Thursday, March 12, 2009

1 Month Well Baby Visit

Teresa will be 4 weeks old on Saturday! We took her back to the nurse practitioner yesterday for a checkup (and a much anticipated weighing).

Teresa's stats (at almost 1 month old):

Weight: 8 lbs even (37th percentile)
Height: 21.5 in (94th percentile)
Head circumference: 14 in (37th percentile)

Long and lean. She is gaining weight, but not very quickly, and she's certainly not a chubby baby yet. The NP said she is not concerned at this point, so I am trying not to be, either. Teresa eats fairly vigorously when she nurses, but she often goes long stretches (4 hours) without eating (we like it when this happens at night!).

Teresa has become a fussy baby in the last week, crying to be held upright when she's awake and sometimes crying inconsolably even when she's held. We're pretty sure this has to do with gas pains and other intestinal discomfort. The NP, like others, recommended we try Mylecon drops. She also urged me to consider diet modifications, such as minimizing dairy and avoiding gas-producing and spicy foods. I must admit I am daunted by this challenge. Perhaps this will be my Lenten penance?

The NP also said she thinks Teresa has thrush, a yeast infection appearing as a white coating on her tongue. She prescribed Nystatin, which we have to paint on Teresa's tongue 4 times a day for 10 days. I am still considering what to use on myself to prevent the infection (which can go back and forth between mom and baby). If anyone has experience with this, I am open to suggestions.

Otherwise, all is well with our little one.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Shirley suggests putting the same medicine on yourself. Use whatever is left on your finger after applying to the baby. Also, wipe down before and after nursing with a clean, damp cloth (new each time).

Katherine T. Lauer said...

So cute!

Any chance there is a foremilk-hindmilk imbalance going on? When I visited you, you mentioned having abundant milk. If you are making more than necessary and Teresa is nursing at such long stretches, she might be getting primarily foremilk, which is watery and causes slow weight gain. Then the fat imbalance causes very painful intestinal distress and lengthy screaming.

http://www.llli.org/FAQ/oversupply.html

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/foremilk-hindmilk.html

http://www.lowmilksupply.org/overview.shtml

Any way you can encourage Teresa to nurse more often? Sometimes babies are *too* sleepy, therefore don't eat enough, then remain sleepy because they're not eating enough, and it's a cycle.

Lillian said...

I HATE thrush!! I would do as Robert says. Also, since she's 1 mos. old she's probably going through a growth spurt. I would encourage you to let her fall asleep at the breast, nap with her and just try to get her to nurse more.

Also, are you burping her well?? That alone will get gas pains to go away. Sometimes my babies need more than 10 mins. of patting before they decide to belch. LOL!!

I've never used gas drops. Burping helps alot. Also, just remember that when they are having a growth spurt they need to nurse more.

Good luck!