4-month appointment

Emma had her 4-month appointment with Dr. M today. Both Emma and I are still very "sniffly," but we made it out and on time to our appointment. It, for some reason, is fun for me to push Emma around the hospital in her stroller. It took forever to load up the stroller with her diaper bag, my water bottle, our Emma file folder (has all of her immunization and health records), extra Kleenex, toys, blanket and burp cloth, but once we're all set, it's fun to meander around the hospital hallways. Maybe I just need to get out more. :) I just like pushing the little munchkin around and I LOVE how much our stroller holds!

Anyway, the appointment was great! We hadn't seen Dr. M in two months so it was fun to see him again! He came to visit us nearly every single day we were in the NICU those first 10 days so for awhile there it was weird not to see him so often. He's always very patient with all of my questions, and again today, I had my list.

Emma weighed only 11 pounds, 12 ounces today! The nurse seemed worried that she wasn't gaining enough because it put her in only the 10% percentile for weight. Dr. M didn't seem concerned. He said she was only three ounces away from being in the 25% percentile again (like she was last time) and she is still growing well in her length (25 inches and 75% percentile) and head circumference (16 1/4 and 50th percentile). He said we didn't need to worry about her lower weight and that she was very healthy (despite the occasional drip from her nose due to this dang cold). Still ... what a little petite child. My own brother was one pound less at BIRTH than Emma is after four months! Maybe Mommy should let herself eat some more ice cream to transfer, uh, more calories to the, uh, baby. Yeah.

Dr. M did say that we could very soon, if we wanted, start to introduce Emma to solid foods very soon! My goodness, my baby is growing up. I think we will wait a bit longer before doing this and wait until she starts showing us more indicators that she's ready and wants to eat solids. The AAP says anytime from 4-6 months is a good timeframe to do this. Emma has not yet shown any interest in our food (which is one of several indicators that babies are ready) and does not appear to still be hungry after each meal of breastmilk. It is going to be so fun to feed her real food! I'm going to have to keep a very detailed (i.e., anal-retentive) journal about this so we are sure we're giving her the right amounts and the right kinds of foods. There are lots of guidelines in what we can and can't give her and also an order to what foods we introduce first. Expect lots more blogs (and fun, messy pictures!) about this subject as we near the big day. Both James and I are excited to feed our sweet daughter with a spoon, even though it's still probably 1-2 months before we actually do that.

Emma did get three of the four vaccinations she needed today. They were out of one of them (HiB) so we have to go back for that one. She was a champ. She cried but only for a short while. She is so sweet and I love to console her. I feel so special to have been chosen to be her Mommy. I am so lucky to be able to be with her all the time, too.

After our appointment, we stopped into the hospital pharmacy to pick up more infant vitamins (which Dr. M told us to continue giving to her until she's 12 months old), loaded up the car, filled up the gas tank ($4.21 a gallon! YUCK!), talked to Daddy on the phone and came straight home. She and I are both still under the weather and she also missed her morning nap due to the appointment so we're trying to rest now.