Little Raindrops

Posts Tagged ‘medical appointments’

Heron Baby,

Hello sweetheart! I’m sorry that I missed writing your letters for the past three months. And my, how you’ve changed in that time! We went to the doctor when you were three months and you weighed 14 pounds and were 24 inches long. Healthy! You also got your first shots ad did just fine with those. You have such a big personality and are certainly becoming your own little person now. Daddy likes to call you Bipolar Baby because your moods are so extreme. You are known to scream and scream for hours on end, leaving me baffled about how to soothe you. Then you may suddenly switch and flash me a humongous grin! You are giggling now, too — not hearty belly laughs yet, but happy little chuckles. Usually your brother gets your laughs. You are usually very friendly with everyone and will grin at anyone that looks at you. Sometimes though, all it takes is a look and you’ll burst in to more screams. You definitely keep us guessing!

I assume part of your moodiness is due to all your recent changes. We believe you have been starting to teethe this past month, though I don’t see any budding pearly whites yet. Your fingers are constantly in your mouth and you will chomp down on anything that gets too close. You are drooly and have had some minor fever, so I expect to see some chompers any day now. In the meantime, you get very angry, usually when I’m just ready for bed.

At about two months you rolled over from your back to your tummy. I had thought it was a fluke and you were only able to when you were on a cushy couch or soft bed. We saw a little bit of this for about a month, but you never did it when you were on the hard floor … until 3 months. You did both sides — front to back and back to front — at pretty much the same time. Now when I set you on the floor for anything, you flip right over to your front. It is difficult to keep you down for diaper changes too – you always want to roll!

You’ve taken some trips around the area this autumn. Your Grammy and Uncle Ron came to visit and we meet them down in Tokyo. You were snuggled in a baby carrier against me the whole week, but you got to ride on trains and subways, go to temples and shrines, go shopping and to Japanese restaurants, and had your first night in a hotel room! Grammy brought you some toys and books that you like to stare at and your brother likes to take from you. We have also gone to Hachinohe, Towada, Shimoda, and Aomori with you. You used to sleep the whole time on outings, but you’re starting to be more alert. You generally hate the car and often cry a good portion of our trips. You’re happy once you get in a baby carrier or a stroller, though. I think you just get tired of looking at the back of the seat and want to actually view the scenery.

You’ve settled in really nicely into our family. You and Rhino amuse each other, you smile at Daddy, and you coo at our friends at church. My favorite times with you are snuggling and nursing on the sofa and looking through books with you. You get such wide eyes whenever you see words or music notes and try to reach out and grab them! We all love you so much and are thrilled that you are a part of our family! I can’t wait to see what changes in you over the next month!

I love you,
Mommy

“Heron” was born two weeks ago and the time has really flown by! Matt went back to work tonight and it’s been really nice having him around to help out, especially with Rhino.

We’ve mostly just spent a lot of time on the sofa bed in the living room, watching Netflix Instant and eating meals people have brought over for us. It’s a nice little babymoon! I get a little restless just sitting inside all the time, so we have had a few outings as well. Heron’s first outing/shopping trip was to the Shimoda Mall for yarn and lunch, but he slept the entire time. We also took a trip to Hachinohe and to the Towada Horse Park.

He had his two-week visit with the pediatrician yesterday. He’s gained one pound since leaving the hospital and we measured (and remeasured) his length to be 21-3/4 inches. I’m sure he didn’t shrink, so I guess someone mis-measured when he was born! The only concern I had was about his tongue. When he tries to stick it out, the sides bulge and the middle stays inside his mouth so his tongue is kind of heart-shaped. I noticed that the little thing that connects the underside of his tongue to the bottom of his mouth (lingual frenulum) connects all the way to the tip of his tongue and keeps him from being able to lift it up all the way. This is called ankyloglossia, but the doctor says his case is pretty minor and may resolve itself as he grows older. It isn’t interfering with breastfeeding at all and we’ll see if it’s an issue when he starts solids or if it affects his speech, but for now it’s nothing to worry about at all. Overall, “he’s a keeper” (says the doc) and everything looks good. He’ll be going back to the doctor when he’s two months old.

