11 Days Well Baby Visit

Today we saw a well-reputed nurse practitioner at our pediatrician's office (actually, the doctor we chose for Teresa is a family practitioner who also has a great reputation for his work with little ones).

Teresa's stats (at 11 days old):

Weight: 7 lbs 8.5 oz (50th percentile)
Height: 20.5 in (85th percentile)
Head circumference: 13.5 in (39th percentile)

The NP looked Teresa over very thoroughly and gushed at her cuteness (the way she scrunches up her forehead, her momentarily crossed eyes, and her special crookedy toe). In addition to discussing bathing (Teresa's cord stump fell off last night - yay!) and skincare, breastfeeding, and the probable future of that toe, we talked very candidly about vaccinations. The NP recommended The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for Your Child (Sears Parenting Library) for a solid education about the nature of vaccines, their importance, and possibilities for delaying their administration to children. David and I still have more research to do (so we're very grateful for her recommendation), but we're pretty sure we'll delay several vaccinations and skip a few others (for a variety of reasons). We're very fortunate to have found a care provider who will allow us the freedom to make these decisions for Teresa. Interestingly, the NP admitted that she is obliged to advise us to get Teresa vaccinated according to national standards even though she did not follow them exactly with her own children. She said what she is required to say about vaccines but made it clear to us that we could ask her what she chose to do as a mom herself. Cool.