- Her daddy taught her to stuff her hands in her pockets and now she must do this every time she has on a jacket or pants with pockets. It makes it hard to hold her hand.
- Her newest thing is to walk/run with her eyes closed. She has had some serious collisions and falls, but she just gets up, laughs and keeps on doing it. She is definitely going to be one of those "learn the hard way" types.
- She's learned some new words: wash, sorry, me, and yes (although "no" is still her favorite word).
- Marlie had her 18-month check up on Thursday. Her pediatrician was impressed with her language development and her cognitive/motor skills, like stacking matching blocks. Her ears check out all clear and her teeth look good (she has all her teeth except incisors and 2-yr molars). Then came the measuring. I have to say I am confused and frustrated with the whole growth chart thing. What's the point of monitoring where children fall on a curve in terms of height and weight when we all know that they are going to become adults who vary widely in terms of how tall and fat/skinny there are? As a child, I was always short and super skinny and I don't recall my doctors giving my mom a hard time about it or advising her to give me Pediasure. Okay, enough of my ranting. Marlie is currently in the 75th percentile in height, but not even on the chart in weight. After discussing her eating habits (pretty good) and her metabolism (uh, pretty high), her pediatrician recommended giving her Pediasure and going back in a month for a weigh-in. Really?! Is my daughter trying out for the Olympic wrestling team? Part of me wants to ignore her advice because I don't feel like Marlie is an unhealthy weight. The other part of me wants to err on the side of caution. So, I will try supplementing her diet with a daily protein shake so she can get some extra calories. I will be making it from scratch though in my blender.
- I have to credit my baby girl for keeping my spirits up for the last week and a half. It's hard to stay sad when I have her big, bright eyes and mega-watt smile to cheer me up. She has been so smiley and sunny even though it's been a rough time for her too. One of the side effects of being pregnant and then miscarrying is that my milk dried up. It literally happened overnight. I was not planning on weaning her so abruptly, but baby girl took it in stride. I explained that mommy's milk went bye-bye. For a few days she would make the sign for nursing and reach inside my shirt, but I would gently remind her that the milk went bye-bye. She seemed to understand and stopped asking after about a week. That made a very heart-breaking situation much easier, thank goodness.
- I have to thank all of you for your suggestions on how to memorialize Baby X.
Kim of What's That Smell fame helped get the ball started by sending me this awesomely gorgeous Willow Tree Remembrance Angel. I will treasure it always! As for what I am going to do personally...I really liked the idea of planting a tree, and I am going to get a pair of angel wings tattooed on my wrist. I finally took another pregnancy test like I was instructed to do by my OB/GYN. It was negative so I guess that puts the lid on that.
Getting Ready…
7 years ago
10 comments:
I have issues with the growth charts too. My son is not even on the chart for weight and low on the chart for height. However, my husband and I are both slim and my side of the family is short.
Marlie is such a smarty pants! Can't believe all the words and behaviors she's learning. She's such a big girl. And speaking of that. Please check out the WHO growth charts here: http://www.who.int/childgrowth/standards/en/
It has come to my attention from other breastfeeding moms that our children grow differently. When Cedella dropped abruptly off the regular chart at her last appointment my Doc pulled up the WHO and she was in the 25%. If you think she's healthy, then she is. Always trust those maternal instincts!
The memorial ideas sound wonderful!
Oh, man, don't even talk to me about baby weight! The Babby only finally made it onto the bottom of the chart... for babies born six weeks early!
I love this age Marlie is at. She still hasn't entered full on terrible twos and is fun. I have a few of those angel tree ornaments. What a lovely idea your friend gave you. Hugs friend, hugs.
Those percentile things are for the birds. I always feel like I have to defend my daughter only to find out they don't care...they only care about the numbers.
I've dealt with both side of the growth chart. As a whole, my children are big. My smallest was 8 lbs 15 ounces at birth. My side of the family is very tall - I'm 5' 10", my brother is 6' 5", and my cousin is 6' 8"! My oldest daughter, has major hormonal imbalances and despite all the prescribed hormone supplements she has to take, has a major weight problem as a result. Meanwhile, my middle daughter is like my mom was, SKINNY. When my middle daughter hit puberty, she shot up many inches, but didn't gain weight. Our pediatrician totally freaked out and made me bring her in every month for weigh-ins. She was worried my daughter had an eating disorder (her worries were further compounded by the fact that my daughter had become a vegan). When I tried to reassure the pediatrician that people on my side of the family were really, really skinny during their teen years, the pediatrician wouldn't even listen (I guess I should have brought in pictures to show her how we all looked as teens). She said that she had a moral and professional obligation to make sure my daughter wasn't starving herself. I basically got the impression that the pediatrician would have called CPS if we had not done the weigh-ins. My daughter has now put some meat on her bones and no longer has to do weigh-ins, but still only weighs 105 pounds and is 5' 8". Sadly, she, like the rest of my family, will probably start gaining weight in her late 20's - mid 30's (I haven't opted to let her in on that tidbit, I want her to enjoy her young skinny body while she can, besides maybe she won't have any weight problems, she is still a vegan and very health conscious).
Precentile charts make me cringe. I'm always on edge when the nurse charts them.
Hugs and Mocha,
Stesha
First of all, don't beat yourself up about not posting. Would you like to drop by and see my youngest son's baby book? It's still in the box it came in:)
Secondly, all of mine are below the charts on weight. They are healthy, happy kids with no body image issues. And a much lower risk of lots of disease. I figure God made them that way for a reason!
LOL at Marlie walking and running with eyes closed. They don't understand too much about consequences at this age, no? Lewis is fond of spinning in circles but hasn't yet realized that he will get dizzy and he will fall down LOL.
Those charts are eh. Lewis is about 50% for stuff but his head is at 99%. I did appreciate our doctor's concern about that when he was young because it could have been a real issue. Turns out he's just got a big head like both mommy & daddy!
Marlie is too cute! Don't get me started on the growth chart thing. I have a draft post all about the subject.
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