Rhino is adjusting well to being a big brother. He gets a little carried away sometimes and pokes, hits, or throws things at Heron (nothing seriously damaging,) but he’s learning how to be gentle. He knows Heron’s name, will point at him, wave to him, kiss him, look for him when he enters a room, want to hold him and hug him, and brings pacifiers and diapers if he’s crying. So far, it’s fun and I’m not all that stressed out. We’re all sleeping well. Heron’s in bed with us and Rhino’s in the crib right next to our bed and doesn’t seem to mind at all. Rhino’s had some extra attention these past two weeks with Matt home all the time and hopefully now he doesn’t start to feel jealous or deprived since I’ll sometimes be busy with Heron. We’ll see!

I had our 31-week prenatal checkup on the 11th, but have been too lazy to write about it!

It wasn’t a long appointment and isn’t too much to speak of. We saw Doctor #1 again, who I am liking more and more. We heard baby’s heartbeat (he kept trying to hide though, so we’d hear it then lose it and she’d have to chase it down!) Everything sounds good there. I’m putting on an appropriate amount of weight and measuring just right. I’m not having any problems or pains (other than the usual pregnancy discomforts!) I’ve been really hesitant to bring up our birth plans, expectations, hopes, whatever, especially after our doctor the first time around. Maybe I’m too worried about confrontation, but with my pregnancy with Rhino, the doctor made me feel like a wacko or like I didn’t know what I’m talking about half the time, so I’ve just been a little cautious. At this appointment I asked Doctor #1 if anyone ever brings in birth plans or when we can talk about our options (hoping that there are some!) She said that they are very flexible, but we need to be, too. She has no problems with declining medication, laboring on a birth ball, not wanting to be hooked up to the fetal monitor continuously, allowing mobility, different positions for pushing, etc. but within reasonable limits. Of course I understand that if there’s a need to monitor or a problem arises that won’t let me do one thing or another, I can work with that. I just like knowing that it’s not 100% “routine” and the doctors aren’t stuck in their one way. She said that all of the doctors pretty much share the same views (though she paused and looked thoughtful in the middle of the sentence, so I don’t know…) We’ll talk about it more as the time grows closer, I just don’t want to pop any surprises on a doctor at the last minute or have the doc try and sneak something in (like Rhino’s immediate cord-clipping because our last doc didn’t agree with us, or him arguing with me while I’m giving birth about why I’m stupid for not wanting an episiotomy. Ugh!) So I left the appointment feeling pretty positive. We go back again in three weeks. The time is getting closer and closer and I’m starting to get more anxious and excited! It’s completely different this time around, but it’s still excited and I cannot wait to meet our second sweet little boy!

I feel kind of guilty that I haven’t said more about this pregnancy. It’s not that I’m not excited about Baby’s arrival, but of course it’s not quite the same as it was with Rhino. Plus, he’s keeping me too busy to have pregnancy on my mind 24/7! I would be doing Belly Shots now too, but I have no camera so that will have to wait. Plus, I’m sure they’ll all look about the same as last time!

I took my gestational diabetes test on Wednesday. It wasn’t so bad. I went, chugged my super sweet flat orange soda, and had an hour to read a book by myself (which hasn’t happened in SO long!) They took some blood and I haven’t heard anything back, so I’m assuming no news is good news. It wasn’t a problem last time and I haven’t been loading up on sugar or packing on too many pounds, so I’m not worried.

Yesterday I had my 28 week appointment with Doctor #3. It was our first time meeting with him and as of right now he’s ranked lowest for me. We have no idea who will deliver Baby, but I’m hoping it’s Doctor #2. We’ll see in a couple of months, though! The appointment was quick and there wasn’t really anything too exciting to speak of. Rhino came along again and still hates doctors. He was doing all right until Doc messed around with the chair and I had to lie back — then he freaked out! I’m not sure if he thinks the doctor is going to hurt me or what is going through his little head. We heard Baby’s heartbeat, which was around 140 bpm. I’ve put on 17 pounds so far, which I think is much less than I did at this time with Rhino. For the last few weeks I’ve been revisited by some morning sickness. I’m sure that’s what it is, it just happens in the morning and it feels just the same. I’m eating small snacks, healthy breakfasts, drinking liquids; nothing’s really changed (just hormones?) I mentioned it to Doctor #3 and he said he’s never heard of morning sickness returning, so he thinks I’m just sick with some GI bug. I’m not a doctor, but I think he’s wrong. I really don’t think I’m sick. It’s no biggie to me, though, it’s just annoying having to run off to the bathroom and shut Rhino out (so he doesn’t get in the way) then have him scream and pound at the door to let him in while Matt’s asleep!

