Saturday, January 23, 2010

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?

5 comments:

Ida Mae said...

can you share the name of the gel? The tablets are not enough for us!

are you ok with the vaxs? I am still hesistant.

Unknown said...

Poor baby. That sucks sooo bad! I'm sorry she was so grumpy. We have declined many of the shots and others we've delayed but even when Jack got a few at once they never seemed to bother him. You poor thing, it must have killed you to see your baby in pain.

On another note. Where is this Pediatrician getting her info? the AAP recommends delaying solids until 6 months. As a practicing Pediatric nurse that is my most up to date information, unless they changed it yesterday. Haha!

Like I said earlier, I personally recommend to parents that they base it on a certain list of criteria I give them and to use their own judgement. I have never heard of anyone specifically "recommending" 4 months to start solids.

How is Lucy doing now? Has she recovered? It is sooooo exciting that she rolled over!! :) All of these things in one week....that's how it seems to happen. I remember being EXACTLY where you are...and now Jack runs and also says "bye-bye" and "hi". It's insane. He talks and runs. Where did my baby go??? Enjoy EVERY MINUTE of the next few months b/c they will dissolve before your eyes!

Keep up the good work! She is beautiful!!

Denise said...

Aw Emily, you literally made me laugh out loud at little Miss Lucy's rolling over for her dolly. :) It's as if she knew all along and was waiting for you guys to give her a reason to want to roll. Precious little one!

I was pretty mad at the pedi when you told me this over the phone. I have had a similar experience with mine, only she's never changed her story, she just gives me a hard time about the following: delayed vaccinations, breastfeeding at night, extended nursing. She also has prescribed floride for her teeth (when she only had 2!). About the only thing she's been impressed with was that Elyana's been using a sippy cup since 5 months.

ANYWAY: My point is, I feel for you. Your child is BLESSED that you are an educated momma, because honestly the doctors out there can be shockingly ill-educated at best, and totally wrong/mistaken at worst. What the #&$ kind of answer is, "my colleague said..."?

Ok, ok. Anyway, I really felt sorry for Lucy! Poor Elyana got her first shot at a little past 5 months old, b/c we were headed to NC where my cousins had just gotten over pertussis! I hated watching that. She cried when we tried to stand her up later that day. I also comfort-nursed and had delayed her nap so she's be able to sleep the first day's pain off some. We did tylenol later when I was sure how her real reaction was.

Hang in there. Your baby will get better at handling the shots. I'm sorry you had such a week!!! Hopefully this one is better. :)

Oh, about teething: I never used gels (b/c I could never stand them), but she loved frozen breastmilk "popsicles" (with the mesh kidco baby feeders).

SA said...

Hope the compresses helped! And was the gel by Humphrey's too?

Hope little Lucy is feeling better by now! It's so hard to see our babies in pain...

Beth said...

Does she have a tooth yet? I thought Eleanor was getting one like 2 months ago, but alas, still no tooth. I'm sorry Lucy had such a tough few days, but yay for the rolling over! :) They do grow up SO fast!