What a week!

I think the old saying goes, "It never rains, but it pours." What an apt description for this week!

(BTW- This picture is from Christmas, but I just found it, some I'm gonna post it anyway!)

On Wednesday, Lucy and I headed to her pediatrician's office for her four-month well-baby check. I anticipated being asked (again) about her vaccinations, and I after much deliberation (and consultation of Dr. Sears' The Vaccine Book, amongst many other sources), I had decided that it was time for Lucy to have her first shot. Now, we had declined Hep B when Lucy was born, and declined her two-month shots as well. I had originally intended to decline all shots until she was six months old, but after learning about the increasingly-frequent number of Pertussis outbreaks, I had decided to have Lucy receive the DTaP vaccine. Now, I want to state for the record that up until now, Lucy's ped seemed fine with our plan to delay-then-selectively-vax our daughter. Anyways....

Lucy's visit started out great. She's up to almost 15 lbs and is 25 inches (63% and 65%, respectively). She has awesome head control and is doing well with her upper body, too. She can sit up for a few seconds by herself, is very vocal, and often plays with her hands and fingers. Although she hadn't rolled over yet (and I will be coming back to this), I wasn't really concerned about this, as it's a struggle for Lucy to bear even a few second of tummy-time without throwing a fit.

Then the ped got into the nitty-gritty. It all started going downhill when she brought up the issue of solids. This, my friends, was after she was impressed with the fact that Lucy is still exclusively breast fed. Ugh frustration! I told her I didn't plan to start Lucy until at least 6 months, as long as she was still thriving on breast milk. Then the good doc informed me that the "AAP recommends starting solids at four months because there is a lower risk of GI issues when you start solids earlier. I know it's hard to keep up with the AAP recommendations, but that's what my colleague just told me." Ummmm....excuse me? There are a multitude of things wrong with that statement, so I won't even get into what was running through my mind. I tried to explain my point of view with her, but realized it was a lost cause. If you read this blog regularly, you know how I feel about it this. The ped also reminded me about how to keep Lucy's crib safe. Of course, I didn't even correct her. I wasn't up for her likely-misinformed-opinion about co-sleeping, either.

Then the issue of vax came up. The same woman who was fine with me not vaxing two months ago seemed to have changed her song. She wanted me to (in one visit) give Lucy vax for Hep B, Polio, PCV, Rotavirus, HIB, and DTaP. She brought up PCV first, and told me PCV "is a serious virus we don't want to mess with." I was like, "Hmmmm....I believe PCV is a bacterium." Her answer? "If it was just a bacterium, we would just prescribe antibiotics- we wouldn't need a vaccine." FABULOUS. Luckily I had just reread Dr. Sears' book, so I knew that if I was going to cave on a few shots, HIB and PCV were good bets. So I consented to HIB, PCV, and DTaP. On the way out, she tried to get me to give Lucy some Tylenol. Great, lady. Now you want me to drug my daughter to mask any reactions she has to her first vax? Great idea-not. Anyway, I get to the immunization clinic, and whaddya know? Six vax lined up. I ended up explaining the situation with the tech, and Lucy only got the three I had chosen. I held her the whole time, and nursed her right after. She still cried, and I cried, and that's all I have to say about that.

Lucy seemed fine at first, then the crying started. It was so awful- I have never seen her so upset. She basically sobbed uncontrollably for what seemed like hours. I took the rest of the afternoon off from work, gave her cold compresses for her legs and Tylenol (once I could gauge what was going on), and we went to bed, where I comfort-nursed her and we cuddled for the rest of the afternoon.

The next day (Thursday) started out the same. I could not believe that my poor baby was feeling so awful from the shots. Then I realized it- she was teething, too! Poor, poor baby! I felt so bad! Poor Goose probably thought I planned it that way :-( I picked up some gel for her poor gums (homeopathic with chamomile) and that seemed to help some.

On the bright side, Lucy completely surprised us on Friday. She was still feeling a little grumpy, but I decided to give her some tummy-time. I put her down on her mat, then mentioned to Brett that the ped had said that one way to get Lucy to practice rolling over would be to place a toy just out of her reach- something I, admittedly, hadn't thought of. When I told him this, Brett sat down next to her, picked up her doll, showed it to Lucy, and moved it. Voila! SHE ROLLED OVER- just like that! I could not believe it. No rocking, no struggling to push over- nothing. Lucy looked just as surprised at herself as we were. I only wish we had got it on tape! I wonder how long she's been able to do that....

So, there you have it. Shots, teething, and rolling over in one week. Will you slow down for mama just a little, dear?