I also asked if there will be an opportunity to tour the facilities, ask questions, see how everything works. He said I can do that, but everything is routine and there’s not much to it. I didn’t dig any deeper, but I’m a little hesitant still to bring up providing a birth plan (though we will) or talk about things like delivering Baby straight to my chest without cutting the cord immediately or us taking the placenta home. I think I’ll wait a few more weeks to test the waters there.

Really, the pregnancy is going fine and I’m feeling pretty good! My back pains have relaxed a lot and I’m still keeping active. I think this little guy is moving around a whole lot more than Rhino did (or maybe I just don’t remember clearly?) I get some really strong, sometimes a tad painful kicks. I think I’m carrying higher also, as it gets really difficult to breathe sometimes with all the lung-squishing. For some reason Rhino has started kissing and babbling (and head-butting until I stop him!) to my tummy a lot lately. I don’t know if there’s some sense about what’s going on or if he just likes to play with a big, bare belly. It’s cute any way!

Monday Liz and I took a trip to Hachinohe to visit the ultrasound clinic to find out if this baby is a boy or a girl. Usually Matt drives around here and I do kind of know my way around. Liz was the navigator for this trip and I don’t really know my way around Hachinohe. We wound up very, very lost. Even when we’d stop for directions and were told to turn around and make this turn or that, we would turn around and not recognize anything that we supposedly passed minutes ago. Well, we drove around, guessing at which turns to make, for about two hours before we found something familiar. By then, the clinic was about to close and I had to get back in time for Matt to go to work. So it was a nice opportunity to chat and spend some time together in the car, but it was kind of a pointless trip.

Matt wasn’t planning on going with me to find out the gender. He doesn’t really care whether we find out in advance or wait for the birth. Well, I didn’t want to go alone so he took me to the clinic yesterday. Really, it wasn’t very hard to find (for him!) They don’t take appointments; it’s all done on a walk-in basis. So there were a whole lot of pregnant Japanese ladies waiting around. The clinic got through us all pretty quickly, though. I went into the exam room after about 30 minutes of waiting — without Matt and Rhino (it’s too crowded and Rhino was happier playing in the kid’s playroom across the hall.)

They did a 2D scan with a doctor first, who pointed out all sorts of “landmarks”, telling me “head”, “spine”, “foot”, etc. I have the whole thing on video that I will upload soon. It’s nice to see our sweet little baby again and it was moving around all over the place. The doctor abruptly stood up, congratulated me, and left. I was just told “six” repeatedly and wasn’t really sure what that meant. They shooed me out of the room and I stood around, confused for a little bit. I took a guess and sat myself down outside of exam room #6. I waited for a bit longer before someone brought me a some photos from the scan. I wasn’t sure if that was it and I should leave, but I sat back down. They called me into the room eventually and that’s when we did the 3D ultrasound. The technician spent a lot of time trying to see the baby’s face, but I guess the little bean is shy and kept hiding its face. I got a great view of the back of its head and some very cute ears! The technician started wrapping things up and I figured if I didn’t ask, they wouldn’t tell me a gender. She told me that the doctor had said …

So we took a little tour of “down there”, but really I’m not sure I recognized much, haha! It’s obvious now that my ultrasound-reading skills are not very honed, as I was sure from our 20-week scan that it was a girl! They do warn me that they are never 100% positive, but the tech kept pointing out his little boy parts, so I think it’s a good bet.

I know Matt has been saying “she” and “her” during this whole pregnancy and it would have been neat to have a little girl, but I am so excited to have another sweet baby boy! Rhino has been such a blessing and I really enjoy being Mommy to a boy. It will be such a blast raising brothers. And cheaper! I’m glad we can reuse these tons of little boy clothes that Rhino outgrew so quickly (and other “boy things” that we have.) I’m a little nervous about being outnumbered, the wrestling and running, the testosterone … but I’m ready for it! And we can now cut our name list in half and only worry about little boy names!

