18 month appointment

Ht: 33"

Wt: 24lbs

Got his first fluoride treatment today. And when they gave him his shot, he didn't cry or even get upset!!! What a little trooper :) Now, getting on the scale was a whole other matter (major meltdown). Go figure - what kid is terrified of the scale but doesn't bat an eye about a shot?

First sniffles

Poor JJ got his first case of the sniffles today. And being the obligatory over-protective first time parents that we are, we rushed him to the doctor. After sitting in the waiting room for 1.5 hours (ridiculous, I felt, since we had an appointment), we finally got to see our pediatrician, Dr. Hidalgo. He was great as usual - took us very seriously and checked the little guy over thoroughly. He couldn't find any indication of anything seriously wrong - just a very stuffy nose (which did not include his chest) and a low grade fever. He was very glad we brought JJ in though because it showed we were "paying attention". They weighed him while there and he was 12lbs 6oz. Way to go JJ!

Now the reason I was soooo concerned about a stuffy nose, is that I had read that infants are "obligate nose breathers"- a fancy way of saying they can't breath through their mouths. This is by design so they can breathe and swallow at the same time without aspirating milk into their lungs. Medically this is explained as follows:
"Infants are obligate nose breathers due to the posterior soft palate covering the oropharynx and the neonate's tongue in close proximity with the hard and soft palate."
So a stuffy nose can be really bad. But when do they out grow this condition and start being able to mouth breath and snore like the rest of us? Good question! I have found bits and pieces that say anywhere from 4-6 weeks to 4-5 months! So I guess, like so many other baby oddities, "it depends"...
Also, it's not like you can hand them a tissue and say blow. To clear a baby's nose, you use a suction bulb to vacuum it out. If you think that sounds a little gross and a lot distressing, you'd be right! It kinda feels like you're in danger of sucking out his little brain...but you gotta do what you gotta do. And a little freak out for mommy is better than no breathing by baby any day.

RH Positive shot

31 cm
218.5 lbs
Got my Rhogam shot - and the doctor hollered at the staff for not calling me back or taking me seriously last week. :)

Week 20: Baby doc

Week 20 and the baby doc visit went well. No pics this time, but got to hear the heart beat. Cool! Baby is moving around a lot more these days, kicking and knocking around inside. It's kinda strange to think I'm some kind of big incubator.
Apparently incubators need more gas than regular people - yesterday I had a little experience with hypoglycemia. I got home from work, a little hungry and told John I'd fix myself a sandwich just as he was leaving to go grocery/dinner shopping. Then I thought, well I'll just check my email....next thing I know, it's 2 hours later and I'm as loopy as if I'd taken Vicodin. John came in and asked what was wrong and I just wasn't sure. So he found out I'd forgotten to eat anything, fed me, and I got better. I told the doc about it and she said how I should keep snacks around the house. Problem is, there *were* snacks around the house (granola bars, cheese, etc.), I just didn't remember to eat them. So now I've got to keep an eye on it and make sure I eat every couple of hours. It sounds stupid to say I forgot to eat, but there you have it.

First peek at Baby Baker

First appointment today - 6 weeks along. Did a vaginal ultrasound and we saw "the sac" which is good (don't expect to see more than that at this point)
My body is adjusting to the progesterone. Still bloody tired all the time and occasionally a bit constipated, but daily exercise and an increase in fiber intake (read: a bowl of mini wheats in the morning) seems to have taken care of that.
Next I'll bring a writable DVD so I can bring back pics!