Vaccination day

Today was Rachel's two-month check-up at the pediatrician. The visit includes weighing, measuring and yes, shots!

I had called the office this week to see if I should give her some Children's Tylenol before the appointment, but was told she was too little, so we went in with nothing to ease her pain.

She weighs 7 pounds, 12 ounces, and is 20 7/8" long. I expected her to weigh over 8 pounds now (she should gain .5 ounce per day), and per the unofficial measurement David and I did few weekends ago, we were also surprised at her length. The number we got was around 22 1/2". Her head circumference is 13 ¾” which is up from her August 1st one-month check-up when it was 13”.

The doctor was concerned about her weight - she expected her to be around 8 1/2 pounds. Rachel has had some issues with spitting-up, but not enough to cause her to lose that much formula that she would not be gaining weight. And she eats 5-7 times per day at 3 ounces each time. From a recent chart I saw on feeding, she should probably be closer to 4-5 ounces of formula per feeding, but she’s right in line with the number of feedings per day.

So we are trying two things - we are going to put Rachel on Prevacid for her reflux and also add rice cereal to her formula…1 tablespoon for every two ounces of formula. The doctor wants to weigh her again next Friday - if she gains the .5 ounce she should be gaining every day, she would weigh just about 8 pounds next week. So we'll see.

Rachel also has been "sleeping through the night" - if she falls asleep at midnight or 1AM or whenever, she does not wake up again until 6, 7, 8AM. So she is basically missing a feeding in the middle of the night. The doctor wants me to get back to waking her up in the middle of the night for a feeding - around 4 hours after her last evening feeding.

Then it was time for the shots. Since she is at the two-month mark she gets 5 vaccinations. They can be done in either 5 shots or three shots - three of the vaccinations can be bundled to make only one shot. I had done a lot of research on vaccinations before this visit and saw no reason to be worried about any vaccination, so we went with the least number of shots. She also had one vaccination by mouth in liquid form.

Before the shots started the nurse gave me a syringe with some Children's Tylenol for her. Then Rachel got the liquid vaccination and then the shots. Rachel did great! I had been prepped by a number of friends with children that this is a tough appointment, the child will scream, David and I might cry, etc. But I felt it was a success - maybe better that I was prepared for the worst. Rachel certainly did scream - not much on the first shot, but the second two burn according to the nurse, so the screams were worse for those. She had her Wubbanub (pacifier) and she squeezed my fingers with her death grip. And when it was all over I held her and she was very calm but alert.

I was given all the information on the shots which includes reaction symptoms to be on the lookout for and instructions on giving her Tylenol for the next 24 hours.
So far this afternoon she has been very sleepy and only when it was close to the time to eat was she fussy – actually quite fussier than usual. But I was able to give her a dose of Tylenol at that time and she has been quiet and calm since then. We’ll see how the next 18 hours go.

And wish us luck in her feedings and weight gain.