In the morning, we got up and went to see the pediatrician. It was time for the two week visit (already). Our main concern was whether Grace was gaining enough weight. As I talked about already, the doctors had made us overly concerned by telling us she had lost the most weight they were comfortable with before we left the hospital. The home visit nurse had shown us she was gaining weight. Still, we were going to worry until she'd passed her birth weight.
Grace has been feeding like crazy (poor mom), and we're happy to say that she weighed in at 6 pounds 7 ounces. A full 3 ounces above her birth weight. Sweet relief! The doctor told us that we can let Grace sleep as long as she wants to at night, and, since she's being an especially good feeder, that we might think about introducing a pacifier a little early. Good to know!
Then the hard part of the visit. Her second PKU test (two tests are required of every newborn in Oregon). They stuck Grace in her other heel, and she behaved like a trooper. She squalled for a under a minute, and was basically quiet the entire time the technician was squeezing her heel to get the blood drops out.
After such a rough morning, Grace needed something good to fill her day. Luckily, Grandpa David came down to visit. He had recently celebrated his birthday, and seeing Grace was a part of that. Grace was perfectly behaved the entire time he was down and they had some good interactive moments together.
Towards the end of his visit, we all went out for a walk around the block, enjoying the aforementioned weather.
Additionally, David showed me some of his cool lenses for his camera. We played with polarizers, neutral density filters, and haze filters. David has recently started selling some prints and cards on his website, and had some of his pictures shown in a gallery. He's soon to be represented as part of a group of artists know as "Elysium Artists". With all this work, he has become quite the resource for information relating to photography, and I look forward to tapping into that once I get a decent camera.
1 comment:
I'm sorry the docs had you guys so worried. It seems like (and this is based solely on anecdotal "data") more than 50% of newborns lose around 10% of their birth weight in the first few days, which is the maximum amount doctors are "comfortable" with. While I understand the need to be watchful and the desire to keep new parents from accidentally underfeeding their newlings, I don't see why they can't add a caveat, for peace of mind, that as long as the baby's eating enthusiastically, there is likely no real cause for concern. I'm glad your minds are at ease now, though. Go Gracie, and go Betsey! Way to operate those mammaries. ;)
Really interesting about the double PKU test requirement in OR. I wonder why they decided the repetition was necessary.
(You may be interested that my word verification word today is "scull." And that it was really hard for me to type that without adding a 'y' at the end. Hehe.)
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