2 month check-up

Yesterday was Zachary's 2-month check up. He's doing really well and growing right on target, even though he's still at the very bottom of the growth charts (3rd-5th percentile). He weighs 8lbs 12oz (up from 6lbs 14oz at his check-up a month ago) and is 21-3/4" long. He's still in the 10th percentile for length and head circumference.

Yesterday was also the start of his immunizations, so he had to take one oral vaccine for rotavirus and get three (yes THREE) shots in his thighs for DTaP, HepB, Hib, PCV and IPV. The nurse giving the shots was amazing -- I have no idea how she did it so quickly! By the time the first shot registered with Zachary, she was already done and had the band-aids on his legs.

But boy, did that first shot register. Zachary's eyes popped wide open, then his mouth opened wide, and then he screeched a scream of pain like we've never heard. After the first scream, his mouth and eyes stayed wide open and his face turned red, but it took several seconds for another sound to come out. The poor little angel! I immediately picked him up and started nursing him, and he latched on fiercely and didn't let go for awhile. I'm so glad that I'm nursing and can use that to soothe him at times like this!

The rest of the afternoon, Zachary was kind of in shock. He sat in his car seat and stared straight ahead without making a fuss, which is really unusual for him. He eventually fell asleep, but he woke up to feed normally. He had a fever in the evening, so we did our best to make him comfortable and we were eventually able to get him to sleep. He seems to be better now and he's fever's gone down, so we'll just be keeping an eye on him today to make sure that he's OK.

The doctor also gave us a prescription to help Zachary with his acid reflux. Normally I'm not a big fan of medications, especially for my baby, but Zachary is in so much pain after he eats and it's so hard for him to get to sleep. He can't lie down on his back comfortably, so we have been unable to put him down to sleep on his own. We don't want him to develop bad sleeping habits (i.e. getting used to be rocked/nursed to sleep and held by Mama or Daddy all day and all night, the way it's been for the past 2 months) and the doctor said that we should start to encourage him to fall asleep on his own...once he's not suffering from the acid reflux pain. So we'll see how this works, and hopefully he will quickly grow out of the reflux and we won't need the medicine anymore (the medicine doesn't cure the reflux, it just reduces the acidity so that Zachary's esophagus isn't being burned as painfully when he bubbles up).

As far as other developments, Zachary is definitely smiling now (a big open-mouthed smile) and is a bit more interactive. He coos and gurgles more and will sometimes mimic me when I make faces at him. His tears have come in, which makes it a lot harder to see him cry, and his voice (i.e. his cry) has gotten a lot fuller and louder. He can hold his head up for short periods of times, and moves it from side to side when he has tummy time. He's relaxed his hands a bit so they are not always curled up into tight little fists, and his movements are starting to get a bit smoother. He still kicks kicks kicks when he's lying down and often when he's nursing (when he's nursing at night in bed, he kicks sleeping Daddy in the arm or head). He's not very interested in toys, but he will follow his Nemo from Auntie Trisha around if I move it in front of him (the other toys, not so much). I think he likes the bright and contrasting colors on his Nemo, or maybe he just remembers that we played "Finding Nemo" on the DVD over and over in the postpartum room after he was born. And, just like his Daddy, Zachary LOVES mirrors. He'll actually pause in his crying to admire at that handsome boy in the mirror for awhile.

Developmentally, Zachary seems to be somewhere between his birth age and his gestational age. The doctor said that's normal and he will catch up by the time he's 12 months old. His sleep patterns are definitely following his gestational age (i.e. they are 3+ weeks behind his birth age), so we are just now reaching the peak of his evening fussiness. At least, I hope we are reaching it and an end is in sight! He has some good nights, but he makes up for them with nights like Tuesday, when he cried from 5:30 PM until 10 PM and then got up at 3 AM and cried until 8:30 AM. The 5-hour stretch of sleep was nice, but not when sandwiched by 10 hours of non-stop crying!

So that's the latest on our little man!