Still a Healthy Boy

This afternoon, Asher had his one month checkup with his pediatrician. It was fairly uneventful, but as always, I won't spare you the details.

The first thing we learned during our visit is that Asher is still growing like a weed. In the past three weeks, he's gained a whopping two pounds - he's now up to 11 pounds 7 ounces, which puts him in the 90th percentile for weight. I swear he doesn't look like a chunk, but it's evident when you pick the boy up he's pretty damn solid. He's only in the 50th percentile for height, measuring in at 22 inches. Dr. Timmons was happy with his weight, even though when I asked her about the angry grunting pig he becomes after he eats she suggested he may be acting that way because he's filling his tummy too much and experiencing a little reflux. She stated we could cut back on the amount of milk he eats, but said we could also just continue to do things as we have been - letting him eat as much as he wants - because it won't hurt him and his weight gain is good. I also informed her that I'm now just pumping breast milk and feeding it to him via a bottle, to which she told me everything everyone else has been saying - whatever works for you is PERFECT, we're still both getting all the benefits of breastfeeding, he's NOT going to develop some sort of Freudian boob complex, if I decide I want to start nursing again at some point I can, yadda yadda yadda. Yes, deep down I already knew all of this, but I am a woman who always doubts herself and needs reassurance - which is exactly why I wrote my last posting, because I knew my wonderful friends and family would say all the supportive things I needed to hear in response. And, having his doctor tell me the way I'm doing things is perfect - as she said, he's obviously not missing out on anything since he's gaining plenty of weight - just further tames my insecurities.

His favorite part of the visit was flirting with the pretty nurse who measured and weighed him. In fact, I swear he came this close to smiling at her. Like, closer than he's come to smiling at his own mommy! However, she was also the one who administered his second Hepatitis B shot (he'd had his first right after birth), so he soon forgot all about her. Poor little man was very brave and only cried for a few seconds right after receiving it. He received a very fashionable Bugs Bunny bandage to sport over his little wound, which you can see in the below picture. It absolutely broke my heart to watch him get his shot, but I sacked up and held his little hand while it was done. I outdid Asher and managed not to cry at all, but I didn't receive any parting gifts for my brave face. I'm really dreading his next visit - he'll then receive FOUR shots and an oral vaccination. I think I'm going to have to bring along a box of tissues and a paper bag to get me through it.