Monday, November 13, 2006

Two Ear Infections and a Side of Guilt (no charge)

X-man had his 9 month check up today and it didn't turn out quite as good as I expected.

First, he's got an ear infection in both ears. Poor guy! When he was flapping his ears with his fingers, I thought he was just playing. Maybe that was him trying to tell me his ears hurt.

He's 27.5 inches long; 25th percentile for height.

At his 6 month exam, he was only 15 pounds...two ounces more than at his 4 month appointment. Of course, he had 4 weeks of rotavirus, so that was part of that problem.

Today he weighed 16 lbs 2 oz. According to his height, he should be around 19 pounds. The doctor said that if he were one pound lighter, we'd be worried. But now, we're not really worried, just want to make sure he gets plenty to eat.

We talked about his other developmental milestones and he is hitting all of them. The pediatrician asked me if I felt like he was getting enough milk when I was nursing. That's a pretty tough question if you ask me. I know that I'm not making much extra milk because I don't get a whole lot when I pump. And I don't have a gauge on my boob to tell me how much is leaving.

So I had a little (read that: big) mamma breakdown. I just took the whole weight gain issue too personally. The doctor never implied that I was doing anything wrong or that he questioned my mamma abilities. I did that to myself.

Oh, and then I got a summons for Jury Duty next month. There is no exception on the books for breastfeeding mothers or primary caretakers. I'm having my OBGYN fax in a letter saying when I delivered and how long I plan on breastfeeding. We'll see if that gets me exempt from Jury Duty. Not that I don't think it would be interesting, but TC can't take a week off of work to babysit and I don't know anyone else that would be able to watch Mr. X-man for that long. Sheesh. In Texas, breastfeeding moms are exempt!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

ASH's mom said that you're being too hard on yourself. I agree! You and TC are good parents...I'm betting that's what your parents say as well as mine. Since we were blessed with great parents, they must know what they're talkin' about! :)

snarflemarfle said...

Thanks ASH! Thing is, I know I'm being too hard on myself. TC says the same thing. I'm feeling better at things after a good night's sleep!