Taylor's 4 Month Checkup

Taylor's 4 month check up with shots was yesterday with Dr Furlow.

Stats:

11/9/12

Weight: 15 lbs 4 oz

Height: 24.88 inches

Head Circ: 41.7 cm or 16.42 inches

75th % for all

Shots/immunizations you received:
Rotateq 2.0 mL PO
Prevnar 13 0.5 mL IM
Pentacel 0.5 mL IM

 

Taylor you are so sweet and snugly!  You are still a total momma's girl which I love!

 

Milestones at 4 months:

• You have found your feet and love to pull them up to your chest and pull on your toes, etc.
• Chew on your hands constantly and are starting to slobber all over everything
• You have been a little stinker when it comes to bottles and you would be bigger at 4 months than you are now if you had decided you liked bottles...but oh well.  You are showing your independence early!  You weighed a pound bigger than your brother at birth yet at his 4 month check up he outweighed you by 6 oz.  See Colton's 4 month check up here.  See Lauren's stats at 4 months here

We love you baby girl and you bring so much joy to our whole family!

Taylor Hates Bottles!

Taylor has been at daycare for 5 weeks now.  The first 2 weeks she hated bottles but adjusted because she had to.  The next 2 weeks she was fine and drank 3 oz at a time.  Last week and this week (this is week 6) she has started fighting the teachers at daycare again and will only drink 1-2 oz at a time or will take the full hour to drink 3-4 oz but fights them on it.  (She would not eat for Kristen Saturday either so we left the Razorback game early to go feed her.)  Monday I got a note from the teachers saying "We cannot get Taylor to eat.  We need some suggestions!  She gets very angry every time we put the bottle in her mouth." (and yes they had very underlined!)  So she has been congested some the last 2 weeks and to make sure that is not why she won't eat I took her to the dr yesterday to make sure she didn't have an ear infection or some other issue going on.  The dr said she is perfectly fine!  Her ears look great and the fluid that was there 2 weeks ago is completely gone…she is not running a fever…she is congested but it has not caused any type of infection where she needs meds for it.  The congestion is what is making her cough and her voice sound funny so the dr told me to buy some Little Noses Decongestion drops that you put up their nose.  She said to only use it for 3 or 4 days if it seems to help.  The main reason for the decongestion drops is because I told her how she has basically stopped eating from bottles all together and school is starting to get frustrated.  She said to try the drops and see if she will eat then and if so she is just not eating because of the congestion.  If she continues to not eat from bottles, then she is probably just being picky.  She said she sees it at times where certain babies only want to breastfeed and will not take a bottle…or certain babies only want a bottle and won’t breastfeed.  She said to try giving her the milk in a sippy cup instead of a bottle also and see if that helps.  I told the Dr "I'm supposed to learn with my first child...not my 3rd" and she laughed and said "they are all different!" and then shared a story about her 4 kids (which made me feel better)...another reason I love Dr. Furlow at NW Peds...she is so sweet and just open about her personal experiences too!

 

She said if Taylor continues to not want to eat from bottles to start her on rice cereal earlier than normal.  So after the dr appt yesterday I thought “well I need sippy cups and this nose stuff so I’ll go to Target and get them both instead of going to Collier Drug right beside the dr office”.  Well Target didn’t carry the nose drops.  I then went to Walmart and Walgreens in Fayetteville and they didn’t carry them either.  I drove to Springdale Neighborhood Market and they didn’t carry it but called the Springdale Walmart Pharmacy where Maria said “yes we carry it”…so I drove to Springdale Walmart only to find out they don’t carry it but they do carry the saline spray (not what I needed...thanks Maria!).  While on my way to Springdale WM I called Harps and they did carry it…so after looking at 5 stores I finally found it at store #6 and then found out that the Colliers right beside the Dr office carry's it also…but I still needed to get my sippy cups so I would have had to go to Target anyway…but I could have saved myself 4 other stops!  LOL  Oh well… 

 

Since she was not 'sick' I went ahead to dinner with my girlfriends last night thinking Taylor will drink a bottle for Kraig so I'm good.  About an hour into dinner Kraig called with Taylor screaming in the background saying "can you eat fast?".  So I did, paid the bill and drove home to feed Taylor.  Little stinker was happy as could be when she saw me and still didn't eat a lot but ate some.  Then when it was bedtime she ate like she normally does and went to sleep and slept great like she does!  So the good news is Taylor is not sick…the bad news is she is not eating much at a time and fights them at school…so hopefully she will start eating from bottles again soon so the teachers don’t feel like they are doing something wrong.