I know this is a complete switch from how I felt before. We were definitely opposed to finding out Rhino’s gender. The curiosity was really eating me. Especially after the Level II ultrasound where we thought we knew what we saw (or didn’t see) but couldn’t get any confirmation. I’m glad we had someone tell us so I didn’t still think we were going to have a girl, knit up a bunch of pink or flowery things, accept our friends’ girly hand-me-downs, and make any girl-specific purchases. For the first baby, finding out didn’t matter at all. If we had a boy and a girl all ready, finding out any future babies wouldn’t matter. For this one, though, I decided I wanted to know. And I’m so glad!

Dearest Rhino,

Well, another month has flown by and you just keep growing! When we took you to the doctor for your 1-year checkup, she was concerned because you had lost some weight (dropping to 20 pounds 8 oz.) It looks alarming in your chart, but I think it’s mostly because you started to get a lot more mobile (lots of crawling and cruising!) and had stopped drinking so much Mommy milk (but weren’t liking cow’s milk.) So the doctor said to come back in a month and see how you’re doing. So, for your 13-month checkup you seem to be doing much better in that department. You still nurse occasionally (really only if you get fussy at night, otherwise you aren’t very interested and would rather have a sippy cup) but drink plenty of whole milk. You’re now at 21 lb 6 oz, which is still a low percentile for babies your age, but that’s nothing to worry about — you are a very healthy little boy! You are also getting even more exercise now that you’ve started walking!

Yes, you’re walking now! You took your first, wobbly steps on Feb. 22nd and today you’re almost running! You used to cruise around the sofa, look at the ottoman a couple of feet away, think long and hard about it and then give it a go, stumbling into the ottoman! Now instead of pulling yourself up with the coffee table or pushing up from a toy on the floor, you can stand up on your own. You are very steady and will walk around, turn corners, step over small obstacles, and right yourself if you start to trip over something. You are so cute to watch and you often find it so exciting to walk laps around us in the living room!

This past month you had another adventure: visiting Tokyo! We all went with our friends Mrs. Armstrong and Mrs. Kiser. We drove down to Tokyo, about a 9 hour drive, and you were so great the whole way! You love to look out the window at the passing scenery, play with your toys, show off to us, and sleep. The only time you fussed in the car at all is during the drive back home when your tummy got a little upset. While we were in Tokyo you stayed with Daddy and I in a hotel, went up Tokyo Tower, tried Japanese foods, rode on subways, trains, and buses, went to a pretty zoo and saw lots of exciting animals, saw the gardens at the Imperial Palace (and pretty swans and koi), and visited the Ghibli Museum where you looked at lots of pretty pictures and played with stuffed soot balls and watched lots of little Japanese kids. It was a very nice time and you loved chatting with and showing of to our friends, watching all the Japanese people zipping by, and flirting with the occasional waitress or lady on the train!

There are other new things that you are doing now, too. You point all the time at things you want, pictures in books, and Daddy and I. While you point, you usually say da, which sounds like you’re trying to say “that.” You aren’t talking to us yet, but we do get a lot of dadas out of you, which sometimes sound like you mean “Daddy”, but you say it to lots of things that aren’t Daddy, too. One of your favorite new activities is putting things away! When we play together, you like it when I dump lots of little toys out of a bucket or blocks out of a bag so you can quickly pick them all up and return them to their container. It’s lot of fun when you do this with your toys — especially now that you will help me clean them up! — but you do it with all sorts of other silly things, too. We are constantly finding toys, crochet hooks, remote controls, and other random objects you find stuffed in Daddy’s shoes by the front door or placed in empty glasses we leave out on the coffee table! You like to play with your nesting cups. You’ve always enjoyed un-nesting them and banging them together, but now you try to put them all together properly. Sometimes you stack the blocks on top of each other, too. This usually happens when your nesting doesn’t quite work out and you try to put a large cup inside a small cup. From there, you build upwards and seem happy with the outcome, too!

