Ok, back to the baby-blogging/mommy-blogging/kid-blogging/whatever-you-call-it. TheLittleGuy is two months old (9 weeks as of today, actually.) He had his two-month check-up earlier this week and got a first round of vaccinations. Apart from a bit of hollering at the needle sticks he tolerated it all reasonably well. The unsurprising news to us is that he’s a big fellow. We figured this out when he stopped fitting into a bunch of his clothes and I had to go buy him some NINE-MONTH-SIZED clothes. At his check-up his stats were as follows (birth stats are in parentheses):
Head circumference: 16.75 inches (15 inches)
Length: 23.75 inches (20.75 inches)
Weight: 16 pounds 4 ounces (9 pounds 8 ounces)
So, he’s a big little fellow. The pediatrician was unconcerned. He vaguely waved at some growth charts showing TLG to be near or above the top in all 3 dimensions and said he was growing well. TheGuy asks me: “What are you feeding this kid? Lead?” But, I’ve read that some exclusively breastfed babies have a pattern of gaining a lot in the first 3-6 months and then not gaining much at all for a few months after that. One of the moms in a moms group I attend said her son weighed around 25 pounds at 6 months, and 29 at 12 months, so who knows? TLG seems like he’s going to be a big fellow, though – big head, big frame, big bones – which is fine with us.
Although it’s a bit exhausting right now. One friend pointed out to me that I’m feeding a child who’s about the size of a typical 6-month-old, and 6-month-olds can eat solids to get some of their calories. This little fellow can’t yet. I’m keeping up – and pumping a little bit each day to freeze as a backup stash – but sometimes I get really tired (or really hungry, myself.) Kellymom points out that babies this small know what they need, though, and he needs to eat for proper brain development:
breastmilk is a perfect food. There are NO empty calories or fillers. The amount of fat or calories in breastmilk is not affected by mom’s dietary fat or sugar intake. [...]Do not try to limit your baby’s nursing by stretching out feedings, limiting time at the breast, using a pacifier to “hold baby off” until a specified time has passed, or offering water so that baby nurses less. It can be dangerous to limit your baby’s growth by limiting nursing, as your baby needs the nutrients and fat for proper growth and brain development. Only by continuing to feed your baby on cue will you ensure that his needs are perfectly met and that your milk supply is maintained.
So, since the doctors are unconcerned, and he seems to be hitting other milestones too, as well as growing into football-player stature like my male cousins, we’ll just feed him what he wants. And we’ll delay solids as long as possible. I told the doctor we expect him to be 25 pounds and walking at his 4-month appointment. Heehee.
The biggest bummer is that there are lots of cool clothes people gave to him that he only got to wear once, if at all, because he grew so fast. There are certainly worse problems to have – and we’ll bequeath the clothes to a friend’s baby who’s due in January.
Oh yes, we are only having the one. One is enough – he’s just fabulous; why mess with success? Plus, I saw a very pregnant woman walking around the shopping center the other day and flashbacked to pregnancy and said to TheGuy: “OMG I DO NOT WANT TO BE PREGNANT EVER, EVER AGAIN.” (Much less have major surgery to extract the child! I’m still not what I would call 100% recovered from the c-section, although I’m doing fine and don’t have any more follow-up appointments scheduled unless something comes up.)
But anyway, look at this face – what a cutie. I know that we’re biased, but I do think he’ll be a heartbreaker someday.