 

To compare -

Lauren gained 3 lbs in 9 weeks from 2 months to 4 months. (11 weeks to 20 weeks)

Colton gained 2 lbs in 5 weeks from 2 months to 4 months. (11 weeks to 16 weeks)

Taylor gained 2 lbs in 8 weeks from 2 months to 4 months. (10 weeks to 18 weeks)

The scale at the dr office said she weighed 15 lbs 4 oz today

(home baby scale says 15 lbs 11 oz so one is off...)

 

So yes she is gaining weight...just not at the rate my older 2 kids did when they were her age.

If this is just an inkling of what is to come...I'm in trouble!  :-)

I mean does this look like an unhappy child?  NO...little stinker!  She is happy as can be...just won't eat from a bottle!

Colton's 3 Year Check Up

Kraig took Colton for his 3 year check up yesterday to get his flu mist.  He did great and was happy to spend time with daddy.  They went to Kraig's work before the appointment and after the doctor he was sad to go to school as he wanted to go back to daddy's work.  :-(
You are right along the same lines as Lauren was at 3 (32 lbs and 38 inches).  Click here for those pics.

Stats:

10/18/2012

33 lbs

37.8 inches

50th percentile for both

Reading a book and getting his flu mist like a big boy!

Lauren Has Strep

Lauren started complaining her throat hurt Sunday morning.  I thought it was just allergies since the weather keeps switching back and forth from hot to cold and back again so I didn't think much of it.  Monday when I picked her up from school she was still saying it hurt but she was not running a fever so I still thought it was just allergies.  By Monday night she was not wanting to eat because it hurt and was more tired than normal.  So I called the Dr office and they luckily were still open but didn't have an appointment until 8:30 pm.  Kraig took her while I stayed home with Colton and Taylor.  It turns out she had strep.  :-(  So the doctor gave us a prescription for antibiotics.  Kraig dropped it off at Walgreens and came home.  Lauren went to bed around 9:30 but the prescription wasn't ready until 10:30...so I picked up the prescription, woke Lauren up (she was totally out of it btw), gave her the meds and went to bed around 11.  We all slept great that night and she stayed home from school Tuesday.  By Tuesday afternoon and 2 rounds of meds she was feeling great!

Stats:

43.44 lbs

44.88 inches

She fell asleep on the doctors table while waiting for him to see her.

Taylor's 2 Month Check Up (10 weeks old)

We took Taylor to the Dr today for her 2 month check up with Dr. Furlow at NW Pediatric Clinic in Fayetteville.  She is our little chunkster!  Here are her stats and photos from the appointment

Stats:

Weight - 13 lbs 15 oz (97th%)

Height - 23.35 inches (75th %)

Head - 16.02 in (75th % or 90th %) Dr said 90th but wrote 75th

She received the following shots/immunizations:
Rotateq 2.0 mL PO
Prevnar 0.5 mL IM
Pentacel 0.5 mL IM
hep B o.5 mL IM

Taylor I can't imagine our lives without you!  I'm so glad  your daddy changed his mind on having a 3rd child.  Your sister and brother love you a little too much but we are so thankful for that!

• still eating every 2-3 hours
• we are moving into the size 2 diapers now
• size 0-3 month clothes but they are getting tight
• sleeping schedule of going to bed around 8:30 and waking up around 2 am, going back to sleep and waking up again around 5:30.  You are following the same sleep schedule your brother was on at this point.
• still very fond of mommy especially at night and only wants me to comfort/nurse her when she wants to go to bed (from 7-9).
• still hates her car seat
• acid reflux maybe?  I asked the Dr about this and she offered to put Taylor on Zantac but I said I didn't want to put her on meds if it was not needed.  She asked what her reaction was when we thought she had acid reflux going on and we told her that just before she spits up she will cry and scream for 1 or 2 minutes and then once she spits up she is fine.  She said that normal true acid reflux babies will cry/scream for 30 minutes or so before they spit up so we decided to not put her on meds.  she did say that around 2 or 3 months is when AR gets worse so if we notice it gets worse we can just call her and she will call us in some Zantac.  So we will see.
• will take a bottle now but still prefers mommy
• I asked the Dr about adding in some Probiotics to her milk once she starts daycare and she didn't seem to think we needed to add any in since breastmilk naturally includes it from me...but I may ask again when we go for her 4 month check up because I was mainly referring to adding it to see if it helps with Colicky babies but once she starts daycare I'm curious if it would help her not get sick as often as daycare babies do.

Our little sumo child just like her brother in the pic to the right however, that was Colton at 4 months and this is Taylor at 2 months!  On a side note Taylor and Colton were 1 oz apart at 10 weeks and 11 weeks as Colton weighed 13 lbs 14 oz at 11 weeks old.  Up to this point, I have said I think Taylor looks like Colton but her hair is starting to lighten up and I'm seeing more of Lauren in her facial features than Colton but she is a chunk like Colton was.  :-)  Maybe she will turn into a Blondie like me!!!!

