Pediatrician visit

For some reason, I expected to find at the pediatrician's office today that Kalina had gained plenty of weight and was, in fact, close to being at her birth weight. This is the announcement all new parents look forward to, because it means we can let our babies sleep at night (if they will) rather than jolting them awake every couple of hours, a procedure that seems to be ensuring our child will put herself up for adoption as soon as she can say lawyer. I'm convinced this baby is all lung the way she screams.

Not the case, however, and we're a bit worried. She'd gained 2 ounces in 5 days--not great, but okay according to the pediatrician. We're going back on Friday to have her weighed again. I didn't point out, but wanted to, that she'd very recently soiled her diaper in a big way and maybe that would add an ounce or two.

And then there's the fact that we have to wake her for many of her feedings, and to complete a successful feeding in this case can easily take an hour and a half. She's supposed to eat every 2-3 hours, start to start, so if you do the math you'll see that this little baby wouldn't be getting much sleep (nor would her parents) if we really stuck to that schedule. We've been trying to strike a balance, and had felt like we were managing quite well.

We're reassured, though, that she's feeding plenty often and has the appropriate number of wet and dirty diapers--enough to fill a landfill each week (we haven't started with cloth diapers yet--one thing at a time).

Her weight was 5 lbs. 13 oz. Length was a surprising 19.5 inches. She shrank? More likely, she wiggled. She's in the 25th percentile for length, and the 5-10th percentile for weight. That seems scary, but the doctor said she's still within a normal range.

I'm sure she's fine--it's just not what we'd hoped. I guess I haven't slept well in 10 weeks now, so what's another few?

[I know I'm not guaranteed good sleep even once Baby is allowed to sleep all she wants, but the possibility is at least there. And that's a carrot I'm willing to chase for a long time.]