You giggle and chat and smile all the time, but lately you’ve gotten quite a temper! You understand “no” and will test to see where the line is. Sometimes you can be pretty sneaky and you get punished for it. Usually when we swat your hand and tell you no, you’d get over it really quickly and come give us a hug. Now sometimes you’ll push us away if we try to hug you or you’ll bang your head on the floor and throw a little tantrum! You need to get over it and I feel a little bad for you sometimes, but you still are way too cute! You definitely don’t like having things taken away from you and if we try to hide something, you’ll go searching for it. Sometimes you get so upset by other people. You used to do just fine in the church nursery, but lately it’s been such a horror! As soon as we walk up to the door, you know what’s going on, and you will throw such a fit about it. I’m hoping this passes soon because I know it can be tiring for the other ladies who work in the nursery and I want you to have fun with the other children while Daddy and I are away at the service. Soon enough you should be able to understand that we won’t leave you in there forever. In your last two doctor’s appointments I mentioned earlier you were also so upset. Even if I was holding you, if the doctor came near you at all or even just looked at you, you would howl like she was torturing you! I wish there was something I could do to calm you down because you get madder than I’ve ever seen, but I’m hoping this too will pass soon.

It’s been such a fun month and every day you entertain Daddy and I so much! I love how you hug and kiss us all the time and want to snuggle and also how pleased you are with yourself for doing silly little things! We love you so much, Rhino!

Love Always,
Mommy

Hi sweetie! You’re now 8 months and doing fantastically! You’ve lost a tiny bit of weight compared to last month, but it’s probably because you’ve also been a little sick. You had your first cold, but you got through it like a trooper! At first whenever you’d cough or sneeze, you would smile or giggle because it was oh, so amusing! You got tired of that pretty quickly, though. We didn’t go to the doctor because you seemed to be doing really well with everything and had a great attitude all the way through. Daddy and I were sick at the same time, so it made the whole week a little stressful. At least that’s over with now!

Your friends Josh and Aime are visiting their grandparents in Texas right now, so you haven’t seen them much this month. You did have a nice visit with Samantha from church and across the street. I babysat her for a few hours and you two had fun playing together! She is 6 months older than you and it was fun to spend time with her and see about where you’ll be in the near future. We also met a lady who has a son, James, who is 2 weeks younger than you. We got together to play at his house and at the playground and you guys were too cute playing side by side!

You’ve been eating solid foods for a while now, but I’ve mostly looked at it at exploring new tastes and sensations. Now we’re trying to have more regular meals for you. Mealtime was a huge mess and was a little frustrating for me for a bit. When I used baby food you would get it everywhere, grab it with your hands, wipe your ears, play with your hair, and we’d have to rush off to the bathtub after every meal! I found that if I tuck your hands under your high chair tray, you keep them down in your lap and I can spoon feed you without you rubbing it all over your body. It may sound mean, but you don’t appear to mind having your arms pinned at all and mealtime goes much more smoothly. I’m trying to move away from the liquid baby foods more and have you feed yourself little bits of things. You have tried all sorts of new foods recently, most of which were a success! You love baked carrots and cauliflower with nutmeg and gobble them all down very quickly. You’ve had egg yolk and also yogurt, both of which you aren’t quite so sure about. Yesterday you had some cottage cheese with mango pieces that you loved! Last night for dinner you had some acorn squash pieces and also baked chicken and brown rice. You were pretty unsure about the chicken, so I ground it up in some sweet potato baby food (which you love!) You still love to munch on your sweet potato puffs – your favorite food! Daddy and I are lining up puffs along the clean carpet to try to encourage you to crawl. You will lean and reach as far as you possibly can then flop to your stomach and stretch even farther!

Speaking of crawling, you did crawl for the first time a couple of weeks ago! I was sitting in a chair and there were some toys and your books by my feet and you flopped from a sitting position and crawled on your hands and knees for about a foot and then creeped on your tummy for another foot to reach the book. Daddy and I were so excited that you were getting around on your own, but that was the last time we’ve seen you do that! There’s no rush, sweetie, but it will be fun when you’re traveling around the room on your own!

We haven’t done a whole lot that is too exciting. You love going to stores and looking at all the neat little things, so we do go shopping together. We’ve been out for a little hiking and walks around the base. We’re still having a great time at home, playing, reading, Skyping with grandparents, and snuggling together. Daddy and I love you very much and are looking forward to another wonderful month!

Love,
Mommy

You’ve really blossomed so much this past month, Rhino! You have such an amazing personality and are really letting it show. This month you had your first giggles, which are the most beautiful sound ever! At first you would only giggle for Daddy, but just yesterday, as I was singing to you, you did for me too! (You must have been laughing at my silly singing voice!)