We love you baby girl!!!!!!

Taylor's 2 Week Check Up

One day before her 2 week birthday, we took Taylor to the Dr for her 2 week check up.

She is doing great and gaining weight!

She now weighs 8 lbs 8 oz (up from 7 lbs 11 oz at birth and 7 lbs 9.5 oz at 4 days old)

I realized I have not been rough enough with the umbilical on all 3 of our kids which is why it takes weeks to come off.  The Dr. looked at it and took an alcohol swab and rubbed it around pretty good pulling it up, moving it around, etc.  I was being nice and delicate with it...but going forward I will be putting a little more umph on it when I put alcohol on it to dry it out in hopes it comes off soon.

Dr Silvey listening to Taylor's heart/lungs/etc

Taylor's First Doctor Appointment

Monday we took Taylor to see Dr. Furlow at NW Pediatrics in Fayetteville for her first weight check at 4 days old.  Dr. Furlow said she looks great and now we just take her back at her 2 week birthday for another weight check but she didn't seem to think there would be a problem since she has only lost 1.5 ounces since birth and my milk just came in Sunday.

Stats:

Weight: 7 lbs 9.5 oz

Height: 19 1/4 inches (so either the measurement at the hospital or the Dr office was off)

Head: 14 inches around

Taylor is currently eating every 2-3 hours and has been such a great baby!

Hand Foot Mouth Disease :-(

Tuesday afternoon we got a call from school that Colton was not feeling well and was running a temp of 101. We went to pick him up and scheduled a Dr appt because he was saying his tummy hurt as well as his ear. That night the Dr looked at his ears and said they were 'red' inside but since he has had previous ear infections thought it was probably just that so she gave us antibiotics to fight it off. Wednesday morning he woke up with a rash around his mouth. NWA including our daycare has had Hand Foot Mouth Disease going around so that's the first thing I thought of. Our friends Greg and Jen's little girl Addy had it last week and Keisha's boys have it this week (and they don't go to our daycare and live in Rogers) and both have said that there is nothing they can do because it's a viral thing...so we just had to wait it out. Thursday he woke up and it was much worse. Now it was not longer on his face, but on his hands too with a small rash on his feet. By Friday the blisters on his mouth were worse but some were actually starting to scab over and dry out (which I heard was a good thing) but instead of just a bad rash on his hands he actually had blisters so I scheduled a Dr appointment hoping they would do something...ANYTHING to make my baby feel better! Our appt was Friday morning and the Dr said Colton had a severe case of HFM disease and so that his blisters would not get infected and cause a secondary infection he gave us an antibiotic cream called Bactroban for his skin. He also gave us Tylenol with Codeine in it to help him feel better and sleep better (I just gave it to him at night because I didn't want him to be sleepy during the day. I did give him IB Profen during the day to take away some of the pain/itch.). I have to say Colton has been a trooper through out all of this. He has times of irritability (I'm sure because he just doesn't feel himself and is hurting/itching) but most of the time he acts like himself. I can say this momma can't wait for my baby to be back to normal! The Dr said by Monday his rash should be much better but would not be gone. It turns out that the ear pain and fever are actually the first signs of HFM so the good news is he no longer has to take the antibiotics since he actually does not have an ear infection! I pray that Lauren, Kraig and I don't get it also as I have washed my hands more in the past few days than I ever have trying to stay away from it (so much so that my skin is cracking!). Lauren is treating him like he has the plaque and won't go near him...poor guy he just doesn't understand. :-( Luckily it's very rare for adults to get it since it's mainly something that shows up in kids 10 and under but Kraig and I still need to take precautions (mainly me because of baby #3).
Day 1 photo

Slight rash around the mouth...nothing on hands or feet.

Day 2 photos

Face has raised sores/scabs. Hands are starting to get red blisters.

Day 3 photos

Hands and face are all red with sores/blisters.

Day 4 photos

No more blisters on the face, just scabs. Hands have red marks and blisters.

Day 5 photos

Some scabs on the face but they are about 80% gone. His hands still have red marks.

Day 6 photos

All the scabs on his face are 100% gone! His hands still have red marks and scabs as they have been about a day behind his face so far but the spots on the hands are drying up so that's a good sign!

Yesterday was a big change in his face and attitude. I could tell he missed his sissy's hugs because all day he just kept wanting to hug her. She kept yelling "mom he is touching me!" Poor guy...he just wants to be loved. I have been snuggling him and kissing his forehead, etc but making sure I washed my hands after I touched him or his cups, etc. Luckily no one in our family has caught it and I pray we don't. Now it's time to disinfect the whole house! :-)