Weight Check Appointment

Today Cael had a follow-up appointment to check his weight. It was a 6 week follow-up to his 6 month appointment. Well, Cael weighed ::: drum roll::: 17 pounds 1 ounce! That puts him around the 25th percentile (between the 10-25th percentile). The pediatrician was happy with his weight gain, because it's been consistent over the last few months. Yes, he's dropped down on the charts, but at least he's consistently gaining. PLUS, he's much more active and mobile now, so the pedi was especially happy with the consistent weight gain considering this. I was happy to hear this, and my mind is at ease over it now. His next appointment is scheduled for June, when he'll be 9 months old.

We did bring up a concern at this appointment. Warning - TMI. For the past few days, we've been able to pinpoint the exact moment Cael poops. It's obvious, because he'll grunt/bear down, a look of terror will come over his face, and then he'll start screaming in pain. It's absolutely horrible. Yesterday, he did this about 3-4 times, and it broke my heart each time. You can tell he's obviously in pain when he goes to the bathroom. His poop (do you care if I say poop? I don't know what else to call it) has definitely changed to solid, which has been much easier regarding cloth diapering. You just plop it in the toilet - no spraying or anything. Just ::plop::. But it's obviously bothering Cael. It's pliable though, and not rock hard, so I thought it was just changing because he's getting solids now. But according to the pediatrician, he's constipated, because it shouldn't be that solid.

He suggested giving Cael 2-4 ounces of juice a day, not diluted, which I was surprised about. But it turns out the sugars in the juice is what helps the constipation. He said it could be pear or apple, but apple tends to be binding. But it just so happens that I had a bottle of pear juice at home, because I was going to make him biscuits (which I never got around to). So when we got home, we gave him roughly 2 ounces of pear juice in his Nuby sippy cup. (Sidebar: The pediatrician said that there haven't been any major studies come out regarding sippy cups causing speech problems. So if we wanted to use a sippy cup, that would be fine.) He said getting him on a cup is the goal, and the sooner we can do that, the better. But he said that the sippy cup could work for Cael, if he takes to it. He took a few sips of water when we offered it to him in the past, but he wasn't excited about it.

Well, let me tell you, he was excited about pear juice in his sippy cup!! He chugged it down, and got really excited when he tasted it. I guess he likes (or rather, loves) pear juice. He would get upset if you took the cup away, and anxiously searched for it. He drank every last drop! He did eventually figure out that he had to tip back to get anything out, but he still needs to work on it. Hopefully it helps his little belly.

After his appointment, we stopped by Toys R' Us to get Cael some toys. Other than his toy table and teething toys, he doesn't really have any other toys to play with. Matt was surprised when he asked if he has any more toys, and I responded with a "no". He thought I had them stashed away somewhere. So we decided we'd get him some more toys. We walked around the aisles, because Matt was looking for the perfect toy for Cael. That sounds funny, doesn't it? Then we came across the construction trucks. Matt fell in love. Haha. So we got him 2 construction vehicles - a dump truck and another one that I'm not sure what it's called - and a Little Tykes hammer that makes noise. He enjoys them. Now we have to get him a toy box!