Another big surprise this month is your first two teeth! You’ve been a little grumpier lately, and very drooly, so we knew we’d see a tooth soon. Last Sunday two cute little bottom teeth popped up. You are now gnawing on anything and everything and we need to start cleaning those pearly whites! I grew my first tooth at 4 months, so I guess you take after me in the dental department!

You’ve made some new friends this month, mostly through the church nursery. All the ladies that work there adore you and you are usually very friendly with them. There are a couple other babies there that you will look at and babble too, but you’re more talkative with the older toddlers. We have also been going to an infant play group where you like to watch the other, older babies crawling around and playing. You’re starting to play more, also. When we dangle a toy, you often reach for it or grab it. You’ll hold things in both your hands and almost always bring them up to your mouth or shake them!

And of course, you’re still growing! Yesterday we received all our household goods, finally, including the rest of your clothes. There are outfits that arrived that were so huge on you before we left California, but now they are entirely too small! There are so many things that you didn’t even get to wear! At your check-up today you weighed 18 lb 11 oz and are 27.3 inches tall. That puts you above the 95th percentile for both. You are such a chunky little boy right now and the doctor says you have quite a pair of shoulders on you!

You are also a lot more vocal. Each month you’re adding new sounds to your vocabulary. This month we’ve heard more “b”s and “k”s. You also shriek a whole lot, both in joy and when you’re upset. You’ve realized you have feet, too! When you aren’t holding something up to your mouth (lately a clean, flat cloth diaper has been your favorite chew toy!), you are holding on to your feet and toes. When you’re sitting upright, you will hold your toes and stare at them. You get a kick out of making diaper changes more difficult for me by holding your legs up to your chest and holding onto your feet, too! Grandma says that Daddy discovered his feet when he was 5 months, so we think you’re a little ahead of the game there!

You’ve explored Japan a little bit more this month, too. We all go out to restaurants around the town and try new foods. We’ve been hiking a couple times and you seem to really enjoy looking around at all the trees and leaves and water. We are doing more shopping in Japanese stores, so you’ve seen all sorts of neat Japanese things! We have plans to have an exciting summer where you can get out and see even more of this beautiful country!

I love every day that we spend together and you truly are so special to me! We have a great time together, even when you’re crabby and even when I’m crabby, and I am really enjoying watching you grow. I love you so much, Rhino!

Hugs ‘n’ Kisses!
Mommy

Rhino had his two month well baby appointment with the base pediatrician today. They took his length (24.4 in; 92nd percentile) and weight (14lb 15oz; 95th percentile). He has a very mild case of cradle cap, but it’s nothing to worry about and we don’t need to do anything for it. The doctor also talked to us about vitamin D supplementation, which apparently is recommended for babies over two months who are exclusively breastfed. Babies, usually with darker skin, are at a risk of rickets because they don’t get enough vitamin D in the first year. He said if Rhino got about ten minutes of sunlight each day, that would be more than enough to make up for the deficiency. We took home some multivitamin drops in case we want to use them, but for now we’re thinking we’ll just stick with sunlight and not worry about it. The doc says that shouldn’t be a problem for Rhino.

We also started his vaccinations today. I’ve been doing a lot of research over the past few months about vaccines and their controversies surrounding them. It’s a tough choice — whether to vaccinate and risk the side effects, or to opt-out and risk the disease. I got a great book by Dr. Bob Sears where he provided a lot of information about each of the twelve vaccines, their associated diseases, risks, etc. The book was helpful, but it still doesn’t make some of these choices easy. He provided a vaccination schedule as an alternate to the AAP’s recommended schedule. These are the reasons he gave for the alternative schedule:

The main difference in my suggested alternative vaccine schedule is it spreads the infant vaccines out over the first few years of life, instead of bunching them all up in the first 18 months. It gives fewer vaccines at a time, gives the most important vaccines first, and slightly delays the less important vaccines. But ultimately the end result is the same – a fully vaccinated child. What are the benefits of my alternative schedule compared to the standard one?

• By only giving two vaccines at a time (instead of as many as 6), I decrease the chance of chemical overload from grouping so many vaccines chemicals all together at once. This allows a baby’s body to better detoxify the chemicals one or two at a time.

