2 Month Checkup

Friday was Elliot's 2 month appointment. She now has a couple of chins and weighs 9 lbs. 8 oz. I realize that's about what some babies weigh at birth, but she is apparently thriving. She was in the 10th percentile a couple months ago. Now, she's at about the 25th percentile. So, I'm happy. She has good skin, no flat spots on her head, and is progressing well with the milestones. She can hold her neck up, is very active on her back, smiles socially, has "conversations" with me, and the other day, she rolled from flat on her back to her side. There are a couple areas we have to work on though. She needs more tummy time to strengthen her back so she can sit on her own. And, she prefers to turn her head to her right, so we have to exercise her neck to make sure she gets even muscle development.

And, we are supposed to be working out a sleep schedule. Dr. L said that at the last visit, but I thought he was just referring to nights. This time, I clarified that he meant days too. Articles and books I've read indicated that 3 months was about the earliest you could really expect a schedule, but her nights have been relatively consistent for about the last month. So, I'm going to start tracking her naps so I can figure out when they are. Up to now, I've just been letting her call the shots except when I need to go somewhere. But, it would definitely be advantageous to have an idea when she wants to be active and when she wants to sleep so I can plan around her instead of just waiting for her to explode into an angry hungry mess in public.

She also got 4 immunizations Friday. One was oral. The other three were shots. P couldn't be there since it was his first week back at work and he was backed up. I gave him hell after the fact because it was in fact heartbreaking to hear her cry like that. Two nurses gave her the shots at the same time, so the trauma was minimized as much as possible, but she went from a happy little camper to outraged shock and pain in seconds. I didn't quite bawl, but I definitely teared up watching her poor little face. Her normal cries pain me, but this was horrible. Thankfully, once I got her dressed and in her carrier again, she'd mostly calmed down. And then she slept for most of the rest of the day. She didn't eat much, and really seemed sensitive to feeding laying on her right thigh where the longest needle had gone in.

Today, she seems better, although she still is a little biased about nursing on that side. She's still been sleeping a lot, but has been pretty cheerful when awake. And, she has nursed more today, although she's still below average.

I've been starting her with some toys for stimulation. Her favorite has been a Tigger rattle from one of my hospice friends. But, I've also been introducing her to a mirror and she seems to like that for a while also. The dogs are crazy jealous about all her fabulous toys because they like plushes, and rattles, and crinkly bits too.

Zeus has been acting out a lot this week. At the top of their game, they pooped in the house 3 times and peed on the rug once (that I caught) in one day. This week, Zeus puked because I didn't feed him before 7 am, has eaten an emery board, a pumice stone, stolen a bar of soap twice (he's a slow learner), destroyed a bath pouf and 4 diapers, stole clean laundry and a new baby rattle, and took a dryer ball. Most of this was Wednesday. I've started putting them in their crates after lunch or after he pulls a stunt for a "nap" to help me maintain sanity. I'm also looking into shock collars to correct him since he mostly pulls these shenanigans while I'm nursing or holding a sleeping baby. A friend suggested more mental stimulation also, which is good since I am generally pretty inactive in the winter and don't play with them at all. So, I will dust off the kongs and try some frozen peanut butter or something in their crates. It might keep Isis from barking the whole time too, which would be nice.