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May. 22nd, 2005 02:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rivkaAlex gained nine ounces in four days. It's more and more clear that it wasn't a matter of her simply being a small baby by nature, or the growth charts being inappropriate for breastfed babies - she really just wasn't getting enough to eat. She's gained a pound in eleven days since switching to bottle feeding.
Coming off the special feeder on Friday, she hit an enormous eating jag. My parents were here this weekend, fortunately, because I'm not sure I would've had the courage to massively increase her feeding amounts without Mom's supervision. Dr. Sears says that bottle-fed babies should get two to two-and-a-half ounces of formula per pound per day. Alex is currently taking in much, much more than that - more than half again as much. But she wants it, so I'm not arguing.
I think she's going to be so much easier and so much less fussy, now that she's finally getting enough to eat.
I had a weird interaction with my father. He's a retired pediatrician, and he's been making dubious noises about Alex's reflux ever since it was diagnosed. He started right in on it again during their visit. When he was in practice, "reflux was a diagnosis reserved for only a small group of very sick babies who needed extensive treatment, and now it's handed out all over the place."
"Our pediatrician is pretty sure she has reflux, Dad."
"Well, your pediatrician is, in some ways, going along with fashion..."
"And the Zantac has helped a lot - it's like night and day."
"You know, on some level, all babies have reflux, in the sense that they have immature digestive systems. I'm not convinced that, as an illness, it's widespread."
We went on like that for a while. Finally I said to my mother, "The reflux - which Dad doesn't believe in-"
He interrupted me with some force. "I don't like to think of my grandchild as being sick, okay?"
I was stunned. "Is that it? Is that why you've been arguing so much about the diagnosis?
Yes. That was it. That was the only reason. I commented that I felt much better knowing why he was arguing with me, and he was surprised. He had no idea that his questioning my observations and my pediatrician's judgment would be stressful for me. My father is inexplicable.
Overall we had a lovely weekend. We played with the baby and took her for walks and matched her up against my mother's developmental screening datasheets from her job. I am pleased to say that, at six weeks, Alex has mastered all the one month milestones and several of the two month ones. Even though she was starving.
Coming off the special feeder on Friday, she hit an enormous eating jag. My parents were here this weekend, fortunately, because I'm not sure I would've had the courage to massively increase her feeding amounts without Mom's supervision. Dr. Sears says that bottle-fed babies should get two to two-and-a-half ounces of formula per pound per day. Alex is currently taking in much, much more than that - more than half again as much. But she wants it, so I'm not arguing.
I think she's going to be so much easier and so much less fussy, now that she's finally getting enough to eat.
I had a weird interaction with my father. He's a retired pediatrician, and he's been making dubious noises about Alex's reflux ever since it was diagnosed. He started right in on it again during their visit. When he was in practice, "reflux was a diagnosis reserved for only a small group of very sick babies who needed extensive treatment, and now it's handed out all over the place."
"Our pediatrician is pretty sure she has reflux, Dad."
"Well, your pediatrician is, in some ways, going along with fashion..."
"And the Zantac has helped a lot - it's like night and day."
"You know, on some level, all babies have reflux, in the sense that they have immature digestive systems. I'm not convinced that, as an illness, it's widespread."
We went on like that for a while. Finally I said to my mother, "The reflux - which Dad doesn't believe in-"
He interrupted me with some force. "I don't like to think of my grandchild as being sick, okay?"
I was stunned. "Is that it? Is that why you've been arguing so much about the diagnosis?
Yes. That was it. That was the only reason. I commented that I felt much better knowing why he was arguing with me, and he was surprised. He had no idea that his questioning my observations and my pediatrician's judgment would be stressful for me. My father is inexplicable.
Overall we had a lovely weekend. We played with the baby and took her for walks and matched her up against my mother's developmental screening datasheets from her job. I am pleased to say that, at six weeks, Alex has mastered all the one month milestones and several of the two month ones. Even though she was starving.
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Date: 2005-05-24 01:57 pm (UTC)BTW, I have recommended these two books already, haven't I? If not, take note: these two were the most helpful to me in making my transition to being a parent:
When Partners Become Parents: The Big Life Change for Couples by Carolyn Cowan and Philip Cowan and The Transition to Parenthood by Jay Belsky and John Kelly. Both were very helpful in helping me understand why my relationship with my parents and husband changed because of the baby. Lots of insight, v. encouraging. Also good at helping me ward of potential problems.
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Date: 2005-05-24 01:58 pm (UTC)