Mattimeo and I just got back from his 2-month check-up and I am very proud of him. He did a great job at the doctor's office, full of smiles and "coos". His stats for this month are:
- 13.6 pounds (90th percentile)
- 23.25 inches (75th percentile)
The doctor was very pleased with his progress. I had only a couple concerns this month. First, for a few days around 3-4 weeks old and again now at 8 weeks old he has had spells of being fussy at my breast. He will drink for a little while then pull off screaming and my milk will spray into his mouth. I talked to moms and the teacher about this at the Birth Roots newborn class I went to yesterday, and they seem to think that it is probably because I have an oversupply of milk. I figured that's what was going on last time this happened and found that if I nursed him so he was at a higher level than my breasts, it seemed to make things easier, and eventually I didn't need to do that anymore because my milk went to a more appropriate level. Now it is happening again and I've noticed that both of these instances occurred right after growth spurt periods, so I think I may have an oversupply temporarily from trying to produce enough milk to sustain his growth spurt and then it just takes a few days to calm down to a lower level. The doctor thinks I am probably right and not to worry about it. As suggested, I have started feeding him twice on the same breast before moving on to the next one until things calm down a bit for him. My second concern was that on occasion his spit up will contain some curdled milk (milk that has already been digested) and I wanted to make sure he wasn't suffering from reflux. The doctor said that this was fine though since he doesn't seem to be in a lot of pain when he burps or spits up. In fact, sometimes he is smiling at me while he spits up...perhaps he thinks its funny (smile).
During his visit he had to have two sets of injections (combinations of Polio, Hib, DTaP, and PCV) and one oral vaccination (Rotavirus). At first, he didn't care for the oral vaccination, but after a little while he discovered it was sweet and then he seemed to be enjoying it. Then he had the dreaded injections. The first one made him scream. Then she moved onto the next leg and she said that this one had a little more bite to it. I'm not sure I have ever heard him scream so loud; he stopped breathing for a decent length of time. My poor baby! I am not sure who was more sad, him or me. I felt so bad for him! I hate needles so much, and I know how much it must hurt. I felt so bad letting them do that to him, knowing that he must feel like I am allowing this kind of pain happen to him. I had to keep telling him and myself that these vaccinations are to prevent him from getting really sick, and the pain is only momentary. After he had his shots, I hugged him close and walked him around the room telling him I love him and that I was sorry but that it needed to be done to keep him healthy. My poor little guy was crying real tears, he sounded genuinely sad rather than upset. We are going to spend the rest of the evening snuggled together in his nursery.
One final thing to note about his appointment is that she detected a heart murmur. She said that since he is growing wonderfully and seems very healthy, that the heart murmur is probably nothing to worry about. She said it is very common in babies and small children to go through periods of time when they have heart murmurs. To be safe though and find out what is causing the murmur, he will be going to have an echo-cardiogram sometime soon. I know I shouldn't be worried, but it's hard not to. I pray that my little boy doesn't have any heart problems. Here is some information I found about heart murmurs in babies from the
babycenter website:
What does it mean if my baby has a "normal heart murmur"?
It doesn't
mean your baby has a weak heart or any other health problems. As your
baby's blood moves through the chambers, valves, and major vessels of
his heart, it can make a faint noise. That sound is called a heart
murmur.
Depending
on what kind of murmur it is, the noise may be vibratory or rumbling,
humming, swishing, gurgling, or even musical. (It's a separate sound
from the familiar "lub dub" of the heartbeat.) Most of the time, this
noise is diagnosed as an "innocent," "functional," "normal," or
"harmless" heart murmur. And almost all children have one at some time
or another.
In some cases, the noise is caused by blood flowing
faster or in greater amounts than usual through the heart and vessels.
That can happen when your baby has a fever, for example, or if he's
anemic or has an overactive thyroid. Other times, it's the result of
something structural that doesn't affect the functioning of your baby's
heart — in which case the sound may fade as his body develops and his
chest wall thickens.
Innocent childhood heart murmurs usually go
away on their own, although some people have them their whole lives.
These murmurs require no treatment.
How will the doctor evaluate my baby's heart murmur?
To
assess whether a murmur is normal or needs looking into, a doctor will
check a baby's pulse and blood pressure and listen carefully to his
heart with a stethoscope. For clues, she'll try to determine where in
the heart the murmur is occurring, when in the heartbeat cycle it
happens, what type of noise it is, how loud it is, and whether it
changes when the baby changes position.
If your baby's doctor has
diagnosed the murmur as normal, you can rest assured it's nothing to
worry about. If she's not certain about it or is concerned, she'll refer
you to a pediatric cardiologist, who might order tests such as a chest
X-ray, ultrasound (which uses sound waves to scan and create an image of
the heart), or an electrocardiogram (which records the electrical
activity of the heart).
What if my baby's heart murmur isn't "normal"?
A diagnosis of
"abnormal," "organic," or "not-innocent" murmur means a baby's heart
may have a structural irregularity that warrants medical attention. It
might be something that didn't develop normally before birth, such as a
narrow or leaking valve, a narrow artery, or even a hole in the heart.
If
a problem is found, treatment may include medication to control the
heart's rhythm or surgery to correct a structural defect. Many
structural defects are minor and don't need treatment, since they don't
affect the heart's functioning.
On a brighter note...one of the fun things about going to Meo's appointments is checking off his list of developmental milestones. One of the things he is supposed to start doing this month is to push up with his arms when he's on his stomach. Well this week, he started doing just that! I am so proud and happy! He seems to enjoy tummy time more now that he can push himself up too, which is a fabulous bonus. He's such a strong boy!
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| First week Mattimeo can push himself up with his arms (8 weeks) |
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| A little smirk for Mommy |
