Pipsqueak

Baby Sister had her first well-child check-up this morning and at two months old she is a mere 8 pounds 9 ounces, which places her in the whopping 4th percentile. She has grown 3 inches since birth (50th percentile) and with her head circumference being in the 45th percentile she is a little bobblehead just like the Girl was...although the Girl never fell below the 10th percentile for weight. Her pediatrician (whom I love and am willing to drive 20 miles to see) is fairly certain that her lack of weight gain can be attributed to her frequent episodes of spitting up. Anyone who has been around Baby Sister for even a short amount of time has can attest to the fact that she is an unusually spitty baby. And it's not just the frequency, its also the volume. I've mentioned to J on several occasions that if she could keep down everything she eats, she would be a little chunk. So for the next week I am nixing all dairy from my diet to see if that makes a difference. If not, then we will start Baby Sister on an antacid for reflux and see if that helps. I hate the thought of having her on medication, especially at such a young age, but I also don't like the fact that she isn't gaining weight at a more reasonable pace. One of the reasons that I love our pediatrician so much is that she is also reluctant to use medicine, so if she thinks we need to go that route then I am on board. I completely trust her judgement when it comes to the health of my Girls.

I also expressed my concern to her (our pediatrician) about the fact that back at the beginning of November when I took Baby Sister in because she had a nasty cold, the pediatrician that saw her said that she was tongue-tied and that the membrane attached to the bottom of her tongue would need to be clipped between 2 and 4 months to prevent the possibility of a speech impediment later. The prospect of having to get that done and put her through pain was horrifying to me. So our pediatrician looked at her tongue and confirmed that she is indeed tongue-tied. However, she advised against clipping the membrane citing recent studies that suggest there is no increased occurence of speech impediments among children who are tongue-tied versus those who are not. Have I mentioned that I love our pediatrician?! The other doctor was rather matter-of-fact that it needed to be done.

Despite not having to get the membrane clipped, Baby Sister still had to endure a fair amount of pain this morning. She got 3 shots and a PKU (heel prick), none of which she enjoyed. To my surprise, the Girl maintained her composure throughout all of it, I thought for sure that I'd be dealing with 2 crying babies. The Girl was so sweet and wanted to hold Baby Sister's hand during the shots "to make her feel better." When it was all over and we were back in the car and headed for home the Girl said, "Momma, I want to go to Target and get a toy for being such a good girl." I broke out laughing and exclaimed, "Baby Sister is the one who got the shots. She should get a toy not you." The Girl retorted with, "But she can't even hold anything yet." Oh my, point taken. Ha!