Pediatrician visit!

We visited the pediatrician today for Kalina's 1-month appointment! Can you believe she's a month old? We can't. We brought along the grandparents (Matt's parents) to try to totally overwhelm the doctor, and we all had fun.

Our tiny baby isn't so tiny anymore! Before the appointment, we'd all guessed how much Kalina would weigh (incidentally, I'm glad we don't do that before my appointments). The highest guess, by Matt, was 7 lbs. 5 oz. Kalina exceeded that by almost half a pound, weighing in at 7 lbs. 11 oz.

Essentially, Kalina has gained more than an ounce a day since her 1-week visit. Babies are supposed to gain 1/2 ounce to 1 ounce a day. We're overachieving, apparently. So why am I not losing very much weight?

The pediatrician told us we could begin to adapt her feedings to our schedule, and to not do such silly things as waking her at night to eat. I thought back to last night at 3:36 when we began a feeding that kept us up until close to 5:00 (5:30 if you count the fact I didn't get to sleep very soon after she did), and the fact that we'd woken her up for it. Never again, sweetheart!

He said that a drop of blood extracted from Kalina's foot (much to her mother's dismay) at the hospital told us that she doesn't have any of at least 35 disorders. I have no idea which ones, but it's nice to know we're safe from them. Now we only have to worry about half a million other potential harms.

He also said we have a "soft" baby, which he equated with "good" by saying that a "hard" baby is "bad." I tried to refrain from wondering how many parents had been told by him that they had a "bad" baby and listened as he explained that "soft" means less tense, and therefore less likely to be fussy and colicky. Inwardly, I celebrated.

Kalina behaved amazingly well during the appointment. She wasn't happy to go in the first place, but once there she allowed the doctor to do the entire examination without making a peep. Why is she only this good for other people? Nevertheless, I was grateful and proud. What can I say, she's perfect!

An appointment full of good news! Don't get used to it: next time she gets her vaccinations. Tears all around.