During our great concussion debacle, the pediatrician at the hospital informed me that one of Dylan's testicles hadn't descended and that I needed to see his regular doc to get him checked out. Of course, I called first thing Monday morning and when they squeezed me in on Tuesday I went prepared with my usual laundry-list of questions.
1. The testicle. False alarm. It's descended - no idea what that was all about. But I did get a hands-on course on how to locate a testicle. Sorry, Dylan...
2. No, I don't need to worry that Dylan doesn't know when to stop eating. Although it is possible that he ate enough to make himself sick once, the (anti-)speed at which babies eat means they should pretty much always notice when they're full. So I guess his leg really is just hollow. Seriously, you should see my child pack it away. I do NOT understand where it goes...especially when you consider #6.
3. The doc had zero advice for me on the jet-lag front. Yeah, thanks for that, doc. We figured it out ourselves.
4. Hitting/scratching. More and more lately, Dylan likes to smack his momma in the face (or pull my hair or scratch, etc.) while I'm holding him before bed. He doesn't do this to his dad, just me. So I asked the doc for his advice on how to break the bullying habit. The doc advised I just immediately lay Dylan down in his crib, no more snuggles. Apparently he's then supposed to cry and I tell him that I'll pick him back up one more time but no hitting/scratching/hair-pulling. Unfortunately, Dylan didn't get that memo. He lets me walk out of the room, get downstairs, throw in a load of laundry...THEN he gets pissed. By which point of course, any relevance to said lesson has been lost. So we're not making much progress on that front yet. Sigh.
5. Weaning and fluids. Since my boy decided to start weaning himself about a month ago, his liquid intake has dropped considerably. He's not compensating by drinking more water, etc...and it seemed to me like his diapers weren't as full as they once had been. So I asked to make sure I shouldn't be concerned about dehydration or the like. Again, the pedi reassured the cyberchondriac mother. Apparently the baby food I'm making him is something like 50% water, so he should be okay.
6. His growth curve. With each appointment Dylan's growth curve looks more and more like a u-turn. At the latest appointment we'd dropped into the 10th percentile on both weight and height. Although the doc has assured me before that he's seen the weight curve drop off like this, I insisted we discuss it again. I'm not quite sure what I expect the doc to do, but it just seems effing ODD to me that we start in the 50th, move to the 90th and now reside in the 10th. And my best friend doctor internet also informed me that changes of more than 20 percent aren't really normal. (I know, I KNOW that the internet is not my friend, but seriously, who can resist???) In any case, he reassured me yet again that the weight curve often slacks off. BUT...the length curve usually doesn't. BOTH of Dylan's curves look pretty much identical (remember the u-turn?). Both are now in the 10th percentile. We basically just decided to keep an eye on it and look again at his yearly appointment. Not quite sure what we do if it's still weird, guess I'll find out if it gets that far.
Oh, and I guess I should mention his stats. He was 18 lbs 12 oz and 28 inches. And despite all my worrying and fussing, he remains the happiest and easiest baby ever. Just a sweet little boy. Even if he is discovering the joy of banging metal objects together repeatedly and for extended periods of time.
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