Monday, August 17, 2009

6-Month Well-Baby Appointment

Faith had her 6 month appointment this morning. At her 4-month appointment , she was 12 pounds, 10 ounces. Today, 2 months later, she was . . . 12 pounds, 13 ounces! Yes, she gained all of 3 ounces in 2 months! The doctor was concerned and even took her back to reweigh her, although I said that the weight sounded right. The problem for my kids is that they get really active between 4 months and 6 months, and they stop gaining much weight at all. I went back and checked Grace's calendar. At her 4 month appointment, she was 12 pounds, 2 ounces, and at her 6 month one (which was more like 7 1/2 months actually), she was 13 pounds, 1 ounce. I imagine Faith will have gained about a pound by the end of next month. The doctor looked at all my skinny kids and agreed that this is just how we are. She did say she wanted to see Faith gain more than 3 ounces when she comes back at 9 months.

Faith was 27 inches, which is a little longer than Grace was, even at 7 1/2 months.

Faith wouldn't sit on the examining table for some reason. She kept herself stiff as a board! She will sit at home, but she much prefers to be on her tummy where she can pull herself along. I need to work more on having her just sit. When I was looking back through Grace's calendar (before you think I am so organized, realize that I was so easily able to look at it because it is STILL on the kitchen desk in my big pile of papers!), and I noticed that by 6 months, she was already crawling (with tummy off the ground, which Faith doesn't do yet), pushing to sitting, and pulling to standing! At Bible study on Friday, Faith pulled herself to her knees using a rung on a chair, but she is nowhere near ready to pull to standing! Grace must have been really athletic, LOL.

So the doctor agreed that Faith is a healthy, happy baby who just happens to be skinny. She doesn't actually look as skinny as Grace or Luke did at this age, though, so I was surprised to hear she weighed less. You know, I stopped nursing Luke at 6 months because he was so skinny, and I thought it must be me. I put him on a bottle and gave him tons of solid food. And he was and is still skinny as a rail. I am so glad I now have the confidence to know that my kids just have high metabolisms, and they don't need to be put on a bottle! My kids are all really good sleepers and very contented babies (especially Faith, as I have said before!), so I know they aren't starving or uncomfortable at all. I told the doctor we were the poster family for anti-childhood obesity!

We went to get Faith's shots after the appointment, and as we were waiting, Nathan, who was holding her, noticed that she DOES have a tooth in! It's on the bottom, and it's barely poked through, but you can definitely feel it!

1 comment:

Veronica @ Luv My Quiver Full Of Arrows said...

All my kids have also been very lean. Plus, breast milk does keep them lean, too. I am thankful my ped knows us well enough now, than to start and worry. He is used to my skinny kiddos.

YAY on the tooth, Faith!!! And, YAY for Claire sticking to the breast and trusting her mama instincts!

xoxo, Veronica in CA