1 Month Check-Up

Well today was Pod's one month check-up. The doctor said he looks great! He weighs
10 lbs. 13 oz & is 21 3/4 inches long. Next month he goes for the two month check-up and has to start immunizations.... Poor Pod!

The doctor looked at the nodules on his little arm and said that he was impressed that they were going away. There are two gone and one is still pretty predominate. So he's going to call the pediatric dermatologist for suggestion and see if she wants to follow-up. She wanted to make a 3mm biopsy of the nodules when Pod was three days old, but Joe & I decided to wait and follow-up. Our pediatrian said he would keep an eye on them & follow-up with the dermatologist as he felt necessary as he feels they are subcutaneous fat necrosis. He put in a call to the dermatologist, but he hasn't heard back from her and neither have we.

The doctor listened to his heart and lungs. Checked his throat, ears, and eyes. Took off his little diaper and checked his groin area. Everything looked great. I asked about the stools. Pod screams when he passes gas or has a bowel movement. The doctor said that is normal and as long as the stool isn't hard, it should be fine. He's not concerned about it. The formula that Pod is taking absorbs into his system. Therefore, he won't have a bowel movement every single day. Some babies go up to 5 days without a bowel movement. So when there is a movement, it can be challenging for him. The doctor advised if I felt I needed to give him water, it was okay to do that, but nothing more that 4 oz in a 24 hour period. Also, after one more month of there not being any blood in the stool and my nursing, then we can also offer diluted apple juice, but no more than 1 oz. He really doesn't want him to have the apple juice right now because of the proteins in the apples and the fact that Pod was having explosive bowel movements prrior to us going to the ICU. He thinks that apple juice at this age is too early, especially with Pod's history.

I started nursing again, but expressed my concern with my low supply. The pediatrician recommended Fenugreek, which is an herbal supplement. I need to take it three times a day. I went to the local healthfood grocery store and found it for $25 a bottle! YIKES!!! So when I got home, I called my mom and she told me of a website to try. Thank goodness for mothers! I was able to order 2 bottles of capsules and 2 boxes of the herbal tea plus the shipping costs for less than one bottle at the healthfood grocery store!

Speaking of healthfood grocery store... Joe calls it the hippy hang-out.... anyway, I found a great blog with recipes for food I can eat. As I mentioned before I'm on a strict diet resulting from Pod's trip to the ICU... So I found some great recipes that are gluten-free, soy-free, and dairy-free. Tonight I made Rosemary Apple Chicken, Acorn Squash stuffed with apples and cranberries, pomegranate spinach salad with home-made advacado dressing, and apple crisp for dessert. Yes, I know, call me Betty Crocker. It only took me 3 hours to finish cooking the meal, cost way more than eatting out, but it was delicious. Lesson learned out of the experience???? I'm going to buy only the hard-to-find items at the healthfood grocery store and buy the rest of the stuff at the regular grocery. Why can't I buy the apples at Ingles or Kroger instead of at the healthfood grocery? I paid double for them I guess. Oh well, saved in gas for the trips to multiple grocery stores....

Speaking of gas... I paid $2.89 today per gallon!!! WOO WEE!!! I didn't think I'd see it below $3.00 again. That's awesome!

Well, I've got a headache so I need to go lay down. Hope all is well with everyone out there reading this.

I'll update more soon, until then....