• I give only 1 aluminum-containing vaccine at a time (instead of the recommended 4). Overloading on this metal can be particularly toxic to the brain.
• I give only one live-virus vaccine component at a time to allow the body’s immune system to better handle the live viruses in these vaccines.
• Giving fewer shots at a time may decrease the side effects, in my experience.
• Giving fewer shots at a time also makes it easier to figure out which vaccine a child is reacting to if a severe reaction occurs.

That sounded reasonable to me. With us traveling internationally, I was too concerned about some of the diseases and didn’t want to opt-out. (Maybe, had we been staying state-side, I could have seen not giving Rhino a few of them.) I like the idea of the alternative schedule, and he will eventually be fully vaccinated if we choose to stay on the schedule. The doctor and I talked about this for a little while and I was pleased not to have been met with resistance. With the experiences I’ve had with the last few doctors, I was a little nervous that the doctor wouldn’t want to discuss it. I wish all doctors were like this pediatrician! So that all worked out just fine. I gave Rhino his rotavirus vaccine orally and the technician injected him with the DTaP vaccine. I had heard a few times of mothers nursing their babies while they were injected and that it helps keep the baby calm or sometimes they don’t stir at all. I asked the technicians about that and they seemed kind of shocked and said they can’t accommodate that for their own safety. Rhino did just fine stretched out on the table, though. He let out one shriek and then was fine when I picked him up. And he got a cute yellow crayon band-aid on his thigh! As for the DTaP vaccine, Dr. Bob recommends either the Daptacel or Tripedia, not the Infanrix. This is mostly for the high level of aluminum in the Infanrix brand. Well, that was the only one that the clinic had, so we went ahead and chose to do it anyway. When Rhino is 3 months, we’ll be getting him the Pc and the HiB immunizations.

Dearest Rhino,

Today you are two months old! It has been another wonderful month with you and so much has happened!

You have grown so much! Daddy and I used to carry you around in your car seat all the time, but now you are almost too heavy! You have your doctor’s appointment tomorrow where you’ll be weighed (you haven’t been since you were two weeks.) Whenever we go out in public, people think you are much older than you are because you are such a big boy and are often very alert and interested in everything around you.

You did a whole lot of new things this month! We visited Daddy’s Uncle Roger in San Diego. It’s a long car trip, but you slept most of the way, only waking to eat. When we were there you saw your Grandpa and Aunt Jen before she moved away from California. They were very happy to get a chance to see you one more time before we move away. You also met a lot of cute dogs and went for your first hike (attached to me!)

Right now my brother, your Uncle Matt, is visiting us from Texas. He is just here for the weekend, but wanted to meet you before we move away. He plays the guitar when we’re just relaxing around the apartment, which you seem to enjoy. You also had your first trip to the zoo, where you saw giraffes, macaws, elephants, and lemurs. You also visited with my friend Denna’s son, Tyler, who just turned two years old. You met him when he came over last month and he really loved you. After the zoo trip you also went to the beach for the first time. You slept the whole time, but I stood in the water with you strapped to me. It has been quite an eventful time!

Daddy and I have had such a great time getting to know you better this past month. You have been so smiley with us, which is just the best thing ever. You have such a gorgeous smile! I printed out some black and white patterns and glued them to cardboard to stick on your things for you to look at. You will stare at them for the longest time and sometimes smile at them. Just recently you started to coo and babble. Often times you hold long “conversations” with these black and white patterns while you’re getting your diaper changed! You also converse with Daddy and I, which we both really get a kick out of!

You are about to have a really exciting adventure in a couple weeks. At the end of this month we will be moving to Japan and will be there for a few years. We have been waiting for a little while to get everything in order with your official papers but are now finally ready to go. It was nice that you were born here in the US so your relatives could come and visit easily when you were first born. We won’t be able to visit with all of them quite as frequently because we will be so far away. It will be fun in Japan — Daddy has always wanted to go there, so we are very excited. You will get to see so many interesting things and hopefully you will remember a few of them!

You are such a fun baby and Daddy and I love being around you so much. Every day we feel tremendously blessed that you are with us. You are growing so fast all ready, it feels like we just brought you home two weeks ago rather than two whole months ago! But at the same time, I feel like we have known you much longer all ready. It just feels right having you in our family, like we have been holding a space specifically for you. I never thought I would enjoy being a mommy so much. Thank you, Rhino.

Love,
Mommy