital pharmacy and use their scale to check him out. That's a great service they offer there!

So the appointment went well and I even found out that well-baby visits are 100% covered by my insurance. We determined that after I told the receptionist that I had no idea what my co-pay was since it had been different every time I came it. Well, whaddaya know? We shouldn't be charging you this $15 co-pay on well visits!

. . .

I went to the grocery store (actually it was Super Target since I had a 10% off coupon) today to pick up some things as well as new food for X-man. I got a small box of rice cereal and a two-pack of english peas, one of squash and one of sweet potatoes. But I'm not limiting myself to the shelf-stable baby foods. If we're having those veggies for dinner, I'll just puree some for him and that way he can really eat with us!

I also got a can of powdered formula. Yes, I've been exclusively breastfeeding and I don't intend to stop that. However, I'm just not the milk cow that some women are and I don't have much milk saved in the freezer. It's not from lack of trying...I pumped last night to be rewarded with maybe a 1/4 oz...not even enough to warrant using a clean bottle and pump! Anyway, how in hades do you figure out what kind of formula to get? And it's no wonder that kids are picky eaters...I was surprised that there wasn't a formula for "babies that don't like vegetables." There were all kinds and I ended up picking up one that...well, I don't know why I picked it up. It was a small can, I'd heard of the brand and I guess the can was pretty. We'll probably mix it with the rice cereal and use it in case I go somewhere and I don't have any milk in the freezer.

Now, to determine when we can start on the rice cereal. That'll be fun!